Warning: This article contains spoilers for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
Ant-Man has been one of the lighter characters of the MCU ever since his arrival on the scene. Perhaps this has been down to the somewhat less-than-fear-inducing name or the fantastic casting of comedic actor Paul Rudd. This has meant that his films have felt a little lighter than other MCU offerings, but with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, though, this looked set to change.
Immediately from his on-screen introduction audiences were aware that Scott Lang, a.k.a. Ant-Man, was going to be a lighthearted comedic character compared to say, Captain America (Mr. “I can do this all day”) or Iron Man (suffering from intense PTSD and anxiety). Despite trying to fake out the audience by introducing us to the character mid-prison beat down the scene was played for laughs, which immediately set the tone for the rest of the film going forward. This was the case for both Ant-Man films, which were much lighter and had lower stakes than other MCU projects at the time.
This seemed to be how Marvel Studios was balancing itself to make sure it didn’t veer too far in one direction, by offering up lighter comedies with mid-level stakes followed by films with a little more tension to them. In Phase Four, though, it does feel like almost everything took a turn for the comedic. Sure, the series and movies have been very enjoyable, but it feels like a certain level of gravitas has been missing.
Now, of course, there are outliers; WandaVision and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever were perhaps some of the most gut-wrenching and emotional offerings that the MCU has produced, given that they dealt with loss and grief in an almost painful way. However, it does feel that, overall, the comedy has been ramped up almost to a cringey level such as in the highly divisive Thor: Love and Thunder. But did this change in the studio’s newest offering?
Given that this was the introduction of Kang the Conqueror, fans were almost certain that we were going to see the end of one of our main protagonists, with many theorizing that Scott himself was going to perish. Everyone believed that this is the Kang we should fear, and Jonathan Majors did a phenomenal job of making the character rather menacing, but the end was not quite what we were expecting.
Even though the final fight left Ant-Man bloodied and a little broken (did he or did he not break his arm?) with the help of The Wasp, Kang was defeated, in a move that shocked many. All our heroes get away and it leaves the film feeling a little… underwhelming. The trailer led us to believe the stakes were high and the ending really didn’t meet expectations.
There are repercussions, and a setup for Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, as the Council of Kang is now aware that there are those out there capable of standing up to their might, and retaliation is on the horizon. Though Scott may not be sure of what is to come, he is left with the sinking feeling that defeating Kang could have been a mistake, but he jovially shakes it off and carries on with his daily life.
Of course, the film had comical moments, many in fact, but it didn’t quite go as hard or daft as Love and Thunder where every other line was a joke. There were moments of true danger and tension within the film, most of which were down to Majors’ and Michelle Pfieffer’s performances. To end the film tip-toeing between Scott’s carefree attitude and his growing concern may indicate where the MCU is heading tone-wise, but it’s too hard to predict entirely based on Quantumania.
This also seems to be the case when it comes to the trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3, which paints a much darker picture for the characters compared to their prior outings. The trailers have left fans very worried for their heroes’ safety, with many predicting that some of the characters are not going to survive their next film. It has been confirmed that Vol. 3 is the end for the Guardians as we know them, with the franchise’s director, James Gunn, having officially made a home over at DC Studios.
With all this in mind, it’s easy to think that Marvel is potentially moving away a little from the over-the-top comedy that has been met with some criticism over the last few years. Though humor will always be a part of the MCU and is what makes it so entertaining to watch, it may be time to balance it out a little by introducing some grit and a little more edge.