Audiences are getting fed up with the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s woke makeover.
The saga that once gave us Iron Man, Captain America, and the Hulk now pummels viewers with uber-diverse casts, woke lectures, and stories that put ideology over escapism.
Did anyone actually like “Eternals?”
The new “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” continues that new tradition, to a point. The adventure, which follows our heroes as they battle a new foe in a sub-atomic realm, touches on some of the saga’s new woke bromides.
Here’s why that’s even more alarming, and hypocritical, than ever before.
The threequel introduces us to a teenage Cassie (Kathryn Newton), the daughter of the heroic Scott Lang/Ant-Man (Paul Rudd). She was just a girl when we last saw her in “Ant-Man and the Wasp,” and now she’s a teen ready to fight against societal oppression.
The film opens with Daddy Ant bailing Cassie out of prison following a protest that went south. Local police tear-gassed “peaceful protesters,” she claims, and she got caught up in the melee. The plotline highlight’s the teen’s activism, a hunger to fight for the little guy and gal.
That’s typical of the modern teenager, but that storyline doesn’t exist in a vacuum.
It resurfaces after our heroes end up in the Quantum Realm and face Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors). The Thanos-like villain rules over the realm, forcing its denizens to unite against a common enemy.
It’s the people versus the dictator, and the messaging couldn’t be more clear. In fact, during one sequence a Quantum Realm fighter roars into battle, crying, “burn it all down.”
Why, it’s like Occupy Wall Street 2.0 or Antifa 1.0.
Michael Douglas, returning as the inventor of the original Ant-Man costume, even makes an offhanded remark tied to the film’s populist streak. Douglas’ Hank Pym summons an army of Quantum Real ants to help tilt the battle in their favor.
“I know socialism is a charged word, but we’ve got a lot to learn from them,” Douglas’ character begins, referring to his ant minions working in unison to fight Kang.
Get the picture?
Except the “Ant-Man” saga, like the rest of the MCU, is under the Disney umbrella. And that mega company is often the Kang-like figure lording over the less fortunate.
Let’s start with how Disney placates China early and often, ignoring the country’s human rights abuses. Free speech is a punch line in the Middle Kingdom, not something the government attempts to protect.
Artists who speak out against the government learn that the hard way. Just ask famed artist Ai Weiwei, routinely punished by Chinese officials for his free-thinking work.
And consider how the Uyghur Muslims feel about China’s appreciation for the Everyman. The CCP’s concentration camp approach to the ethnic minority is a stain on the nation’s soul.
Disney, which railed against Florida’s falsely dubbed “Don’t Say Gay” legislation, does more than turn a blind eye to Chinese policies. The company literally thanked China for allowing its workers to shoot parts of the live-action “Mulan” in the nation, not far from some of the aforementioned camps.
More recently, newly reinstalled CEO Bob Iger appeared ready to re-appease China in order to get more Disney products into the nation’s theaters. That included yanking an episode of “The Simpsons” mentioning China and forced labor camps in the same sentence.
Voila, “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” is now showing in China after multiple MCU movies were shut out.
Team Disney also uses its considerable clout to get its way in the American marketplace. When “The Last Jedi” hit theaters in 2017, Disney insisted on specific screening rules, or else. According to a report on Mashable.com:
U.S. theater owners are required to run the movie for four weeks without skipping a single screening if they want to avoid that penalty. They also have to run specific marketing promotions for the film exactly when Disney wants, and not a day early.
That’s not the only time Disney used its might over theater operators.
Disney also once banned L.A. Times film critics from screening the company’s movies following a Times investigation into the company’s business dealings. Disney quickly backtracked when other critics rallied to the paper’s side.
Last year, VFX gurus who worked on Disney films accused the company of allowing terrible work conditions. The artists charged Disney with being “insatiable in its demands, impossible to please, overworking and underpaying the very staff who imbue its content with miracles and wonder.”
More than a few workers likely winced when they heard the “Quantumania” character cry, “burn it all down!”
Disney’s bottom line took a beating in 2022, following its activism against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, box office duds like “Lightyear” and news that the company injects sexual material into content aimed at the kiddie set.
What did Disney do in response? It fired 7,000 workers rather than reconsider its content strategy moving forward. The “little guy” got the shaft, again and again.
And let’s not forget how Disney fired “Mandalorian” favorite Gina Carano for sharing views on social media it wrongly deemed unacceptable, while permitting others who pushed out legitimately heinous thoughts to go unpunished.
Disney may promote the “little guy” in its art, most specifically via the ultra-tiny Ant-Man hero. In real life, the Mouse House more closely resembles Kang, a supervillain ready to stomp out the average Joe or Jane.
Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic and editor of HollywoodInToto.com. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News’ Big Hollywood. Follow him at @HollywoodInToto.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.