Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania isn’t even out yet and fans are already comparing its leading villain Kang the Conquer (Jonathan Majors) to one of the biggest and baddest live-action DC villains ever to grace the silver screen. You know who we’re talking about – it’s Heath Ledger’s Joker from The Dark Knight.
In response to the latest Quantumania clip, Marvel fans firmly grasped their trumpets to toot Majors’ performance as his character and Paul Rudd’s come face-to-face for the first time (well, the first time for Scott Lang anyway). Noting the eerie, sinister, and quietly diabolical air about him, Majors was showered in compliments and praise that may or may not be premature. One Reddit user even said the 33-year-old actor is on his way to becoming the next generation of iconic comic book villains, right up there with Heath Ledger’s Joker and Josh Brolin’s Thanos.
Ledger posthumously received the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role as the homicidal maniac and it was his performance that largely lent the movie the title of being one of the best comic book adaptations of all time. Since Quantumania is already being compared to Spider-Man: No Way Home, a movie that not only holds its own against The Dark Knight (in very different ways, of course) but also sits at the top of the box office charts as one of the highest-grossing films of all time, perhaps the comparisons have merit.
Box office revenue is never an indication of quality, to be sure, but first reactions to Quantumania suggest that could very well be the case for this MCU outing. Not only does Majors’ Kang blow Thanos out of the water, but his performance is being called a tour de force.
The idea of him receiving an Oscar nomination for Quantumania is an impressive notion to say the least and the highest praise the actor could receive. It’s not entirely implausible either, especially now that Angela Bassett has been nominated for Best Supporting Actress as Queen Ramonda in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Thanks to her, the door for future MCU Oscar nominations has been blown wide open, and given Majors’ dedication to nailing his character just right, he could very well be the next actor to join in on Hollywood’s biggest night.
But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. The only way to know for sure whether the early praise and reactions are of merit is to check the movie out for yourself. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania hits theaters worldwide on Feb. 17.
Published: Feb 7, 2023 04:33 pm