As is typical for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is chock full of Easter eggs. That includes nods to figures outside the comics and events and individuals from past Marvel stories. Even real-world celebrities have found themselves rubbing shoulders with fictional superheroes more than once within the franchise.
Quantumania includes a quick one from BuzzFeed Unsolved host Ryan Bergara. It wouldn't merit mention apart from the MCU's other real-world cameos, save that the Ant-Man series of movies appear to have an affinity for celebrities who rose to prominence on social media rather than older forms of discourse like television or movies. Bergara's brief nod is part of a small but notable Ant-Man tradition.
Quantumania Features a Cameo From an Internet Celebrity
Quantumania opens with Scott Lang in a good place. He's enjoying his status as an Avenger and promoting a bestseller memoir of his experiences entitled Look Out for the Little Guy. Perks include getting comped at his morning coffee shop -- even though the owner misidentifies him as "Spider-Man" -- and enjoying lunch with his former foil in the FBI, Jimmy Woo. After offering to pay the tab, Lang finds that a pair of fans at a nearby table has covered lunch for the both of them. They raise a glass to the hero before the montage continues.
The cameo lasts only a few seconds, but the couple is instantly recognizable to social media followers: Bergara and his wife, Marielle Scott. The pair are professional actors, though Bergara rose to fame as the creator and co-host of the BuzzFeed web series BuzzFeed Unsolved. It rapidly became one of BuzzFeed's most successful series and began streaming on Amazon Prime Video and Hulu in 2018. The pair are also long-time Marvel fans, and Bergara even dressed up as "Dead Vision" with his co-host Shane Madej in a Halloween photo posted on Instagram.
Ryan Bergara Isn't Ant-Man's First Celebrity Cameo
Bergara and Scott's Quantumania appearance is hardly unusual: Kevin Bacon, Megan Thee Stallion and numerous other celebrities have played versions of themselves in The MCU. But the Ant-Man series, in particular, showcases influencers and social media figures in its stories. The original film did something very similar with YouTuber/actor Anna Akana. She's at the end of the film as a journalist keeping track of various costumed superheroes as part of Luis' long-winded explanation.
The shared pattern is in keeping with Ant-Man's focus on technology and his home in Silicon Valley adjacent to San Francisco. Celebrities and performers who rose to fame through new media can convey a hipness that most big-budget blockbusters struggle to capture. And like similar celebrity cameos, it cements the notion that -- for all its wild developments -- the MCU isn't all that different from the real world, to the point where people there watch the same YouTube videos with the same hosts.
Regardless, it's a strangely fitting way to keep the Ant-Man movies "on brand," as well as matching circumstances in Lang's fictional life. He himself has become a celebrity in the MCU, including a strong social media presence with his podcast "Big Me, Little Me." Naturally, the celebrity cameos in his film are apt to come from the same corner of the digital pond.
To see Bergara's cameo, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is now streaming on Disney+.