After 3 and a half years, the long-absent Marvel movie returned to the mainland big screen. In February just after the Spring Festival, "Black Panther 2" and "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantum Frenzy" (hereinafter referred to as "Ant-Man 3") were relayed.
Compared with the delayed introduction of "Black Panther 2", "Ant-Man 3" is a veritable simultaneous release in mainland North America, and is the beginning of the 5th phase of the Marvel Universe, so it has a "new beginning" significance for fans, the market, and Marvel movie creators.
"Ant-Man 3" carries on the past and the future, especially the main line after "Avengers 4: Endgame", "closes" the scattered and flooded number of film and television works in Marvel's 4th phase, points out the keyword of the subsequent plot - time, and leads to a new villain who can manipulate the timeline at will - Kang the Conqueror.
"Ant-Man 3" tells the story of after the Avengers repelled Thanos, the world returned to normal, and Ant-Man Scott was finally reunited with his daughter Cathy Long. However, Cathy, who is interested in quantum science, accidentally opens the channel, and a family of four, including the original Ant-Man couple and Wasp, are sucked into the quantum world. There, they meet Kang the Conqueror, who is also trapped, and witness the vast empire he has built and his enslavement of the natives of the quantum world. Kang desperately wants to escape the quantum world with the help of Ant-Man's Pym particle, so he kidnaps Cathy to blackmail, and Scott, who loves his daughter, wants to save his daughter on the one hand, and on the other hand, he must do his best to "seal" the demon.
Through the series "Loki", it can be seen that Kang has countless variants in the multiverse, killing each other, and Kang the conqueror in "Ant-Man 3" is a careerist who vainly tries to unify the timeline. For this, he did not hesitate to ruin everything. At the end of the film, although Ant-Man successfully defeats Kang, it also alarms Kang's other variants in the multiverse, and they gather an army to prepare to attack the Avengers - the plot paves the way for the next "Avengers 5".
In this sense, "Ant-Man 3" is a bit similar to "Captain America 3: Civil War" at the beginning of Phase 3, both of which are laying the lead for the phased final war. For this reason, the "Ant-Man" series that filmed the third part is no longer as "petty" as the first two.
The main scene of the film shifts from the real San Francisco to the mysterious quantum world, where there are thousands of strange creatures and indigenous people of different shapes. The film is full of dazzling special effects and scenes like interstellar wars. As an overseas review said, "This is a Marvel movie that most resembles Star Wars." ”
"Ant-Man 3", which embarked on the route of a magnificent blockbuster, has formed a huge deviation from the expectations of fans who love the first two works. Previously, the "Ant-Man" series was the representative of "small and beautiful" in Marvel movies, which did not interact too much with the main line of the Avengers, and the plot revolved around a middle-aged and decadent father who became a hero by chance. Paul Luther, who starred in "Friends", contributed a natural and humorous performance, and he made Ant-Man more like a hero next door.
Now, "Ant-Man 3" has reversed the style of the series, and the "tiny" Ant-Man has to take on the heavy responsibility of confronting the future villain head-on, which inevitably makes people feel too heavy. The likable portrayal of family affection and humorous bridges in the first two films were replaced by visual spectacles, and the emotional resonance decreased. Will this shift result in a larger audience, or will it hurt the series as a whole? This is subject to feedback from the global market.