In keeping with the size-changing theme of Ant-Man and the Wasp, I decided to do my spoiler discussion of the film a little differently. Instead of discussing what I like and didn’t like, I want to talk about several big, important details about the film as well as its little nuances that I normally don’t get to touch on. Of course, I will be discussing the movie in detail so please, if you have not seen Ant-Man and the Wasp yet and want to avoid spoilers, you shouldn’t read any further. You may instead opt to check this out for Fiefo’s spoiler free review!

Don’t read any further if you don’t want any Ant-Man and the Wasp spoilers!

THE BIG STUFF

• The biggest problem of Ant-Man and the Wasp is that it comes right after Avengers: Infinity War. Fiefo wrote about this in detail here but to make the long story short, Ant-Man and the Wasp is nowhere near as epic as Infinity War was and that may work against the film, what with audience expectations possibly at an all time high. But this is what I really like about Ant-Man and the Wasp – despite being the 20th film in the MCU, it still feels very different compared to everything that came before it.

• There is no question, the biggest highlight of Ant-Man and the Wasp is it’s mid credits scene (or the first post credits scene). Before the film came out, people were already guessing correctly what it was going to be, including myself. I didn’t know who was going to get “dusted”, but I could tell that someone was. So now we have a good idea why Ant-Man is getting involved in the events of the upcoming Avengers 4. I think that this scene is going to be the highlight of the film for the majority of moviegoers (not a knock against Ant-Man and the Wasp; Infinity War is just that big of a deal).

I wonder if Marvel is going to start using the name “Giant Man” in the future.

• Another big deal about Ant-Man and the Wasp is the main antagonist – note that I was very careful in choosing a word other than villain – in the form of Ghost. She’s not a villain per se, but she is directly opposing what our protagonists are trying to do. I like everything about the character – her motivations, her powers (a good foil to the size-changing powers of both the main heroes), the special effects used for the character, how her arc was resolved, and even Hannah John-Kamen’s performance in the role. I can see how a few people can be underwhelmed given what has come before, but I don’t see Ghost as the one to break Marvel’s recent streak of good “antagonists”.

• The Quantum Realm seems like it’s going to be a big thing for the MCU in films to come. Not only did it change Janet van Dyne drastically (she has other powers now?), but it looks like that world is going to play a big part in Avengers 4 and will be a new source of power in future MCU films. Quasar and his Quantum Bands, perhaps?

THE LITTLE STUFF

• The entire cast was great (even the under-utilized Walton Goggins) as I expected, but Abby Ryder Fortson has continued to make Cassie Lang as adorable as possible. Her scenes with Paul Rudd makes me eager to have my own daughter.

This young actor has a bright future ahead of her.

• I love how Ant-Man and the Wasp has continued it’s focus on family. I don’t know which is better in terms of being a family-focused franchise, Ant-Man or the Incredibles?

• Marvel Studios’ de-aging technology is amazing. I wonder how much it cost them to use it? We’ve seen young versions of RDJ, Kurt Russell, and Michael Douglas before but when I saw a younger Michelle Pfeiffer, my jaw just dropped. Is Marvel ever going to be able to use this tech for an entire movie and not just one or two scenes? I mean, we could have a Black Widow prequel with a much more younger looking Scarlett Johansson (think young adult range) or heck maybe show the heroes of the 1970s or 1980s (Hank Pym’s time).

• Despite what others think, I don’t see Scott Lang as a completely incapable character in this film. I thought Marvel was going to make him a bumbling character but he really isn’t – aside from a bad judgment call, most of the physical gags that he had to go through were due to a malfunctioning Ant-Man suit and not his lack of skill.

I really enjoyed Ant-Man and the Wasp. It doesn’t come close to a movie like Avengers: Infinity War, but it was never meant to do that. Ant-Man and the Wasp is a family-friendly, light-hearted superhero movie strategically placed in between two big Avengers movies and what could possibly be another Black Panther/Wonder Woman level superhero debut in next year’s Captain Marvel. I highly recommend seeing it in theaters specifically for fathers and daughters and for die-hard fans of Infinity War (you cannot miss that big mid credits scene).

Have you seen Ant-Man and the Wasp? Share your thoughts by leaving us a comment or two below!