Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

 Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

Marvel Movies

Marvel has always given us extraordinary movies. The first MCU movie was Iron Man, released in 2008, and since then, Iron Man has been everyone’s personal favourite. Superhero movies are usually children’s cup of tea, but when it comes to Marvel, even adults are thrilled to watch the first-day show. Marvel has that magic in its movies. The movies have such great action sequences, flawless casting, complete storylines, ultimate direction, mind-blowing CGI, beloved characters, witty humor, exceptional dialogues, banger soundtracks, and everything else. The movies are carefully curated and made comic-accurate. Some of the recent movies have been a little disappointing, but that’s a different topic of debate. Marvel movies have been there from generation to generation to help shape kids into better humans and allow adults the beautiful escape from reality that they so desperately need.

Quantumania

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, released in Feb (2023), was harshly criticized. The movie was directed by Peyton Reed, written by Jeff Loveness, produced by Kevin Feige, and based on Marvel Comics. The movie wasn’t up to the expectations of some Marvel fans, but it still did pretty well at the box office earning a total of $476.1 million worldwide. In this movie, three generations of a family come together to fight a bad guy called “The Conqueror” and his army.

The movie is mostly located in the quantum realm. The quantum realm is a fictional microscopic subatomic dimension that exists within the Marvel Multiverse. It has been introduced in the movies before, but not in such depth. The quantum realm is also referred to as the “Microverse”, described as a parallel dimension that exists on a subatomic scale beneath our universe. The dimension is home to a wide range of exotic creatures and various life forms that are beyond our imaginations. The quantum realm is depicted as a surreal and strange place where our rules of physics and reality don’t apply. Time and space work differently in the quantum realm. The quantum realm can only be accessed through advanced technology. The main characters have the power to shrink and enlarge to any size, and they had to shrink beyond subatomic size to enter the quantum realm.

When the characters first accidentally enter the quantum realm, they are confused and concerned about their well-being and location. They are greeted with abnormally huge flora, fauna, almost magical creatures, and quantum people. The aliens in the quantum realm ride creatures like a huge flying manta ray for vehicles, and some use high-tech spaceships. A community with different kinds of aliens exists and they all live together in harmony, protecting each other. The people down there are living in oppression and are in a war to get control of it and some are just trying to stay alive. The different aliens all come from different worlds; they find home in the quantum realm after being discarded from their own homes.

Spaces

A rooftop restaurant with a bar where all kinds of beings visit to enjoy the view, food, and drinks. The seating arrangements look pretty much like ours do. The décor looks very extraterrestrial, with cantilevered triangle roofs, fluid-filled moon-like lamps, and an enormous orb-like object mounted at the center. The tables are circular and have glowing smaller orb-like décor in the center. The designers made sure that everything looked like it was out of this world and belonged to the Quantumania, the chairs, the table, the archways, and even the cutlery looked mystical and astronomical. The background had a blue glowing waterfall that flowed in slow motion. The ambiance was so beautiful, calm, and exotic. 

The people who were plotting against “The Conqueror” lived in a community separate from everyone else. They had created their civilization where they plotted against him. There were all sorts of aliens in that community. The most interesting part was that the buildings they lived in were alive. They were cylindrical buildings with hands and legs, that could move and had consciousness. They even attacked if any intruder/unknown approached them. The building could also fly, which made it easier for the residents to travel or migrate from one place to another.

The castle is very modern and beyond its time. The first look we get inside is of the jail cells, where our main characters are locked in. The Conqueror’s room has a huge spherical throne with large windows on all sides overlooking his empire. The interior is metallic which goes with the theme of the castle. The room is extra spacious and looks grand. The Quantum Realm was supposed to be his prison but he made such an exquisite life for himself in the prison that it is astonishing. He has an army of millions, advanced weapons, and advanced spaceships to help him. The city center also had arrangements for a hologram display so the conqueror could virtually deliver his message at once to everyone. The movie doesn’t focus on how the city has been planned but you can see some snaps of the city in the background of the final fight scene. It looks well-planned and interconnected. The pattern followed was radial with a hierarchy where the center had the castle and as you move outward toward the perimeter, the structures kept getting smaller. This also made sure that the conqueror could keep an eye on every part of his empire.

 

Conclusion

One could watch the movie just for its beautiful animation, but a note for designers and architects out there, to study spaces that provide a good user experience to all normal and abnormal-looking aliens. To design a place so well that it represents the theme in and out and doesn’t look out of place even though it’s out of this dimension. To study our client and their requirements well enough to be able to design a home for them that is away from home. Surely, soon enough we will have such futuristic technology that one day we will have buildings that literally protect us by fighting and flying.

By Isha Mutha

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