The first Ant-Man is arguably the lightest of the MCU movies in both plot and tone (the Guardians films, for all their sass, still feature some undeniably heavy moments), and the sequel has a similar playfulness. But he’s also concerned with ensuring that his former accomplices – Luis (Michael Pena), Dave (T.I.), and Kurt (David Dastmalchian) – get a shot at rehabilitation, too. While Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) are willing to go to any lengths to reunite with their family’s long-lost matriarch, Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer, who’s radiant but underutilized), Scott’s top priority is setting a good example for his daughter Cassie (Abby Ryder Fortson) and making sure that he’s around to see her grow up. The key characteristic that Ant-Man and The Wasp shares with the rest of the films in Marvel’s Phase Three is a focus on family, whether that means your blood relatives or the tribe you form for yourself. (For once, the first post-credits scene isn’t a bonus – it’s the actual end of the movie, so don’t leave early.) But that doesn’t mean Ant-Man and The Wasp is divorced from everything else that’s happening in the Marvel Cinematic Universe while the sequel succeeds in telling a refreshingly self-contained story, it’s clear that the discoveries revealed here will play an integral role in Avengers 4 and beyond.
#WASP AND ANT MOVIE MOVIE#
It’s no spoiler to admit - since Marvel’s official plot synopsis already did - that the sprightly sequel to Marvel’s 2015 heist movie takes place in the aftermath of Captain America: Civil War, with our diminutive hero Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) under house arrest following his shenanigans in Germany with Cap and the gang. Let’s get this out of the way up front: If you’re hoping that Ant-Man and The Wasp will answer all your lingering Infinity War questions, you’d better temper your expectations now. It’s a smidge longer than its predecessor, but somehow feels tighter and more confident in its execution - a rare feat for a sequel. For more on Ant-Man and the Wasp, be sure to also check out our Ending Explained feature or how the film sets up two new Marvel teams! Ant-Man and The Wasp doesn’t have as much style as James Gunn’s Guardians movies or Taika Waititi’s Thor: Ragnarok, but returning director Peyton Reed has honed in on everything that made the first Ant-Man so charming and doubled down on it, from the offbeat humor to the zippy energy radiating from every scene.