The third “Ant-Man” movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” is coming out on Feb. 17.

When I think back on the first two “Ant-Man” movies, I become more excited and nervous for the upcoming threequel.

The first movie, simply titled “Ant-Man,” was released in 2015.

It’s about an ex-convict named Scott Lang taking up the Ant-Man mantle from an aging scientist, Hank Pym.

Along with Hank’s daughter, Hope, they plan a heist to steal world-threatening technology away from the wrong hands.

I really enjoy this first installment. It’s very funny and the story and most of the characters are interesting.

The worst character is the villain, Yellowjacket. He’s not very interesting because his power, shrinking, is exactly the same as Ant-Man’s.

However, I really like how small in scale the movie is, no pun intended, when compared to the rest of the MCU.

It doesn’t try too hard to make a large impact on the overall MCU like many other Marvel movies do.

This makes “Ant-Man” a movie that anyone can enjoy. Plus, there are a few cameos and references to other movies in the universe for hardcore fans.

The second installment, “Ant-Man and the Wasp,” came out in 2018.

Scott teams up with Hope again, but this time around, she is also a superhero: the Wasp.

The duo is trying to retrieve Hank Pym’s lab, which is shrunk down to the size of a suitcase, because it has fallen into the wrong hands. Sounds familiar, huh?

However, the sequel’s villain is much more interesting than the original. Her name is Ghost, and she has the ability to walk through walls.

On the downside for some people, this movie is far more connected to the larger MCU, unlike the first “Ant-Man.”

For example, the movie deals heavily with the ramifications of Ant-Man’s appearance in “Captain America: Civil War” from 2016.

Also, the post-credit scenes will probably confuse people who haven’t seen “Avengers: Infinity War,” which also came out in 2018.

While this may be fun for fans like me, it may cause general audiences to not enjoy the sequel as much as the first.

Looking ahead at “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” it will surely follow the trends, both good and bad, set by the second film.

First, I think the villain will be far better than the first two. Based only on the trailers, Kang seems like a powerful opponent who actually has me worried about the fate of Scott Lang.

Second, I think this movie will feel even more connected to the MCU than the second.

I understand that this is inevitable, especially because of Ant-Man’s impact on the universe in “Avengers: Endgame.”

Also, Kang already has major ties to the MCU. One of his multiversal variants appeared in the “Loki” TV series and the next Avengers movie will be subtitled “Kang Dynasty.”

I love when the MCU feels connected, but I also love the more standalone stories, which the Ant-Man movies always used to be.

Finally, if the plot of “Quantumania” involves stealing technology that has fallen into the wrong hands, I will be very disappointed.

I’ll just have to wait and see when “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” is released.