Quantumania Screenwriter Says On-Screen Fatalities Were Discussed Before Being Scrapped

In a recent THR interview, screenwriter Jeff Loveness discussed some of the scripting developments that never ended up seeing the light of day for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. According to Loveness, the idea of having major character deaths in the film that marks the advent of the MCU’s Phase Five felt too on-the-nose. “We certainly gamed out a ton of scenarios, but it just felt a little obvious. It’s up for debate, but it just felt like we’d be copying the Thanos approach where he comes in pretty heavy and wipes the floor with everybody,” Loveness stated. “I certainly see the critiques and all that, but this is a multi-step story that we’re telling. It’s also an Ant-Man movie. [Laughs.] I think people say they want that, but do you really want to see Paul Rudd get murdered in his third movie? It was all debated, all discussed and all gamed out, but in The Wizard of Oz, you don’t want to see Dorothy die and never go home. It’s supposed to be one of these classic adventure movies. If everyone gets eaten in Jurassic Park, I don’t know if you’ll want to see the next Jurassic Park.”

Loveness also shared that they hope to strike a different tone with Phase Five’s primary antagonist, Kang the Conqueror. Thanos leaves some big shoes to fill for film audiences, and Loveness admitted they wanted to avoid repeating a similar character arc for Kang, which factored in the decision to have the villain thwarted at the conclusion of Quantumania. “Well, I think you root for someone who knows defeat. Thanos says that he knows what it’s like to lose, but we never see him lose until the end of Endgame. All he does is toss away the people that he loves and beat Thor’s ass. But yes, it’s a risk, and we certainly took some heat for it,” Loveness said. “But I am willing to bet that we are going to root for a guy that we’ve seen stumble and fall, much like Chris Claremont’s Magneto from those X-Men comics. That guy loses a lot, and we see how much pain he’s been through. And so by the time he really unleashes that rage, we’re on his side and we kind of get it. So I think we’re allowed to have a villain that takes a few shots along the way as [Kang the Conqueror or his variants] make their rise.“