Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Finally Does Right by Janet Van Dyne

This past weekend saw the debut of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, finally beginning Phase 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The blockbuster film is already dominating the box office, and has been sparking a lot of conversation about the past, present, and future of the franchise. In between the set-up for Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars, the film advanced the narrative of some MCU veterans — including Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer). After Pfeiffer has been in the franchise for almost half a decade, and Janet has been a fascinating part of Marvel Comics canon for sixty years, Quantumania finally did right by her live-action incarnation. Obviously, spoilers for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania lurk below! Only look if you want to know!

When we meet Janet in Quantumania, she is trying to move on from the decades she spent in the Quantum Realm (as well as the five years she spent blipped out of existence), only to be thrown back into the alternate dimension once again. Janet quickly grows worried and paranoid about her and her family being stuck in this realm, given a part of her past that she has not shared with them. Eventually, we begin to learn exactly what that past was — she helped Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors) when he first was exiled into the realm, only to learn of his goals as a multiverse-conquering despot. Kang provides her with a complex opportunity: she can continue to help him escape and possibly get reunited with her family, or she can betray him and possibly lose her one ticket home. Janet chooses the latter option, utilizing her size-changing discs to blow up the core of Kang’s multiversal engine, trapping them both there for decades more. As the Ant-Man family deals with Kang in the present day, Janet’s reputation, and the gravity of that single decision, are arguably at the forefront of much of the narrative.

This plot was definitely a pleasant surprise to fans of Janet (and fans of Pfeiffer), given how both had been treated across the films thus far. While there had been attempts to bring Janet into live-action — Joss Whedon famously wanted Zooey Deschanel to play her in The Avengers, and Rashida Jones was rumored to play Janet in Edgar Wright’s version of the first Ant-Man movie — what we’ve previously gotten in the MCU has been, arguably, lacking. With Ant-Man largely having Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) in its lead female role, Janet existed as a “Women in Refridgerators” emotional crux first and foremost, appearing in a single flashback sequence that showed her seemingly-fatal descent into the Quantum Realm, and only being referenced to show how sad Hope and Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) had become in her absence. Once Pfeiffer was cast in Ant-Man and the Wasp, things got incrementally better, but her Janet was either a plot device for other characters to get her back from the Quantum Realm, or a supporting player in the fight against Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen). The scenes we could have gotten of her kicking butt in her original costume were left on the cutting room floor.

Contrast this with Janet’s tenure in Marvel Comics — a prolific tenure as a solo crime-fighter, an original founding member of the Avengers and the Lady Liberators, and a catalyst in a number of compelling comic events. Beyond all of that, the comic iteration of Janet is a fully-realized character with countless strong friendships, a handful of romances, and a reputation as one of the premiere fashion designers. While Quantumania obviously doesn’t adapt every facet of Janet’s comic-accurate tenure (we, sadly, probably won’t be getting the “Van Dyne” brand of athleisure wear onscreen anytime soon), it is the first MCU appearance that treats her like the compelling character she has always have been. We learn that she was a freedom fighter against Kang’s reign. We learn that she acted on her “needs” while in the Quantum Realm and hooked up with Krylar (Bill Murray). We finally get to see her hopes and dreams, her fears and anxieties, all of which culminate in her making one of the boldest, most heroic sacrifices the franchise has ever had. To put it simply, Quantumania’s take on Janet Van Dyne shows the wider Marvel audience just how much she has mattered, and that’s worth celebrating.

What did you think of Janet Van Dyne’s storyline in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!