Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Director Metaphorically Kicked in Kevin Feige's Door, Demanding a Big Avengers Movie
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania director Peyton Reed kicked down Kevin Feige's door to demand a bigger Avengers story. Well, in an interview with EW, the filmmaker would clarify that it probably took the form of an email more like, but he still wanted bigger. "I did," Reed joked. "I metaphorically kicked in Kevin Feige's door." Everything about Quantumania seems to signal a step up to the "big leagues" of the MCU for Scott Lang and his family. Until now, there have been arguments by fans that the Ant-Man movies feel like "palate cleansers" for the big team ups and massive stakes of some other Marvel entries. Reed wanted to fight against those perceptions with this film. As Jonathan Majors floats into frame as the biggest bad guy since Thanos, it's hard to argue with the results after that trailer. Read more of the director's thoughts on raising the stakes down below!
"People felt like, Oh, these are fun little palate cleansers after a gigantic Avengers movie," Reed explained. "For this third one, I said, 'I don't want to be the palate cleanser anymore. I want to be the big Avengers movie.'"
"I grew up a real Marvel comics nerd, and there are a handful of antagonists in the Marvel comics universe who are all-timers," added Reed. "Loki, obviously. Doctor Doom from the Fantastic Four. And Kang the Conqueror. In conversations with Kevin Feige and Marvel, it was like, I want to put Ant-Man and Wasp up against a really formidable villain in this movie, and so we're doing Kang the Conqueror."
"In the comics, Kang has dominion over time, he's a time traveler. His situation is a little bit different in this movie, which I won't spoil for you, but he's someone who, [while] we live very linear lives, from childhood to death, Kang doesn't exist that way," he teased. "It struck me as interesting to take the tiniest Avengers — in some people's minds maybe the least powerful Avengers — and put them up against the most powerful force in the multiverse."
Quantumania Producer Teases How Kang Is Different
There is no question that Kang the Conqueror is positioned to loom large in the background of the Multiverse Saga before eventually ripping out hearts in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. Producer Stephen Broussard spoke to Total Film about how the villain stacks up to MCU royalty in Thanos this week. To no surprise, the new guy on the block fares better on paper than you would think.
"He is very powerful, very formidable, very strong, and will have, obviously, an ongoing presence, à la Thanos in the stories, going forward in ways that are different from Thanos and feel very fresh to us," Broussard explained to the outlet.
Are you expecting big things from Quantumania? Let us know in the comments down below!