We, like many other fans, attended Marvel’s digital red carpet premiere of Ant-Man and The Wasp’s Quantumania. With loads of exciting moments revealed throughout the night, the event was pretty intense, filled with cosplaying fans, a slew of celebrities, and unique reveals.
And while Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania looks so much more serious film compared to the previous iteration, it’s evident from all the interviews and discussions prior to the movie, just how much of this movie focuses in on Scott and Cassie. All for what’s honestly, a look at their relationship gap in the five years that Scott’s been gone.
There were a few big reveals on the carpet. Like how Peyton Reed was heavily inspired by old science fiction paperbacks, Heavy Metal Magazine, and electron microscope photography, to help cue the development team on how to build the Quantum Realm. Or with Evangeline Lilly, who confirmed that this time around, Hope’s more focused on her immediate family and the micro-level problems of her immediate family.
Katheryn Newton, who still can’t believe that she was even in this movie, similarly also had a character reveal in that apparently, she’ll choose Hank Pym over Scott to be her mentor. Her role in the movie is very much the center of Scott’s goals, with Christophe Beck, the composer of the film sharing that the electronic music of Cassie’s theme is what he’s most proud of… because it’s actually The Ant-Man theme backward!
Early reactions on the carpet and reports of the film’s first receptions have confirmed, that a large chunk of this movie breaks down the quantum realm – even calling the entire Quantumania set up something similar to Star Wars. But the biggest takeaway, is the man playing foil to Scott and Phase 5 of the MCU: the master of time itself, Kang the conqueror. Played by Jonathan Majors, both critics and crew agree, the actor steals the show.
“One of the great joys of designing this and being a designer, when you design a set or world or environment, and the actor just becomes it,” said production designer, Will Htay regarding Majors’ performance. “Jonathan is a very generous man and was thanking me for it. He’s an awesome actor but I think the fans are gonna love seeing, Kang. It’s not he who remains… It’s Kang!”
Some other tweets after the movie premiere regarding Majors and the film’s expectations:
Black Girl Nerds:
#AntManAndTheWaspQuantumania gives some heavy Star Wars vibes! Fantastic performance from Jonathan Majors who is incredible as the big bad villain. Make sure to stay for 2 post credit scenes!
— Jamie Broadnax (@JamieBroadnax) February 7, 2023
Variety:
Had an absolute blast watching #AntManAndTheWaspQuantumania. Creative, irresistibly energetic and filled with some great action sequences. Welcome Jonathan Majors -such a bad ass. The effects are superb. pic.twitter.com/KdVB7qvl2E
— Jazz Tangcay (@jazzt) February 7, 2023
Gizmodo:
The best Star Wars movie since 2018 is #AntManAndTheWaspQuantumania. It’s a huge sci-fi adventure with gorgeous world building that feels almost little un-Marvel in how much world building there is. But it’s got humor, heart, Kang completely rules & Michelle Pfeiffer steals it. pic.twitter.com/vRO2Poko2s
— Germain Lussier (@GermainLussier) February 7, 2023
The Hollywood Reporter:
There comes a point where every franchise has to get weird, and the MCU has done just that with #AntManAndTheWaspQuantumania. Like all his other roles, Jonathan Majors remains endlessly compelling. 👍👍 pic.twitter.com/cxWEcoKTze
— Brian Davids (@PickYourBrian) February 7, 2023
Collider:
Marvel’s #AntManAndTheWaspQuantumania is a strong start to Phase 5. I now understand why it’s called #Quantumania. JonathanMajors is excellent as Kang and cannot wait to see where this all goes. 2 after the credits scenes and both are very good. pic.twitter.com/62Ch3w2O5N
— Steven Weintraub (@colliderfrosty) February 7, 2023
Finally, the Red Carpet event was apparently co-promoted by Marvel Snap, who will be doing a month-long Quantum-Realmed themed season in honor of the premiere. Creator of Marvel Snap, Ben Rhode, was likewise on red carpet, and revealed the debut of a new Kang The Conquerer card, which allows you to rewind time to do over a turn again. They also revealed having different variants including a DJ Kang.
For anyone who wants to see what they missed out from last night’s event, check out the Red Carpet video just below.
