We are only a few days away from the premiere of Avengers: Endgame and as the release date approaches and we reach the end of this journey, we want to look back on everything that brought us here. We’ve watched these heroes struggle, grow, and save humanity over the last ten years and want to share some of our favorite moments of their stories. We will be going through each phase in order, covering every movie leading up to April 26. Next up are our impressions of Ant-Man And The Wasp (2018) which was released last summer and is a little prequel to Avengers: Infinity War (2018). In this sequel, we meet Scott Lang as he adjusts to life after the Superhero accords (and breaking them) and how he manages to use his powers anyway. It also offered us some more insight into a development that might become important for Avengers: Endgame.
Here are some of our favorite moments from Ant-Man And The Wasp!
Conny:
After the first Ant-Man movie, I wasn’t going to make the mistake of not seeing this one in the theaters. It made me a bit sad that the hype for this film wasn’t as big as for for other Marvel films. Maybe it was due to the fact that Avengers: Infinity War (2018) had just come out a couple of months earlier and Ant-Man a.k.a. Scott Lang had a) not been a part of it and b) hadn’t had the same recognition other characters had in the past. I think that people are wrong for not paying attention to him, because he’s actually a very lovable, funny and interesting character, which was demonstrated in this sequel.
In this movie, we learn more about Hank Pimm and his wife Janet Van Dyne, who both were part of the Pimm project, experimenting with the Quantum Realm and the so-called Pimm-Particle, which helped create the Ant-Man suit and superpowers. We are also reunited with Pimm’s daughter Hope, who becomes the superhero The Wasp in this film, helping Scott on his missions. In this film, we also learn more about the Quantum Realm, a place which will become relevant for the future after Avengers: Infinity War.
I love this movie for a number of reasons, mainly because it has the perfect balance between being lighthearted and serious, without being corny. Paul Rudd does an amazing job at playing Scott Lang, he has a great sense of humor, comedic timing and adds that bit of confusion and awkwardness that makes a superhero lovable. In the sequel to his origin story, Scott struggled with the limitation of his superpowers and with being under house arrest after breaking the accords during the events of Captain America: Civil War (2016). He is a devoted dad to his daughter Cassie and does the best he can to be there for her and give her a happy childhood.
I also love the way Scott learns about training his powers and strength with Hope, their story is told with their great dynamic and their ability to rely on the other when necessary. Additionally, I liked the “villain” in the story, I think Hanna John-Kamen did a tremendous job with portraying a character which was turned bad by circumstance, not by choice.
Emelie
I’ve got to be honest, I was very skeptical of Ant-Man, since I am not a fan of Hank Pym, but after being pleasantly surprised by it, I was very much looking forward to Ant-Man and the Wasp. I completely adore Scott Lang, and his relationship with Cassie together with how Maggie and Paxton are so on board with trying to make things work kind of reminded me of the Addams Family. Things are a bit weird, but there is so much genuine love and care between the characters that is doesn’t really matter that no one else understands.
Scott’s second family in the form of his “shadier” buddies is another reason why I love this movie. Luis is definitely one of my favorite characters in the Marvel universe, and Kurt and Dave explaining to Sonny Burch that you just have to let him play out like a human jukebox had me in stitches. Another thing that makes this movie so great is the portrayal of what we perceive to be the villain, Ghost. Her story is tragic, and painful, and at times I was rooting for her just as much as I was rooting for Scott and Hope to sort all of this out.
I was on the edge of my seat as they brought Janet van Dyne back from the quantum realm, and I was absolutely certain that they would lose her just as soon as they had gotten her back when Ava appeared. Thankfully, we got the best possible ending of that scenario, and Ant-Man made a new ally that I definitely want to see more of in the future.
Stay with Nerds and Beyond for more Marvel moments as we count down to Avengers: Endgame!