by Head writer for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Jeff Loveness has addressed criticisms of the film’s conclusion from viewers.
It goes without saying that reviews for Paul Rudd‘s third solo album have been inconsistent. In fact, Eternals is the only other MCU film to receive a terrible rating.
The movie’s ending, which many people thought was underwhelming and unimportant, has drawn a lot of criticism. Kang neatly gets dragged into his own Multiversal engine while Scott and Hope are simply and easily saved.
Some believed that a more significant event—such as a death or a less neat resolution—should have occurred.
The Complicated Demise of Quantumania
Author of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Jeff Loveness discussed the criticisms of the movie’s ending, which many viewers felt was much too simple and unimportant, in an interview with Fandom.
Loveness justified their decision, pointing out that if Scott had become trapped in the Quantum Realm, it would have been “exactly what happened at the end of the second movie,” putting them in the same predicament as when Avengers: Endgame began:
“I kind of love the ending that we landed on. I hear what people are saying, but I feel if you just strand Ant-Man in the Quantum Realm again, that is exactly what happened at the end of the second movie, and the way out of it is exactly what happens in ‘Endgame’.”
In contrast to his family, who are all “holding secrets from him,” Scott starts the movie off as “an open book,” something the director Peyton Reed said he enjoyed.
“Personally, for our heroes, I like the idea that at the beginning of the movie, Scott is literally an open book. He’s told his story to the world through his book. And it’s the other members of the family that are keeping secrets from him.”
Reed focused on the numerous truths revealed in the movie:
“Janet is keeping secrets about the Quantum Realm and what her life was like down there. Hope and Hank are keeping secrets from Scott about what they’ve been working on with Cassie in the basement. Cassie has been keeping secrets from her dad about ‘Oh, you were in jail before? What?’
However, the movie’s ending reverses the script and has Scott conceal a crucial secret:
“So everyone’s keeping secrets from Scott, and then you wind up at the end of the movie, and everybody’s secrets are out. Except now Scott has a secret. And it’s this self-doubt about whether he’s actually vanquished Kang. That seemed like a cool structure.”
Loveness reiterated the idea of imprisoning the movie’s two heroes in the Quantum Realm in an interview with IGN, making it plain that “[he’s] happy where [they] landed:”
“We talked about [Scott and Hope getting stuck in the Quantum Realm. Certainly, when you’re writing these things, you go through so many permutations and so many versions. I think I’m happy where we landed because I get the idea of being stranded, and it is powerful, and it’s cool. But at the end of the day, we just couldn’t shake the feeling when we were pitching it out and gaming it and trying to make it when you’re just breaking story.
In fact, the author said that, in his opinion, Scott’s victory “felt more revolutionary:”
“So it actually felt more revolutionary to have Scott win. But that victory comes with a cost of this guy who starts out so carefree and thinks his hero’s life is over. He’s willing to go to the mat and he’s willing to sacrifice himself, but his family saves him.”
It was likened to “Frodo going back to the Shire” in The Lord of the Rings by Loveness:
“It’s like a ‘Frodo going back to the Shire’ thing. It’s like, ‘Oh, he’s back,’ but he’s not the same guy anymore. And that carefree attitude is gone. And now he’s keeping secrets from his family. And now I think the fun potential – I don’t want to spoil anything – but it’s like, ‘oh, the guy who literally saved the universe in the last phase in ‘Endgame’ is now potentially the guy who fucked the multiverse going forward.’“
He explained how Scott’s perspective is currently similar to Janet’s, who returned and only wanted to concentrate on her life there and then:
“He’s in a place of uncertainty, and he is trying to eat his feelings and bury it. Much like Janet coming back, it’s like, ‘I can’t think about it anymore. I just want to have a life right now. I just want to be with my daughter.’ I think on second viewings and all that, those themes might cement a little more, but I like where we landed.”
Preventing Endgame Situations
When it comes to the second movie and Endgame being so close together, Jeff Loveness has a point. Although the conclusion that fans received lacked much bite, it did avoid some catastrophic repetition that could have significantly damaged The Kang Dynasty.
Fans also know that the film’s finale was changed at the last minute, leading to the final product, based on correct plot leaks that occurred prior to the movie’s release. Kang even managed to leave the Quantum Dimension, where Scott and Hope had initially become trapped.
But, Loveness and Marvel set themselves up for failure in any case; it was a lose-lose situation. The tidier ending would have lacked any real significance, whereas the viewer was set up for the ending with repetitious plot beats.
The only option to have a less troublesome outcome would have been to start out in a totally different situation.
In theatres all throughout the world, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is currently showing.
