Each phase of the Infinity Saga felt like an event. Even when Marvel stepped away from the Big three and introduced characters like the Guardians or Ant-Man, we knew it was in service of something. Thanos.
Without both it’s original big bad and some of its heroes the MCU was always facing an uphill battle. But as Phase 4 progressed, my relationship with the MCU fundamentally shifted.
Between most of the films being at best alright and Disney+ shoving so much content down our throats, the shine has gone. Nowadays I don’t watch every MCU entry on release; Wakanda Forever and now Quantumania have both been watched months later. It just doesn’t hold the same sway now. I didn’t even realise that Wakanda Forever was the last film in Phase 4! It just…ended.
Perhaps we chalk Phase 4 up to teething pains; the MCU finding a new rhythm after hitting a mighty crescendo. Perhaps with Peyton Reed and Paul Rudd returning for their own trilogy, we can get some laughs and continuity from an Avenger.
Scott Lang is in a happy place. He’s famous, liked, and he has a family around him. He’s fought his fight and he’s living his life. Until of course things change when his daughter Cassie follows in his footsteps and causes her own trouble.
Unfortunately, Quantumania suffers from one of the worst things a film can be. It’s boring! My wife and and I started upbeat enough. But there was so much talking…and talking…and talking. The playfulness of the first two films is completely absent. In fact pretty much everything that made Ant-Man’s own corner of the MCU unique is missing. No heist, no story so far, no friends. NO LUIS. Scott Lang’s story gets saddled with explaining (possible) new big bad Kang to everyone who hasn’t seen Loki.
Bluntly, Scott Lang isn’t strong enough to hold up a story that is fundamental to how the MCU progresses.
Quantumania is aggressively dull. It may not be outright garbage like Love and Thunder but there many many better ways to spend your time. There’s no growth. The characters don’t sound particularly different to each other. It’s all prelude with no stakes. Not even an admittedly imposing performance from Jonathan Majors can save this.
Two hours of people running through green screen environments. It’s a good thing everyone’s helmets can vanish and reappear instantly, lest they fill their suits with expositional diarrhoea.
One film in, Phase 5 feels exactly like what came before.
Side note – Nanotech is one of the worst things to happen to the MCU. It made sense on Star-Lord (he’s in space). It made sense on Iron Man and Black Panther. But we’re so far away from the ‘bbzzz whiirrrrr’ tangibility of the original Iron Man. There’s no weight to the suits. It’s upsetting that something so cool has been lost.
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