Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)

Film and Plot Synopsis

In the film, which officially kicks off phase 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Super-Hero partners Scott Lang and Hope Van Dyne return to continue their adventures as Ant-Man and the Wasp. Together, with Hope’s parents Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne, the family finds themselves exploring the Quantum Realm, interacting with strange new creatures, and embarking on an adventure that will push them beyond the limits of what they thought was possible. (Courtesy of Marvel Studios)

‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ Movie Summary

Years before the events of Ant-Man and the Wasp, Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) struggled to survive in the Quantum Realm. During those days, she encounters an exiled traveler named Kang (Jonathan Majors). Kang’s ship, which will allow him to navigate through time, has been severely damaged. Kang requests that Janet help him repair the ship so that they both can escape the Quantum Realm. Janet helps him to repair it before ultimately realizing that Kang’s underlying desires are one of domination. Before Kang can use his ship to get himself out of the Quantum Realm, Janet removes components from it so that Kang will be stranded.

In the present day, Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) aka Ant-Man has become a minor celebrity due to his involvement in saving the universe from Thanos (Josh Brolin) and his newly released autobiography. His romantic relationship with Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) aka the Wasp is going well, but Scott still carries guilt for the time he lost with his daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton) while he was in prison and trapped in the Quantum Realm himself. Cassie, now a teenager, has become a political activist who wishes to help people who were displaced by the Blip, the temporary erasure from existence for five years due to Thanos. Cassie’s activities have led her to be arrested which Scott is displeased with.
However, Cassie is also a gifted intellect as well. While visiting Hope’s parents, Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and Janet, Cassie reveals to everyone that she has created a device that can establish contact with the Quantum Realm. Cassie is unaware of any living beings in the Quantum Realm. Realizing that this might help Kang escape, Janet immediately acts to shut down the machine, but the message has been received and a portal opens and sucks all five of them into the Quantum Realm. Scott and Cassie are found by a rebel group of natives who are fighting against an oppressive ruler. Hank, Hope, and Janet find a sprawling city where they seek assistance to find their friends and a way home.

Hank, Hope, and Janet are brought before Lord Krylar (Bill Murray), who is a former romantic interest of Janet’s while she lived in the Quantum Realm. Krylar informs Janet that Kang is the present oppressive ruler of the Quantum Realm and attempts to imprison them on his behalf. Hank, Hope, and Janet fight their way out of imprisonment and steal one of Krylar’s ships. In the meantime, Cassie and Scott are told by the rebel leader Jentorra (Katy O’Brian) that Janet’s involvement with Kang is indirectly responsible for his conquering the Quantum Realm. Not long after, the rebel encampment is attacked by Kang enforcer M.O.D.O.K. (Corey Stoll). M.O.D.O.K. is revealed to be a deformed version of Darren Cross who miraculously survived his fight with Ant-Man in the first film. M.O.D.O.K. reveals that he was the one who detected Cassie’s messages. M.O.D.O.K. captures Cassie and Scott and takes them back to Kang’s fortress.

At the same time, Janet confesses her involvement with Kang during her long exile in the Quantum Realm. Janet tells Hank and Hope that she helped Kang rebuild his multiversal power core but used her Pym Particles to enlarge the core beyond use when she discovered Kang’s evil nature. Janet informs her family that Kang had confessed to her that he had been exiled to the Quantum Realm by other variants of him for fear of what he may do. She confesses that her assistance led Kang to regaining some of his powers and taking control of the Quantum Realm.

You think this is new to me? Do you know how many rebellions I put down? How many worlds I’ve conquered? How many Avengers I’ve killed? And you think you can beat me? I am Kang! Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors)

Meanwhile, Cassie and Scott are taken before Kang, who orders Scott to retrieve his power core by using his Pym Particles. Kang threatens to kill Cassie if Scott refuses but offers to give Scott some of his lost time back with his daughter if he cooperates. Kang has Scott taken to the core’s location and Scott shrinks down. While near the core, Scott encounters a probability storm which causes him to continually split into multiple copies of himself for each potential variance in thime. Scott is nearly overwhelmed by the storm until Hope arrives and assists him in collecting the core.

However, once Scott and Hope are out of the probability storm, Kang reneges on the deal. Seeking his revenge, Kang has M.O.D.O.K. capture Janet and destroys Krylar’s ship with Hank still onboard. Hank survives the crash and is rescued by some of his ants who were inadvertently sucked into the Quantum Realm with him. The ants rapidly evolved and became hyper-intelligent as time moved at a different pace for them. Hank reunites with Scott and Hope and the trio makes a plan to take down Kang. At the same time, Cassie rescues Jentorra and becomes involved in the rebel uprising against Kang. During the battle, Cassie makes a connection with M.O.D.O.K. and convinces him to switch sides and fight against Kang.

In Kang’s fortress, Janet fixes the power core to allow her, Hank, Cassie, and Hope to jump back home via a portal. Kang successfully fights off many of the rebels and kills M.O.D.O.K. After fighting the rebel uprising, Kang returns to the fortress and fights Scott. During the fight, Scott reveals that he is not trying to win the fight but delay so that his friends and family can get away. Scott is losing the fight to the much more powerful Kang until Hope returns and turns the tide of the battle. Hope and Scott throw Kang and the Pym Particles into the power core which appears to destroy both. Back in San Francisco, Cassie reopens another portal that allows Hope and Scott to return home.
In the aftermath, Scott returns to his normal life, but is haunted by the words that he was told about Kang’s death being the start of something terrible. However, Scott ultimately sets his worries aside.

In a mid-credits scene, an arena full of Kang variants (all played by Jonathan Majors) meet to discuss their plans for a multiversal uprising. The leader, known as Immortus, states that those responsible for Kang’s death will pay. In a post-credits scene, another Kang variant, Victor Timely (Jonathan Majors), begins to display an experiment that he has created to a crowd of people on Earth in 1901. In the crowd are Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Mobius M. Mobius (Owen Wilson) from the Time Variance Authority (T.V.A.). Loki appears nervous about seeing Timely.