Ant-Man & the Wasp: Escape from the Quantum Realm

***Ant-Man & the Wasp: Escape from the Quantum Realm*** is a 2016 superhero film based on the Marvel Comics superheroes Ant-Man and the Wasp, and a sequel to *Ant-Man*, *Ant-Man & the Wasp*, *Avengers: Age of Ultron*, and *Captain America: Civil War*. It was directed by Peyton Reed and was written by the writing teams of Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers, and Paul Rudd, Andrew Barrer, and Gabriel Ferrari. It is the sixteenth installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The film stars Paul Rudd, Evangelline Lilly, Andrew Garfield, Sophie Turner, Cobie Smulders, and Laurence Fishburne. It was released on November 4, 2016 and grossed $677.7 million on a $230 million budget, which was considered a disappointment due to its high production costs and making only 70% of *Ant-Man & the Wasp*. It ran 115 minutes and received very positive reviews.

## Plot

Six months after the Superhuman Registration Act was put into action, Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne no longer operate with the Avengers, as they get closer to finding their daughter in the Quantum Realm, who has been there for three years. Van Dyne is sure they will find Hope, though Pym has given hope, due to her being anywhere in the large, expansive area. In the Quantum Realm, Hope is on the run from Scott Lang, who trapped her there. Hope has been slowly collecting supplies to find a "time pocket", a black hole in the Quantum Relam that will allow her to travel through time.

Pym and van Dyne meet with Foster, who is running Pym Particles. Foster reveals that he discovered a way to communicate from outside the Quantum Realm to inside it. Pym manages to locate his daughter and reveals that they are coming for her and she needs to stay put. Hope acts worried and tells him not to come, before their connection breaks up. In the Quantum Realm, Lang learns of Pym's message and finally has a location on Hope. However, by the time he gets there, she is gone.

Elsewhere in New York, William Cross, Darren Cross's cousin, attempts to avenge his cousin and has created an armor that allows him to shoot a laser from his eye, and gives him enhanced strength and speed. Cross attacks Pym Particles, injuring Foster, and damaging the communications set-up, destroying any chance of talking with Hope. Pym goes after him, though Cross is able to escape. Foster introduces Pym and van Dyne to Eric O'Grady, a new lab technician who is fascinated with the Ant-Man technology. Pym recruits O'Grady to replace Foster as Goliath, while Foster is recovering. O'Grady and van Dyne, as the Wasp, track Cross to his base, where they discover he has stalking them. After a fight, in which Cross blows up a street, he frames it to look like O'Grady and van Dyne were at fault. They are taken into S.H.I.E.L.D. custody.

For going against the SRA, both are arrested, though van Dyne is given a pass due to her deal with S.H.I.E.L.D. Van Dyne wants to break O'Grady out, though Pym refuses to go against the Act again. In the Quantum Realm, Hope finds the Ghost suit and puts it on. Finding the time pocket, she flies through. Pym and van Dyne complete the Quantum Realm suits and are able to travel inside. They find Hope, though she seems more experienced. Hope reveals that she is Ghost, she found the suit while in the Quantum Realm and went back to save herself from going into the Quantum Realm. But after her plan went awry, she was forced back into the Quantum Realm, where she has been for the last three years hiding from her past self, before giving up her suit to allow Hope to try again. In the past, Hope, in the Ghost suit, joins Lang to stop him from the inside.

Foster, having recovered, realizes what happened and breaks O'Grady out. S.H.I.E.L.D. declares them both fugitives. Cross has found the Quantum Realm machine and attempts to break it down to trap everyone inside forever. Foster and O'Grady stop him, though S.H.I.E.L.D. arrives and arrests all three. In the Quantum Realm, realizing Hope is stablizing the timeline by going back in time, they have lost their chance to rescue her. They take "Ghost" Hope and signal Foster to let them out of the Quantum Realm. However, there is no one there, due to them being arrested. The three are stuck in the Quantum Realm, while the machine has been taken into S.H.I.E.L.D. custody. Pym, van Dyne, and Hope stick together, until Lang appears.

In a mid-credits scene, Foster tries to make his case to S.H.I.E.L.D., to convince them Pym and van Dyne are stuck in the Quantum Realm, though they don't believe him. In a post-credits scene, Peter Parker becomes an intern at S.H.I.E.L.D.

## Cast

* Paul Rudd as Hank Pym/Ant-Man
* Evangelline Lilly as Janet van Dyne/Wasp
* Andrew Garfield as Scott Lang/Yellowjacket
* Sophie Turner as Hope Pym/Ghost
* Laurence Fishburne as Bill Foster/Goliath