• Darren Cross ends by sarcastically suggesting that he passed away as an Avenger.
• 3 (2023) are to be believed, James Gunn’s final Marvel movie is certain to have some high stakes.
• Despite the situation, it’s expected to be a very emotional finish.

The absence of suspense or stakes in their stand-alone tales is one of Marvel Studios‘ biggest mistakes with most of their films, which is regrettably the case for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023). With the third Ant-Man movie, the fifth phase of the MCU and the second third of the Multiverse Saga have officially begun. In addition to being the least well-liked movie in the trilogy, Quantumania also has some of the lowest review aggregate scores in the whole series, second only to Eternals (2021).

The film’s shocking lack of witty humor, underused characters, forgettable story, and other problems make Quantumania one of the MCU’s poorer entries, despite the fact that Jonathan Majors gives a promising performance as the next Marvel villain, Kang the Conqueror.

The biggest flaw in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, though, is one that plagues all of Marvel’s ventures going forward: a glaring absence of stakes and repercussions. The heroes of these stories appear to have an infinite supply of narrative armour, which means they don’t seem to ever be at risk of death, serious hurt, or major consequences, as we’ve seen in too many of the MCU movies outside of the Avengers series.

In most cases, it’s a minor irritation that can be overlooked if the plot is compelling enough, but in Quantumania, it stands out as a serious issue given that Kang the Conqueror is being promoted as the successor to Thanos (Josh Brolin). Even if Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) is a hero that Kang can’t even remember if he killed or not, such a powerful and dangerous being as him has devastated entire timelines and massacred many iterations of the Avengers.

While we don’t always advocate for reality in our regular doses of Marvel, it is difficult to accept that Ant-Man and his family managed to escape Kang with only minor injuries.

Kang was not supposed to survive Scott.

 Kang being the major antagonist of an Ant-Man movie looked strange from the time production plans for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania became public knowledge. Kang? A entity from the multiverse’s future with cutting-edge technology that can instantly destroy life forms. Ant-Man? He may contract and expand.

It’s undoubtedly an odd pairing, and perhaps that was the intention. Due to the other more well-known heroes in the MCU, such as Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and James Rhodes (Don Cheadle), often making fun of “regular-sized man,” Ant-Man has traditionally been seen as a bit of a joke character. The fact that Scott Lang was able to defeat such a powerful foe as Kang may be intended to demonstrate how much the character has advanced from his 2015 screen debut, concluding his transformation from comedic relief punching bag to a dependable full-fledged leader. On theory, that makes sense, but Scott’s victory over Kang still seems unjustified and unfair in the end.

Kang bears some of the blame for not simply killing Scott the moment he had the chance. He went from practically destroying dozens of soldiers to talking Scott and his family to death before being attacked by some tech-head ants. Kang can’t even hold his own against Scott in a fistfight.

The argument is that Scott had to experience something in this film for Kang to appear more dangerous. The most extreme option would be to have Scott killed, the middle option would be to keep Scott and Hope (Evangeline Lilly) imprisoned in the Quantum Realm, and the least extreme option would be to have Scott suffer a serious injury. Instead, Scott escapes Kang’s perils unharmed, leaving the supposedly formidable Conqueror—who was defeated by the person in charge of the ants—to struggle to earn intimidation points.

The Wrong Avenger Was Killed by “Quantumania”

Quantumania not only spares the individuals who need to suffer the repercussions, but the one character it does choose to murder off is one we’d like to see a lot more of. The surprising reappearance of Ant-original Man’s adversary, Darren Cross, is undoubtedly another noteworthy excellent aspect of the movie (Corey Stoll). After surviving his initial confrontation with Scott, the monster once known as Yellowjacket transformed into the lethal (and amusing) M.O.D.O.K., a Mechanized Organism Designed Only for Killing. It’s great to watch Stoll chew the scenery once more on screen, and the movie really captures the iconic character’s mix of self-awareness and humour at its core.

That is why it is upsetting that M.O.D.O.K. was killed off. A redemption storyline for Cross is suddenly introduced during his chat with Cassie (Kathryn Newton), the little girl he had kept hostage. Sounds like it might make for an interesting tale to follow when Kang eventually makes his appearance. We’ll never know since M.O.D.O.K.’s atonement is hurried forward as he makes a sacrifice for the story’s climax.

Quantumania kills off one character who has traditionally engaged in conflict with numerous people in comic books and has a much greater possibility for future storylines despite the fact that the film featured five major protagonists and three secondary characters who may have suffered comparable outcomes. Darren Cross ends by sarcastically suggesting that he passed away as an Avenger. That might have been the case if he had lived to appear in a few more movies.

We’re not talking about killing off a random henchman who could have developed into a more intriguing character when we say we want bigger stakes and repercussions in these movies.

With “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” there is still hope for the MCU to have higher stakes.

 It’s disappointing that the beginning of Marvel’s newest era turned out to be insignificant, regardless of if our expectations for a more serious and risky plot in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania were unwarranted or not. Yet, if the early reviews for the eagerly anticipated Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023) are to be believed, James Gunn’s final Marvel movie is certain to have some high stakes.

 Not only will this be Gunn’s final movie, but we also know that some performers, like Dave Bautista, will no longer appear in MCU productions. With that information, we can only assume that Drax and probably a few additional characters will either receive a fitting send-off or be murdered out. The Guardians movies are among the MCU’s funniest flicks, but they are also among the most sad and sincere, with Yondu’s (Michael Rooker) death being one of the best sacrifices in the entire franchise and having a particularly strong impact.

The Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 cast and crew couldn’t help but shed a few tears while talking about the movie, even at Comic-Con. Despite the situation, it’s expected to be a very emotional finish. If the Marvel Cinematic Universe is to be the dominant success that it first was, that emotion—whether it is brought about by suffering, loss, or consequence—must be present.

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