Is the future of the MCU Quantum?

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania isn’t the first time we’ve been to the Quantum Realm. It’s not even close to the first time that we’ve heard about it either. But after making its’ major world debut, it left us wondering, now what? And inside of that question, we still want to understand what the Quantum Realm is, how it works, and where it might play again. We might not have complete answers but we have many theories to play with in our latest episode, all about the Quantum Realm. Before continuing this article, listen to our corresponding podcast episode by clicking the button below or listening live with the link provided.

Let’s start with a brief look at the comic origins of the Quantum Realm. The Quantum Realm is sort of a mish-mash of two different comic locations: the Quantum Zone and the Microverse. The Quantum Zone in the comics is the source of all energy, which is where we think we probably get the energy layer of the Quantum Realm from (more to come on layers in a second). On the Microverse side, we mainly got characters from this, which I discussed during the Ant-Man 3 Reactions episode. I will briefly focus on the Quantum Zone as we have a theory that it. The Quantum Zone has these things called the Quantum Rings, which might be a tie to Shang-Chi in the MCU. Instead of these Quantum Rings being their own entity, the MCU instead might use Shang-Chi’s ten rings and Kamala’s bangle as these special pieces. This would tie them into the Quantum Realm, but this is only one of our theories on how this could be done.

Getting briefly into the layer idea I spoke about before, the Quantum Realm so far has been shown to us in three different ways. In the first Ant-Man, we see a mirror-like layer, then in Ant-Man 2 we see more of an energy field and now we have seen a whole world laid out for us. On top of that, in Endgame, they appear to be in tunnels that connect different parts of time. This all being said, the Quantum Realm is a lot more complex than just the civilization we’ve seen now. Are there additional layers? Can you move between layers? While we don’t have much knowledge to answer these, I’m going with yes and yes. There may be layers even further below the layer with civilization, possibly the place Kang went after being defeated. And it appears that moving between layers should be possible, as Janet was found in the energy layer but was friendly with those in the civilization layer. It’s possible she used her suit to move about, which would leave regular Quantum Realm citizens less likely to be able to move. Lastly, on the topic of layers, is there a connection between the mirror layer and the mirror dimension? Once again, we want to say yes. First, rarely do we see two things that look so similar to one another that aren’t connected. And second, with the way dimensions, realms, and universes are looking, I think things are a lot more connected than we think or have been given guidance to believe.

Let’s continue this thought a little, as dimensions, realms, and universes, which apparently are all the same thing, now leave us with some other gaping questions. If things like the Dark and Mirror Dimension are their own universes, then how were they opened before the Multiverse officially was? Once again, no concrete answers but we have theories. The first idea is that the Loki show itself sits outside of time, so technically we can neither confirm nor deny when it actually takes place in the MCU. Loki himself was a product of the 2012 timeline going wrong, which means the Loki show effects from 2012 onwards, at least theoretically. The other theory, which hurts our brains a little more, is that when Sylvie killed He Who Remains, his death’s ramifications went through both the past and the future. Meaning it would have affected what we already knew and what is to come. This would also help explain the whole Janet being in the Quantum Realm 30 years ago storyline. But even I have to say, this one is definitely a headache. Our last one is what I spoke about in the predictions episode, which is that the Quantum Realm has always existed, it’s just the basement, if you will, of our universe. I still think this one likely makes the most sense as far as understanding how there is history in the Quantum Realm. I think it sits differently than other universes and just has always been around. But honestly, who knows, we’re only guessing.

Another concept that hurts our brains is that magic might be involved here. Upon research, magic has a part in the Quantum Realm so is it possible it could be part of the source of its existence. This would be a possible way of explaining how it predates the Multiverse as well, as we’ve seen things like the Dark Dimension predate what we know of the Multiverse and Strange accessed that through magic. If we throw away all our other theories from above, we could say magic may be responsible. I mean, we’ve watched magic form worlds of its’ own, so it’s a possibility. That being said, that could be another way we access the Quantum Realm beyond time travel and shrinking subatomic.

Now that I’ve made everyone’s brains explode, I’m going to move away from how we think the Quantum works and exists and talk a little bit more about what we still think is a solid connection, which is Shang-Chi’s rings and Kamala’s bangle. We believe that it’s possible that when Cassie opened the door to the Quantum Realm or when Kang himself gets his chair back, those could be moments that correspond with when we see the rings calling out at the end of Shang-Chi. The rings have been used at about 5% of their actual powers, so the possibility of the rings being activated and able to open doors to other universes, such as the Quantum Realm, is extremely possible.

Continuing with this direction of theories, I see the Quantum Realm as possibly like the Labyrinth from the Percy Jackson series. It lives beneath our world and distance/time don’t exactly work the same. In Percy Jackson, you could enter in New York and end up in California in 10 minutes, I think that might be very similar to the Quantum Realm. You can enter at one place or time and could possibly exit at other places and times, just like Scott in Endgame. Our theory here involving the rings and bangle is that they might be using the Quantum Realm below to call each other. It’s possible the Quantum Realm is actually really old, and these artifacts are a part of it. This may be the connection needed to start helping this all make a little more since. Emphasis on “may be”.

Finishing with the big question we are all wondering: will we see more of the Quantum Realm? The simple answer from us is yes. While we don’t have many theories on how this may take place, we do have one that we are willing to put into the ring. Due to the background that Kang has with the Quantum Realm, including the one we saw in this film and his many variants, there’s a big possibility that part of the battle in the Kang Dynasty or a lead-up battle to the big one may take place in the Quantum Realm. The characters that we already met and invested more time in than we had thought would be allies for the Avengers in the battle. This makes sense to us, as we rarely see Marvel movies create such depth for characters we are only going to see one time.

Personally, my head aches a little from typing all these theories out and they are our theories. Yet, it is important that we throw all possibilities out there, as you never know what could be right. If you have any thoughts on the Quantum Realm, tweet us or comment on this post and let us know what you’re thinking. Moving forward for us, our next podcast episode is going to be about the Young Avengers, who we’ve seen so far, how we think they will come together, and when it might happen. Catch that episode this weekend and as always, stay up to date with all our content as Marvel just blew your mind, so let’s talk about it.

Image: “The Quantum Realm”, Mars Garrett, Bols