Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania Moments That Upset Fans The Most
"Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" finds Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and his daughter, Cassie (Kathyrn Newton) as they are adjusting to life after the Blip. After Cassie creates a communication device that can interact the Quantum Realm so the family can further study it, a malfunction causes Scott, Cassie, Hope (Evangeline Lilly), Hank (Michael Douglas), and Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer) to be sucked out of our dimension and into the Quantum Realm. While down there, the two families have to navigate their way out and survive the wrath of Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors), who is also seeking an escape from the Quantum Realm.
Though there has been a lot of anticipation surrounding the film and the introduction of Kang, "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" has not received the best reviews. There were many bright spots, namely Rudd and Majors' top-tier performances, as well as a refreshing amount of emotional depth and more exploration of Janet's past. However, the film does not hold up to some of its MCU predecessors — or even other films in the "Ant-Man" series.
Fans were particularly upset about some of the plot points, characters, and lack of explanation surrounding events in the film. Here are nine of the moments in "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" that upset fans the most.
Quantum Realm rules
The first big issue fans took with "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" is the lack of Quantum Realm rules. The entire premise of the Quantum Realm is that it is an unknown location seemingly ruled by chaos. However, the film tries to reflect this by letting a bunch of unexplainable things happen and not giving the audience any sort of explanation for the events. While a few things were explained — like how the "ooze" let the characters understand every language if consumed — that just left the other aspects of the Quantum journey that were not even touched on even more confusing.
For example, how could humans breathe air in a subatomic atmosphere? It makes sense that the creatures who live down there have adapted to their surroundings, but when Scott and company head to the Quantum Realm, they can all breathe the air without their suits. Twitter user @aabacadabra wondered how breathing was even possible if the Quantum Realm is smaller than air molecules.
That said, another fan took to Twitter to defend the film's logic. @KDude22 explained that since we don't understand the Quantum Realm in the same way we understand the multiverse, "I feel like the rules of the multiverse are understandable bc it's 'our' universe, but the Quantum Realm is a place that's beyond the amount of theories we can even come up with."
MODOK's entire existence
One of the biggest gags of the film is the introduction of MODOK, which stands for Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing. The man behind MODOK turns out to be a face that "Ant-Man" fans will recognize from the franchise — Darren (Corey Stoll). Making Darren the person inside the mechanism is a decent enough idea, especially since Marvel films love to bring back familiar faces. However, the character ultimately ends up being little more than a big joke and not much of a threat at all.
What's more, the CGI for MODOK is incredibly bad, to the point of being distracting. Twitter user @RogersBase said, "There's LOTS of questionable CGI in this one. MODOK in particular looked atrocious." Though the character is definitely supposed to be hard to look at, there is no scenario in which he is supposed to be this ridiculous.
The character's visual representation makes it impossible to view him as a threat, too — even more so because of the random, unnecessary nude shot the audience is surprised by when he is being fastened into his machinery. @Fugitold asked, "What did I do to deserve seeing MODOK butt naked?" MODOK is good for a few laughs but is otherwise mostly a frustrating and forgettable character because of the poor CGI and the unnecessary nudity.
The rip-off cantina scene
When Scott and his cohorts are pulled into the Quantum Realm, they immediately get separated. This leaves Scott and Cassie searching for Hank, Janet, and Hope. Having spent 30 years in the Quantum Realm, Janet knows the most out of all of them and is their best bet to navigate their way through the chaotic environment. Janet leads Hank and Hope to a bar of sorts, and fans of the "Star Wars" franchise may feel familiar with this setting — especially because of its distinct similarities to the Mos Eisley cantina in "Star Wars: A New Hope."
In "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania," creatures of all kinds are seen drinking together at the bar — just like in the cantina scene in "A New Hope." This led some fans to believe that the bar scene was further proof that "Quantumania" was trying a little too hard to be like "Star Wars." Twitter user @JessTheWanted was upset about the similarities and tweeted, "Why was Quantumania just a weird Star Wars rip off?!?! MCU baby, what is you doing"
Another Twitter user, @WahLauWeh, noticed some similarities between another popular MCU film, writing, "Quantum realm is basically star wars x guardians of the galaxy." Though the creatures are not the same, and there are certainly some unique elements, the energized music and overall setting were too similar to the famous cantina scene for many viewers.
Scott watching Cassie get tortured
One consistent theme throughout all of the "Ant-Man" films is Scott's love for his daughter, Cassie. Their relationship is Scott's motivation for everything he does in his life, and Scott does not hesitate to put himself in harm's way if it means ensuring Cassie's safety. This is no different in "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania."
When Cassie and Scott are captured by Kang, Scott is asked to use the Pym Particles to fix the energy source for Kang's ship so he can escape the Quantum Realm. However, Scott refuses to do this because he does not want to help Kang and act against Janet's instructions. Kang tries to torture Scott to get him to change his mind, but he does not budge. His opinion quickly changes, though, when Kang begins to torture Cassie and threatens to kill her.
Kang torturing Cassie, though not totally unexpected, is a low blow. Nothing in the world is more important to Scott than Cassie, which is made clear by the scene where all of the Scott possibilities are working together to acquire the energy source only in an effort to save Cassie. Twitter user @holywiccan writes, "The 'for Cassie' scene with Scott's probability variants forming an anthill had me bawling." Fans agree that Scott's love for Cassie is the best part of the "Ant-Man" series, making the fact that he has to watch her in pain all the more upsetting.
Kang's lack of power in the finale
Perhaps the most frustrating part of "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" is the anticlimactic third act, which finally showcases Kang's power. Throughout the film, Kang is portrayed as this ominously powerful being. He can kill on command and has seemingly unlimited strength that comes from his helmet and suit. Beyond that, he does not hesitate to show this power off when he wants to get his way. It makes sense that when Kang fights Scott the two are evenly matched — after all, Kang's suit is damaged and Scott's suit is still intact. However, before Kang's suit is broken, it is ultimately the ants and MODOK that take him down, which seems a bit silly.
Twitter user @Chico_DeLarge wrote, "Kang got his a** beat by a group of ANTS and y'all calling him terrifying? Nah #quantumania is a whole L. Man melted a whole army and forgot he had powers as soon as the main characters pulled up." The ants were pretty advanced, as Hank explains, but it doesn't really seem like that — even combined with MODOK's sneak attack — would be even remotely enough to beat the man who has killed several Avengers. The way that Kang is ultimately defeated ends up feeling more like a cop-out than a well-deserved victory.
Scott and Hope's ending rescue
At the end of the film, Janet is able to open the portal to get everyone home, but they have to move quickly. Hank and Janet jump through, followed by Hope. However, Scott pushes Cassie through but stays back to keep Kang from getting out, leading to an intense battle. When it seems like all hope is lost for Scott making it back, Hope crashes through the portal at the last second and helps Scott take down Kang. However, the portal closes, and Scott and Hope are left in the Quantum Realm. That is, they are left there for all of two seconds when Cassie reopens the portal, allowing Hope and Scott to escape.
The situation seems incredibly anticlimactic, with no stakes or consequences that have any impact on the characters. They defeat Kang, but instead of getting stuck there, giving Cassie and her grandparents a chance to try to get them out over time, they are immediately able to make it home. Twitter user @wicklingstan wrote, "The movie would've felt more consequential if Hope/Scott were stuck in the quantum realm."
It makes sense how Cassie was able to quickly open the portal, but the pacing felt off. Even a brief scene of Cassie panicking and trying to reconnect the device would have added some needed drama to the situation. To have Hope and Scott's sacrifices for their loved ones mean virtually nothing, as they are saved immediately, is frustrating and narratively unsatisfying.
Not enough Hope
One of the biggest criticisms comes from the film's lack of Hope content. There is a lot of room made for Paul Rudd's Scott Lang to tap into the plot and his emotional depth, while Jonathan Majors' Kang the Conquerer steals the show. Michelle Pfeiffer dives into her role as Janet because she guides the family through the Quantum Realm. However, Hope, and actress Evangeline Lilly, is shoved to the side in favor of these other characters. Fans found this pretty disappointing — especially since the film is supposed to be "Ant-Man and the Wasp," not just "Ant-Man."
Twitter user @dontcallmecorn said it best, "Evangeline Lilly as Wasp in#Quantumania felt nonexistent or maybe I can articulate it by saying she was there physically yet her presence wasn't felt." @HiltonCollins theorized that Lilly might've been shoved to the sidelines because of her anti-vaccination views, which she publicly talked about during the coronavirus pandemic. However, as the same user points out, Letitia Wright, who took the lead in "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever," has the same views and is in nearly every scene of her film.
No matter what the reason, it is clear that the Wasp is much less of a priority in this film and seemingly in the MCU in general. Lilly has a lot of talent and brings a lot to the scenes she is in, but she is not in nearly as many as she should be for it to be considered an "Ant-Man and the Wasp" film.
The best parts were the mid/post credit scenes
Part of the problem with the poor reception of "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" is that the entirety of the film pales in comparison to the mid and post-credit scenes. The film wraps up perfectly with a bow, but the mid-credit scene and post-credit scene give the audience something to be excited about for future movies.
The mid-credit scene features the council of Kang variants coming together after learning that the Kang who has been banished to the Quantum Realm Kang has died. The audience gets an idea of just how much power this collection of Kangs can bring, making it very threatening. The post-credit scene, though, is even more exciting. Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Mobius (Owen Wilson) show up seeking out Kang, looking very afraid of him. Both scenes are teasers regarding what Kang will do to impact every aspect of the MCU.
Many Twitter users took to the app to talk about how the best part of the movie came in the post-credit scene and that even the mid-credit scene had more intrigue than the rest of the film. The bottom line is that it is not a good sign when the mid and post-credit scenes seem more significant than the movie itself. Of course, the plus side is that both the scenes were amazing, so at least fans have that.
Recasting Cassie
Though this is not a specific moment from the film, we would be remiss if we did not mention how upset fans were upon the recasting of Cassie. Though everyone knew young Cassie from the first couple of films would be recast because of the blip, Kathryn Newton was not supposed to be Cassie. The role was supposed to be played by Emma Fuhrmann, a young actress who played Cassie for a brief scene in "Avengers: Endgame." Her emotional depth and resemblance to Rudd's Scott Lang were evident from just a short scene with the two of them — so why did Newton play Cassie?
When Fuhrmann was cast, Cassie's role was just a small, bit part for one film. Now that Cassie has been given a more important role in the MCU, the casting team at Marvel opted for someone with more experience and a more recognizable name. Unfortunately, Fuhrmann was not told of this change directly, and many fans weren't happy. In a Twitter post, @PoorlyAgedWho wrote, "Emma Furhmann, Cassie's actress from Endgame, was robbed of the chance of a lifetime and found out about it the exact same way we all did – through the announcement on social media. They didn't even tell her."
The way it was handled is devastating and leaves fans wondering if Fuhrmann would have been the better choice for Cassie.