Ant-Man Family, both lost in ‘Ant-Man 3’

≪Choi Ji-ye’s Cinema Talk≫
TenAsia reporter Choi Ji-ye tells the story of the movie. We analyze every aspect of movies through live on-site reporting and write fun articles with sharp perspectives.

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They say it's 'even if it's rotten,' but I think even this is too much for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The first work of 'Marvel Phase 5', 'Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantum Mania' (directed by Peyton Reed, hereinafter referred to as 'Ant-Man 3'), turned the expectations of MCU fans into disappointment.

Although lead actors Paul Rudd, Jonathan Majors, and the Walt Disney Company all spoke together to emphasize the appearance of a new villain 'Kang', Kang (Jonathan Majors) in 'Ant-Man 3' was the worst MCU villain ever seen. Thanos, who enthused many audiences, was expressed as an appetizer to whet the appetite, but the taste of Kang, the 'main dish', was bitter.

Caen was unable to conquer anything to the point that the title ‘conqueror’ was meaningless. The ability Kang demonstrated was to control the bodies of Scott (Paul Rudd) and Cathy (Katherine Newton) and control time and space. Even these are listed briefly and fragmentarily, so my memories are vague. Kang, who has been reigning over the empire while the audience did not see it, is defeated even in hand-to-hand combat with Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), who has the lowest fighting power among the Avengers. The sight of Kang being helplessly defeated by a swarm of ants brought by Hank (Michael Douglas) and being sucked into the final time chair's power source and disappearing makes one laugh out loud. It was like seeing a genie in a lamp.

What's even more unfortunate is the fact that Kang, who will become the main villain of the MCU in the future, is a mutant. In another MCU, a villain with a different appearance and setting will appear under the name Kang. There are concerns that immersion will be hindered when a new Kang appears in front of audiences who already know Kang from 'Ant-Man 3'. This appears to be a problem that the MCU will have to solve in the future.

There are many problems other than the incompetent and unattractive villain Kang. 'Ant-Man 3' features a family of five members, including Scott, Cassie, Hope (Evangeline Lilly), Janet (Shel Piper), and Hank (Michael Douglas), but their narratives and characters are unclear and depicted fragmentarily. The quantum world was beautiful, and the characters of the native people were unique, but their stories were also explained in a one-dimensional way. The shallow story volume without any three-dimensional effect only created disappointment.

The lines that were expected to convey meaningful messages also failed to retain their true meaning. Kang demands that Scott retrieve the power source and says, "I am the one who can give you the one thing you want: time." Since Kang has the ability to manipulate time, it was expected that it would be related to the subsequent development of Scott losing time with Cathy, but it was a meaningless and volatile line. Additionally, Ant-Man's tragic line, "I don't need to win. We both just have to lose," became meaningless as it was carried out unrelated to the story.

'Ant-Man 3', which opened the MCU in 2023, was a work that left only regrets in many ways. Just like Ant-Man's line, 'We both have to lose,' Ant-Man and Kang both lose in 'Ant-Man 3'.

Choi Ji-ye, Ten Asia Reporter wisdomart@tenasia.co.kr