I’m so excited about this; you guys have no idea.

What I thought MoM was going to be way back last year (almost a year ago, ew) is what I think Ant-Man 3 is going to be. Also, I’m probably going to keep saying Ant-Man 3, as it is much shorter to type than that massive title you all see up at the top. Either way, Taylor and I both picked this film as our most anticipated for 2023 because we think this is the moment all crap will hit the fan. Everything we have been preparing for since WandaVision is finally going to arrive, and we are going to begin our barrelling toward Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars storyline like no one saw coming. All this being said, of course, we sat down and provided our best attempt at predictions, although I have to say, there isn’t much to predict. This is the type of film in that literally anything can happen, meaning I won’t be shocked if I’m here in a week telling you how wrong we were. That doesn’t mean it isn’t worth the try, so go ahead and listen to our Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Predictions episode if you haven’t already. You can click the button below to find your platform of choice or listen live with the link provided.

Like this film, our predictions have a lot of moving parts. With this, I want to start simple before we get too complicated, and that is our girl Cassie. We all saw the events of Endgame and know that Cassie is now solidly in her teen years, wreaking havoc just like her dad. No one is surprised at all, and I’m sure no one is also surprised that Cassie appears to be just as gifted intellectually as her dad. After all, she is the one that builds the machine that opens the Quantum Realm and sucks them all in. Now, before I get to this machine, I have to point out the obvious, which is that Cassie suits up as Stinger in this film for the first time. I love the suit, and I love that in the process they’ve made Hope’s more yellow to distinctly tell them all apart. But Cassie suiting up may mean more than a fun team-up with dad and dad’s girlfriend, and I will not take anyone from Marvel’s answers as a shutdown of this dream. Cassie is, in the comics, a member of the Young Avengers, and she is now one of several we have seen on our screen in Phase 4. Could this be Cassie’s fate after the outcome of this film? There are a few reasons we think yes, even if it isn’t slated.

I want to bring attention back to what I was saying about the machine Cassie built, as she very clearly says, “we” when all four adults in the room appear to not know what’s going on. If I have to assume the four adults aren’t involved, that means someone extremely gifted was also helping Cassie. Our theory? Iron Lad makes his appearance in some form in this film. This has a lot of levels, so stay with me. Level one: Iron Lad and Cassie Lang are love interests in the comics. Level two: Iron Lad is a descendant of Reed Richards, which definitely is where the intelligent gene comes from. Level three: Iron Lad is the young version of Kang the Conqueror, who was exposed by a time-traveling version of himself to his future. Horrified by what he saw, Iron Lad (aka Nate) does what it takes to stop his future self, forming the Young Avengers in the process. With all this being said, this would be the ideal movie to bring him into, even if it’s just a small part or throwaway line, something that will point us in the right direction.

Cassie, surprisingly is, as of right now, one of the easier characters to decipher, while her dad, on the other hand, is going to be a lot in this film. Scott’s entire storyline has always been about not having enough time. We see it in the first Ant-Man when he loses time with his daughter due to being in prison, and it is the running line for him through all of Endgame. Even in the few clips of the trailer we’ve gotten, we’ve seen him struggling with this grown version of his daughter. And missing time with the person who means the most to your life is definitely a strong motivation for accidentally doing the wrong thing. I think Scott is going to make a really dumb choice, turning to Kang to help him get his life back. I think he takes the bait that Kang gives him, and the ramifications lead to drastic effects, such as losing his life. I speak for both Taylor and me when I say I don’t expect to see Scott get his way out of this one. To save Cassie’s life, I think Scott will give his own.

Another character I want to address before we get into major plots and the Quantum Realm itself is Janet van Dyne. Janet is the only person who has gone into the Quantum Realm and lived there for an extended period. Due to this, I think she has a relationship with Kang that she has never exposed because she never thought they would run across him. Beyond this, I theorize that she likely is part of the reason Kang remains stuck there, by either intercepting his ability to leave or hiding something from him that would help him get out. Either way, she knows more than she has told, and the unfortunate part is it appears her Hope and Hank become separated from Scott and Cassie, who run across Kang before the others. This movie might have a surprising twist in the protagonist because of Janet’s background in the Quantum Realm.

The last character to be put under a microscope is Kang himself. This Kang is nothing like the version of him we saw in Loki. He appears ruthless and extremely powerful, with an army at his fingertips, ready to escape the place he likely has been trapped for years. I want to specifically zero in on his powers, as he has been sucking up the Quantum Realm for the past who knows how long. If we remember, Janet also had Quantum powers when she returned, and we have to assume Kang has only been there longer or found a more aggressive way to absorb power. So the question becomes: Can Ant-Man beat this Kang? The way the trailer is laid out, it appears his only hope is going to be to take him down with him. Ant-Man is the first line of defense against him, but if this Kang gets out and is the one we will see the other Avengers face, then good luck to all. I do think Kang if he escapes will have a bigger reason than just anger at being entrapped. Keep in mind we have seen a pruned version of Kang’s love interest Ravonna Renslayer in Loki, so it may be possible Kang wants to reunite with her. More on that as we move into the Quantum Realm.

We are going to turn now to the slightly more confusing aspect of this film: the Quantum Realm. I’m going to provide the understanding that I know which might be right or likely isn’t, but it’s how I am going into this film thinking. Back in Loki, we are led to believe time works circularly as to why Kang’s variant says “See you soon” to Sylvie. We are also introduced to the Sacred timeline. I believe the Sacred timeline is a circle, having the same actions happen again and again. The Quantum Realm is a universe that runs parallel and underneath the Sacred Circle (I’m coining that phrase). Due to its nature, it allows one to move through time inside of it and get spit out at different parts of the Sacred Circle, which is why you wouldn’t want to be sucked into a time vortex and why we saw them use it to time travel. When Sylvie killed Kang’s variant, who ensured there was only one timeline, the offshoots that began were other universes beginning at times when people didn’t follow the usual timeline, which was what the TVA was always trying to avoid. This is the Multiverse. The Multiverse can open the possibility of other Kangs being created in their timelines.

Now, to the Kang in this film, I have quite the long-winded theory. I think back to the war with the other Kangs, they likely all came into the Quantum Realm in search of a crystal that would allow them to essentially rewrite reality and time (Taylor also suggests the theory of the Cosmic Cube). I would not be shocked if this Kang killed other versions of himself and was left trying to get the crystal when the Avengers intercepted him. They battled him, and many lost their lives (as to the comment he makes about killing Avengers in the trailers), but they still “beat” him. I think Shang-Chi’s rings were used to protect the crystal, and there is a connection to what the rings currently calling out to. They are calling to the other version of themselves that may be under attack in this film. This is where the understanding of time being a circle gets weird but is the only way I am comprehending this.

The current Kang likely needs Scott’s help to get the crystal, as we see Scott going for something with 1000s of other versions of himself helping. Kang would have never been able to get the crystal himself as he would never have been able to work as one with his variants, and then most were killed. He was likely missed since the Quantum Realm hides in tandem with the Sacred timeline and became trapped there. Scott can use his variants to get it as part of the deal he strikes with Kang. On top of this, Kang likely needs the crystal to not only escape but to rewrite the timeline he came from, one that was snipped away and left his love Ravonna gone. This would bring quite the depth to his character, and I have to assume there’s no way her being in Loki isn’t a connection to Kang.

Now it’s also possible that the Avengers battled Kang and trapped him in the Quantum Realm themselves, as quite a few Avengers have knowledge of the Quantum Realm. Trapping him there with the thing he wants the most but no way to actually get it, at least that they believe. Either way, this is a lot to process. It is obviously all a theory that my mind has attempted to put together, but I do have to say, making this entire Multiverse saga about a circular timeline makes a lot of sense for the MCU. I have no clue how it would explain things like Steve going back in time in Endgame, but honestly, at this point, unless someone can make sense of it for me, I’m leaving it well enough alone.

The last thing I want to address is our buddy MODAK. Now, being completely honest, if you told me when I was little that I would ever see a live-action MODAK, I think I would have cried. But here we are, and MODAK is here, and the best part is that he’s our buddy Darren from Ant-Man 1. This makes so much sense to me, and I love that they incorporated MODAK this way because it really brings the Ant-Man trilogy full circle. And should I be surprised in any way that Darren found a way to team up with a bad guy? No, not at all. It will be interesting to see what happens to him in this film and if he makes it back to our world. A big part of me hopes he does just so we continue to have MODAK as another possible storyline moving forward.

As promised, these predictions are wonky, and a lot and boy are they all over the place. In an attempt to not give everyone a headache, I did my best to simplify them and leave the super crazy out. As always, to hear every single thought and theory we came up with, make sure you give our podcast episode a listen! We are only 4 days away from Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. I hope you have tickets and are ready for the wild ride. Our reactions episode will be ready for your listening next Sunday. Get ready for the crazy, as Marvel is about to blow our minds, so let’s talk about it.

Image: “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania”, Christopher Campbell, Rotten Tomatoes