By Sarah Sterling
On Monday night the cast and crew of Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania hit the red carpet to celebrate the third installment in the Ant-Man saga. Since his debut as Scott Lang (aka Ant-Man) in 2015, Paul Rudd has made this often-tiny comic book character into a huge global phenomenon alongside returning co-stars Evangeline Lilly (The Wasp), Michael Douglas (Hank Pym), and Michelle Pfeiffer (Janet van Dyne). The cast’s love and gratitude were palpable as they spoke to the press about Quantumania, the biggest and boldest entry for Ant-Man yet.
Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania follows the whole ant family—Scott Lang; his daughter, Cassie; Hope van Dyne; and her parents, Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne—on a mind-boggling adventure into the Quantum Realm. There, they will encounter a familiar face—Kang, played by Jonathan Majors. But don’t be deceived. This is not He Who Remains from the Disney+ series Loki, but a variant version of Kang that viewers have not met before. Majors had a blast on the red carpet, seeing fans dressed up in Kang cosplay. “It’s cool to see a character you play out in the world like that—that it touches people on a pretty deep level, and they haven’t even seen the movie yet!”
Playing a major role in Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania is Kathryn Newton, as Cassie Lang, who takes center stage as the impetus for the crew’s adventure in the Quantum Realm. As for where her character goes next, Newton said, “I have no idea what’s in store, but I think that there’s a lot of young talent in the world and it’s time for us to all stand up and start doing some great stuff together.” Cassie, along with America Chavez, Kate Bishop, and Riri Williams, represents a new generation of Super Heroes that we can’t wait to see more of. Newton gushed, “Dominique Thorn [who plays Riri Williams] is here tonight and so is Xochitl Gomez [America Chavez]. I’m so happy they came out to support. I just think they’re the coolest.”
The Ant-Man films have often been considered more light-hearted than some other Marvel stories. Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania was an opportunity for director Peyton Reed to deepen the Ant-Man lore and add depth to the characters and high stakes to their story. While there are sure to be plenty of goofs and laughs, the dark and vast Quantum Realm is deadly serious. As Virtual Production Supervisor Ian Milham explained, “[The Quantum Realm] is not just some weird asteroid field; there’s whole cities down there! It’s exciting to be able to help bring all these incredible new places to the Marvel universe.”
Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania officially kicks off Phase 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where we’ll soon see more from old pals including Star-Lord (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, coming in spring 2023) and Captain Marvel (The Marvels, coming in summer 2023), along with new heroes like Blade (fall 2024). But what’s next for our Ant fam? We’ll have to wait and see when Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania officially hits theaters on February 17! If you’re a D23 Gold Member, don’t miss out on discounted tickets to a special fan event screening of the film at the historic El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood. Until then, enjoy our ench-ANT-ing gallery from the world premiere: