Review: ‘Quantumania’ is a

By GRIFFIN ARNOLD Staff Writer

Imagine putting the CGI from “Spy-Kids: 3D" or “Sharkboy and Lavagirl” and sprinkling in everything wrong with the recent “Star Wars” sequels. You would get something close to “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.” Marvel Studios’ launch into phase five of its Marvel Cinematic Universe is lackluster, boring and uninspired.

For those who haven’t been keeping up with the myriad of movies, television shows, books, post credit scenes, random cameos in cereal boxes or the 20 other vehicles Marvel is using to tell their stories: in this installment, the multiverse is under attack by a mysterious man named Kang the Conqueror. Similar to Thanos, Kang will be the MCU’s next big baddie, and with his frankly horrible introduction to the big screen … who cares?

“Quantumania” takes place right after the events of “Endgame” with Scott Lang, his girlfriend Hope, his daughter Cassie, and a few more recognizable faces traversing the Quantum Realm. For the uninitiated: this is the magical dimension where Janet van Dyne was stuck in for the last 30 years and was ultimately saved from in “Ant-Man and the Wasp.” While in the Quantum Realm, Scott and his family meet different factions of people who were left to ruin after Janet was taken back to Earth. The family then has to stop Kang from his plans to leave the Quantum Realm and destroy other timelines.

The cast was mediocre, now “Quantumania.” As these films don’t have a very strong connection to one another, it begs the question when and how Marvel will start to connect the dots.

The first connective tissue beginning to tie the movies together is the “Quantumania” villain Kang the Conqueror. For some backstory, Kang’s true identity is Nathaniel Richards, a descendant of both Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four and Doctor Doom. Living in the 31st Century, Nathaniel Richards discovered time travel and the existence of the multiverse, and become the conqueror seen in “Quantumania.”

Kang is slated to appear next in “Loki” season 2 and “Avengers: Kang Dynasty” for certain, but there has been speculation as to where else he may appear before the next big Avengers event, such as “Moon Knight” season 2, “What If…?” season 2, “Deadpool 3,” or “Fantastic Four.”

Along with Kang, the younger heroes Marvel has introduced throughout phase four may be part of the plan to start connecting the films together. The additions of Cassie Lang, America Chavez, Peter Parker, Kate Bishop, Riri

Williams, Billy and Tommy Maximoff and more hint towards a Young Avengers line up to be seen in the near future.

Of course, all of these films and TV shows are building up towards another “Endgame” level event. In just two short years, Marvel will attempt to recreate the success they had with the Infinity Saga by releasing “Avengers: Kang Dynasty” and “Avengers: Secret Wars” just six months apart.

Many question, though, if Marvel will be able to recreate that success at all. As fans complain of predictable plots, an overuse of commputergenerated imagery, priority of quantity over quality and poorly written characters, it’s unclear whether Marvel will be able to get the fanbase back in their favor enough to drum up the same excitement towards the next big crossover.

The next film installment of Phase Five will be “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” releasing on May 5. Highly anticipated, this film will hopefully give more insight on the direction of phase five and begin to make it clear where the fans stand on the development of the Multiverse Saga.