The Marvel adventure, which would take almost 20 years, changed direction with a brand new idea. Marvel, who wants to create a fresh Thanos story through parallel universes, unfortunately, cannot present this fresh idea correctly with decreased quality due to the increasing content. Even its audience is complaining, and Kevin Feige has accepted the situation. Personally, although I was very fond of the idea of multi-verse at the beginning, I have to say, that the point we have reached now does not satisfy me either. Like everyone else, I was looking forward to meeting Kang, the new supervillain. After his introduction in Loki, it really caught my attention. However, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania cannot offer continuity to fill the expectations. Although the film is visually impressive, unfortunately, it loses its impressiveness when it comes to plot-storytelling and character design.
Let’s briefly touch on the subject… When the portal to the quantum world built by Ant-Man’s daughter Cassandra Lang attracts the attention of a secret name inside the quantum realm, the Lang family suddenly finds themself inside. Trying to survive under the guidance of Janet, who spent years in the quantum realm, the family also learns the truths Janet has been hiding from them in turn. The quantum realm is home to a conqueror who can’t wait to get out.
Especially with his performance in Loki, Jonathan Majors exceeded my expectations. Its confusing dialogues and the not-so-human nature of its “other” variants in parallel universes laid the foundation for a whole new story of destruction. It should have been Marvel’s primary duty to answer the question of how this so-called “conqueror” earned his label. The failure here, unfortunately, makes the film nothing more than visual clamor.
Especially for villains, an entire backstory and a well-directed motivation are the secrets to success. We have many examples in this regard. Unfortunately, Kang doesn’t have any of these. His backstory is rather murky, his powers are unclear, and his motivation is problematic. It is unclear on what basis and with what force Kang established a massive empire in the quantum realm. The answer “His outfit is so strong” has no basis. It is not clear on what basis he reached his motivation. I understand that we will see the real Kang and his motivation in the second season of Loki. This choice, unfortunately, caused him to remain dull and irrelevant in the movie in which he was first and wholly introduced.
I can explain better with an example. Thanos also came into our lives all of a sudden. Yet we always knew from post-Credit scenes that he was coming, that there was always a threat from his armies attacking New York. Even DC has successfully conveyed that the danger of Darkseid is approaching, no matter how unsuccessful it is in establishing a universe. Thanos came into our lives in the first seconds of Infinity War and showed his power and magnificence by beating the Hulk, who was said impossible to topple in the first minutes. Thanos managed to convey his ideas and thoughts many times in the movie with the fatwas of his men with a cultist approach, such as Proxima and Ebony Maw, and the statements he made with his own mouth. So much so that he was a logically speaking villain that even divided the audience. He had the right motivation from his perspective and convinced us of that.
Kang, unfortunately, cannot convince the audience about anything. As a Marvel audience, I get bored when I can’t find anything in the story. I personally don’t impress upon the IMAX screen with so many strange creatures mingling with each other. Because there must be a reason for this chaos, and the movie fails to establish that reason. Unfortunately, this failure cannot set the basis of the Multi-verse war, which will bring the end of the 20-year-old universe. The cool name doesn’t do justice to its name. And that gives the impression that Marvel, moving toward the finale, will have a bad ending.
To sum it up… Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is a visually stunning piece, but it unsuccessfully introduces Kang, the new villain that everyone has been looking forward to. We encounter an ambiguous, irrelevant, and unmotivated villain. While the film cannot contribute to the universe’s future, it also undermines the excitement for future projects. I lost all my curiosity about Kang with this movie. I hope we will be able to love Kang again, whom we will meet again in the second season of Loki, and we will obviously get to know him much better. For now, Kang couldn’t even give half of Thanos’ excitement.
Cast & Crew
director: Peyton Reed
writers: Jeff Loveness, Stan Lee, Larry Lieber
starring: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas, Michelle Pfeiffer, Jonathan Majors, Kathryn Newton, Bill Murray
USA | 2023 | 124 MINUTES |