“Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” is the new MCU film and the start of Phase 5.
So let’s find out some trivia and facts about the film.
- Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is a 2023 American superhero film
- It is based on Marvel Comics
- The film features the characters Scott Lang / Ant-Man and Hope Pym / Wasp
- Produced by Marvel Studios
- Distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
- It is the sequel to Ant-Man (2015) and Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
- It marks the 31st film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)
- The film was directed by Peyton Reed
- It was written by Jeff Loveness
- In the film stars Paul Rudd as Scott Lang and Evangeline Lilly as Hope van Dyne
- Alongside Jonathan Majors, Kathryn Newton, David Dastmalchian, Katy O’Brian, William Jackson Harper, Bill Murray, Michelle Pfeiffer, Corey Stoll, and Michael Douglas
- In the film, Lang and Van Dyne are transported to the Quantum Realm along with their family and face Kang the Conqueror (Majors)
- Plans for a third Ant-Man film were confirmed in November 2019
- With Reed and Rudd returning. Loveness was hired by April 2020
- Development on the film beginning during the COVID-19 pandemic
- The film’s title and new cast members were announced in December 2020
- Filming in Turkey began in early February 2021
- While additional filming occurred in San Francisco in mid-June
- Ahead of principal photography starting at the end of July at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire and ending in November
- Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania premiered in Los Angeles on February 6, 2023
- It was released worldwide on February 17, 2023
- It is the first film in Phase Five of the MCU
- The film received mixed reviews from critics
- Ahead of the release of Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018), director Peyton Reed said there were elements of that film that leave “a lot to play with” in a potential third film in the franchise
- He highlighted the Quantum Realm, which was introduced in Ant-Man (2015) and explored further in Ant-Man and the Wasp; Reed said they were “just dipping our toes into it” for the previous films
- Reed added that he and Marvel Studios were hopeful about a third film and had discussed potential story points for such a sequel
- In February 2019, Hank Pym actor Michael Douglas confirmed that informal discussions regarding a sequel to Ant-Man and the Wasp had taken place
- Though by that time Evangeline Lilly had not heard of any plans for her character Hope van Dyne / Wasp following her role in Avengers: Endgame (2019)
- Lilly stated that “Hope is mid-journey. I don’t see her journey as being over by any stretch”
- That October, Michelle Pfeiffer expressed interest in reprising her role of Janet van Dyne in a sequel
- While Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige was asked about the future of Paul Rudd’s Scott Lang / Ant-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) following Endgame
- Feige responded that “the chess pieces were arranged very purposefully” at the end of that film, with some taken “off the board” and others, like Ant-Man, “still on [the board, so] you never know”
- Rudd was asked whether he would be returning to the role, either in a third Ant-Man film or as part of another hero’s MCU franchise
- He said that both of those options had been discussed
- Reed officially signed on to direct a third Ant-Man film at the start of November 2019
- Rudd was set to star as Lang,[3] with Lilly and Douglas also returning
- Filming was scheduled to begin in January 2021 for a likely release date in 2022
- Reed was hired again, despite Marvel’s interest in new filmmakers bringing different takes to their heroes for each film, because executives felt he had “a real grasp on the Ant-Man universe and want[ed] to see him return to wrap up his trilogy”
- Jeff Loveness was hired to write the script for the film during “the early days of Hollywood’s shutdown” due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and he had begun working on the screenplay by April 2020
- At that point, it was no longer clear when production would begin on the film due to the effects of the pandemic on all film productions
- In August 2020, Reed confirmed that development on the film was continuing during the pandemic
- He said that Lilly would continue to get equal billing in the film alongside Rudd as she is “a very, very important part” of the partnership between Ant-Man and the Wasp
- Despite rumors that her role would be reduced following controversial comments about the pandemic
- Reed added that the story for the film had been “cracked”, though “nothing [was] official yet”
- Reed said the third film would be a “bigger, more sprawling movie than the first two [with] a very different visual template”
- Reed stated they wanted to further explore the Quantum Realm in the film as a “massive world-building undertaking”
- He compared its design to electron microscope photography, the Heavy Metal magazine issues of the 1970s and 1980s and his favorite science fiction cover artists such as Jean Giraud for fantastical realism
- Marvel Studios producer Brian Gay said the film would “feel like a real departure” from the first two Ant-Man films and be a big adventure
- Fellow Marvel Studios executive Stephen Broussard was producing the film alongside Feige
- In January 2023, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was projected to earn $120 million in North America over the four-day Presidents’ Day opening weekend
- The following month, it was projected to debut to $105-110 million domestically and $280 million globally on its opening weekend
- The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 48%
- With an average rating of 5.7/10
- Based on 290 reviews
- The site’s critics consensus reads: “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania mostly lacks the spark of fun that elevated earlier adventures, but Jonathan Majors’ Kang is a thrilling villain poised to alter the course of the MCU”
- On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 48 out of 100
- Based on 59 critics
- Indicating “mixed or average reviews”
- Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of “B” on an A+ to F scale
- This is down from the “A” and “A-” earned by the first and second films, respectively
- Early data from PostTrak reported 75% of audience members gave the film a positive score
- With 60% saying they would definitely recommend it
- Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania received a nomination for Best Music Supervision in a Trailer – Film at the 2023 Guild of Music Supervisors Awards
- In June 2015, Reed proposed a prequel film focused on a younger version of Hank Pym, an idea that Douglas expressed interest in by June 2018
- In February 2023, Douglas said he would be interested in returning for a fourth film if Pym died in it, while Broussard said that he had started to discuss a potential fourth film with Feige and Reed
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