The premiere of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is about a month away, with the film’s press tour already in full swing. We’ve seen plenty of teasers from Marvel about what’s to come in Quantumania, including a big reveal about the film’s main villain, Kang (Jonathan Majors). But Marvel isn’t done hyping Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, with producer Stephan Broussard comparing the sequel to the most consequential Captain America movies: The Winter Soldier and Civil War.
Before we look at these comments from Marvel, you should know that spoilers might follow below.
Why Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania isn’t like the first movies
Fans of the MCU won’t necessarily have such high expectations from a franchise that has delivered a comedic take on superhero stories so far.
Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) is a legitimate Avenger after the events in Endgame. And, as we saw in Ms. Marvel, he’s a well-known one, appearing on podcasts and talking about his life as a superhero.
Lang was instrumental in the Avengers achieving their big win in Endgame. He accidentally came across the time travel concept by getting stuck in the Quantum Realm when Thanos (Josh Brolin) snapped his fingers in Infinity War. But that finding was enough to allow Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) to develop a safe way of traveling through the multiverse.
That said, Ant-Man has never had to face a big enemy on his own. And Marvel teased time and again that Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will change that. Kang is the kind of villain that will require a massive effort from the Avengers in The Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars. Until then, Ant-Man and the Wasp will have to deal with him.
Comparing Quantumania to Civil War
The fact that Ant-Man will fight Kang in Quantumania is enough to make you want to watch this movie. It’s immediately clear that Ant-Man 3 will impact the MCU as a whole, including other multiverse stories. It will also lead directly into Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars.
That’s the point Broussard made when comparing Quantumania to the Captain Americas. The producer worked on The First Avenger and Ant-Man 2, so he knows these franchises well. Per Murphy’s Multiverse, Broussard teased the similarities between Quantumania, Winter Soldier, and Civil War in a press release for the upcoming sequel:
Quantumania is a stand-alone movie with a storyline that will have a significant impact on the future of the MCU. We talk about movies like Captain America: The Winter Soldier, in which you saw the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D., and it felt like the entirety of the MCU turned on that.
Captain America: Civil War was another film where you saw heroes divided and in camps and battle lines being drawn—it really felt like the future of the MCU was going to be defined by the action of that film. We really liked the idea of making this Ant-Man film as important and integral to the MCU going forward.
I said this before, and I’ll always adhere to it; any Infinity War + Endgame rewatch party has to start with Civil War. Going through that emotional adventure makes Infinity War and Endgame infinitely better.
It’ll be interesting to see whether Quantumania will become the must-rewatch movie that Civil War is. Thankfully, we only have to wait until February 17th to find out.
