After Avengers: Infinity War, most fans left the theaters devastated and heartbroken, some even in tears. The events of Infinity War, though highly anticipated, were unpredictable and shocking. All that was left for shattered fans was the hope that Ant-Man and the Wasp would provide emotional and mental relief.

A sequel to the previous Ant Man — a lighthearted, good natured, comedy — Ant Man and the Wasp excited many fans due to the addition of a new superhero, the Wasp. Released on July 6, 2018, Ant Man and the Wasp faired well in the box office, earning $75.8 million within the first weekend, surpassing the first weekend earnings of its prequel. Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, and Michael Douglas reprised their roles of Scott Lang (Ant Man), Hope Van Dyne (Wasp), and Hank Pym, respectively. The lead cast was joined by some new faces, primarily Hannah John-Kamen, playing the antagonist, the Ghost.

The film begins with a classic flashback, showing the events of a mission in which the first Ant Man and the Wasp, Hank Pym and Janet (Pym’s wife), work to disable a Soviet missile. However, to do so, Janet (as the Wasp) had to go subatomic, a seemingly irreversible process that traps one in the quantum realm. Returning from the quantum realm was deemed an impossible task by scientist and former Ant Man, Hank Pym, until Scott Lang returned from the realm in the first Ant Man film.

The movie then transitions back to present day, in which Scott Lang is spending his days under house arrest; a consequence of his rendezvous with Captain America in the film Captain America: Civil War. When Scott receives a “message” from Janet, he contacts Pym to report the weird occurrence. Hope Van Dyne, Hank and Janet’s daughter, reluctantly manages to get Scott out of house arrest to help him and her father find her mother.

Estranged for two years due to Scott’s difficult problem with the Sokovia Accords, Hank Pym reconciles with Scott given the chance they can save Janet. Believing that they can save Janet from the quantum realm, Hank and Hope use all means necessary to retrieve her. However, with the Ghost in their way, their plans may take unexpected twists. Together Ant Man and the Wasp, along with Scott’s group of misfit friends, work to save the world, like any good-old Marvel movie.

Unlike many other Marvel movies, however, the Ant Man series takes a more comedic approach, with actors like Paul Rudd and Michael Pena improvising some of their funniest lines. Critic Sandie Angulo Chen from Common Sense Media commented, “This comparatively lighthearted, optimistic sequel provides the laughs Marvel fans may well be craving after the heartbreaking intensity of Infinity War.”

However, though it is impeccably humorous, critic Dan Jolin, from Empire, opposes the previous opinion, stating, “While it proves an all-around well-mounted distraction, Ant-Man And The Wasp undeniably lacks the scale and ambition of recent Marvel entries.” Fans are teetering on the edge of that last ending credits scene from Infinity War. As for now, all of us anxiously and eagerly await the next installment (and all future ones) of the epic Marvel Cinematic Universe.

3 out of 4 stars