The tiny-but-mighty AntMan and Wasp duo returned in theaters Friday, Feb. 17 for a third feature-length film in “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.”

New faces Bill Murray and Jonathan Majors joined familiar stars Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfeiffer in this third installment.

Majors, who plays Kane the Conqueror, will return in several Marvel films over the next three years as the newest overarching villain of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

“Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” is the first of six films set to release in Phase Five of the Multiverse Saga.

Phase Four recently ended with the release of “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.”

The Multiverse Saga, which was preceded by the Infinity Saga, is Marvel Studios’ newest venture following “Avengers: Endgame.”

Phase Five is set to continue with “Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3” and “The Marvels,” which will be released in May and November of this year respectively.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY DISNEY.

Trailers for “Quantumania” had fans expecting new insight into the mysterious quantum realm, a subject mostly skirted around in the first two “Ant-Man” movies.

Personally, I was expecting a deeper dive into the thirty years Janet Van Dyne (Pfeiffer) spent in the realm.

The film delivered, for the most part, on what was advertised.

The main conflict of the film begins when Cassie Lang’s quantum satellite device goes haywire, and the whole gang is sucked into the subatomic universe. The scene reminded me of the “Jumanji” movies when the main characters are trans- ported into a jungle-themed survival game.

Once in the quantum realm, Scott and Cassie are separated from Hope, Hank and Janet and struggle to find each other in amongst a labyrinth of worlds.

It is revealed that the quantum realm is a lot more than the colorful matrix mush that was portrayed in the previous movie, “Ant-Man and the Wasp.” stance on her life in the quantum realm. Honestly, I think the whole wavering dynamic from Janet was too drawnout.

Perhaps the one thing missing from the movie is credit to George Lucas. The filmmakers may not have meant to almost copy some of the worlds from the “Star Wars” franchise, but it was very similar.

Obviously, her life in the quantum realm was abnormal and would be hard to explain to the people she left on Earth, and I don’t think the writers ignored this fact, but I do think Janet’s lines were written in a way that made her character seem immature and petty.

The initial scenes in the quantum realm looked like what you would get if you instructed an artificial intelligence app to draw “Tatooine” or “Naboo.” At one point, Hope, Hank and Janet visit a bar to meet Lord Krylar (Murray), and I experienced so much deja vu — it was so similar to scenes in Jabba’s throne room bar on Tatooine.

The scenery was very mesmerizing; I think the use of color and different creatures was fantastic, though I can’t say it felt like pure originality. But then again, is mockery not the best form of flattery?

A lot of time is dedicated to Janet’s back and forth

I think it is important to note that even when we do start to see a little bit more into Janet’s life in the realm and finally begin to grasp the meaning of life in the quantum realm, it is still not enough.

Granted, we do not really know that much about the quantum realm, but I felt like the filmmakers were throwing in random elements and just crediting everything to being a part of the mystery of the unknown.

As we move into the later phases of the MCU, I think it is important to remember that we are no longer in the age of origin stories.

I have to remind myself of this after watching some of the newer movies because I miss the build up of the hero. But the period of build up is over, and now we must watch our heroes continue their journeys.

With SEC play for Kentucky men’s basketball nearing an end, student tickets have been selling out left and right, with hundreds of students in line hours ahead of tipoff to get to the best possible seats.

Men’s basketball season tickets sell very quickly every year, with handfuls of students ready to buy single-game tickets the second they go online. When basketball fans outside of Big Blue Nation look at a game such as Kentucky versus Kansas, it’s evident why people across the nation consider the University of

Kentucky one of the premier basketball schools.

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In a time where attendance numbers for sporting events have declined in the aftermath of COVID-19, Rupp Arena has managed to stay crowded and rowdy for almost every game, yet Kentucky men’s basketball coach John Calipari hopes to make student engagement even better and make UK into a trailblazer in college basketball. other schools emulate.” While Kentucky’s non-conference games at the beginning of the season have a respectable number of seats full depending on the opponent, Calipari hopes to see more empty seats filled by students who may not have an opportunity to come to every game. opinions kentucky kernel | 13

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“I want every one of these students that wants to experience this (Kentucky basketball) to have that opportunity with nothing in the way of it,” Calipari said.

In response to Calipari’s desires, many student basketball fans had their own opinions about student engagement during the start of the season.

“I think it’s not just the players, but it’s the energy,” sophomore Anthony Fannin said. “It’s everyone coming together who enjoys the sport, to be part of something bigger. It’s not just basketball in itself. I think the players make it special.”

While plenty of students sung the praises of how the student engagement has been during the season, others have ideas about what they think is limiting the amount of fans who can make it out to games.

“They make it so hard to get the ‘eRUPPtion Zone’ seats,” Kentucky student Coleman Whitmill said. “Reserved (seating) has kind of exploded recently, so then when you don’t get any of those you’re up in section 240, so I feel like it could be a little better.”

Another prominent issue students spoke of is the location of Rupp Arena itself, with many students citing that as the reason they are unable to get out to games but are more likely to make it to a football game.

Rupp Arena is situated in downtown Lexington, sitting on West High Street, blocks away from Kentucky’s stu-

CARTER SKAGGS | STAFF

when his friends drag him out to Rupp Arena, citing the location as his biggest complaint and saying he’d rather “be on the side more than behind (the basket).”

The eRUPPtion Zone is also controversial for another reason, with approximately 2,500 tickets being set aside for students each game, only around 500 of whom will make it into the “EZone.”

In comparison, for the 2022-2023 basketball season, 15,372 tickets were sold to non-student season holders, explaining why there is little flexibility on where the student section can be placed.

“Because of all the donors that give money to buy the tickets, those seats and all that money generated from this program pays for a lot of programs here,” Calipari said.

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“When I was at Memphis, I did something at my house,” Calipari said. “I put up a big tent and had the student group come to my house. I would do that here. I would do the same thing. I would do all of that stuff to let the students know that we’re here because of you.”

With the 2022-23 season entering the home stretch before the postseason and the current No. 1 recruiting class coming into Kentucky next season, quality of play should hardly be a factor in student’s decisions to come to games.

At the end of the day, the student experience is the heart that makes college basketball so special, so if something is limiting that experience, it’s important for the team and university to make changes to keep its heart healthy.

While some fans may feel Calipari doesn’t care about the average fan, it was in fact the hall of famer who proposed the idea in the first place, expressing a personal desire to improve the experience of students and maintain a healthy budget for all

UK Athletics teams. There may be no easy solution to perfecting the student experience at Rupp Arena, but after a season that saw a divide so deep that fans were calling for Calipari to leave the school, the goals and desires of both Calipari and the fans may be much more closely aligned than some may think.

It’s clear that Calipari wants fans to be a bigger part of the Kentucky basketball experience. The only question that remains is whether or not that will actually happen.