"Coming after the Avengers movies, phrases like ‘palate cleanser’ had been thrown around about the Ant-Man movies," producer Stephen Broussard tells Total Film in the new issue of the magazine, featuring Oppenheimer on the cover. Look back and sure enough, 2015’s Ant-Man directly followed Avengers: Age of Ultron and Ant-Man and the Wasp similarly came just a few months after the epic Avengers: Infinity War in 2018, when purple baddie Thanos threatened global extinction. But this time it’s different. "[We felt] if we’re getting a chance at part three, we want the film to be big and feel central to the future of the MCU."
As the curtain-raiser to Marvel Phase 5, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is exactly that. The story sees everyone’s favorite ant-sized hero Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) sucked back into the sub-atomic alternate dimension better known as the Quantum Realm after his daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton) sends a signal there. Joining them will be Hope van Dyne (Evangline Lilly), AKA Wasp, and her parents Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) – who, probably much to her annoyance, only just got out of the Quantum Realm after 30 years stranded there.
While the Quantum Realm was previously glimpsed on screen, this is a chance to fully explore this secret universe beneath our own. "It feels like a place you haven’t been to before in the MCU," says Broussard, "full of people and characters and worlds and politics and history."
Chief among those people will be Kang The Conqueror, already lined up to be the MCU’s next major villain for 2025’s Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. "He is very powerful, very formidable, very strong, and will have, obviously, an ongoing presence, à la Thanos in the stories, going forward in ways that are different from Thanos and feel very fresh to us,” adds Broussard.
For more on Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and the future of Marvel, pick up a copy of Total Film’s 2023 Preview issue, fronted by Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. You can pre-order here, and the magazine will be available in shops and on digital newsstands from Thursday, December 15. And the print version of this new issue comes with a special 52-page supplement counting down the best films, must-see moments, and breakout stars of 2022.
And if you’re a fan of Total Film, why not subscribe so that you never miss an issue? You get the magazine (and any special supplements) delivered to your door before it's in shops, and you’ll save money on the cover price. Plus, with our current subscription offer, you can get a free pair of EarFun Air wireless earbuds worth £55. What are you waiting for? Subscribe now at Magazines Direct. (Ts and Cs apply.)
