Wow. Just wow.

A lot happened in the time span of about 2 hours and it has my mind all over the place. Some parts were of course really really good, while others, well, not so much. But overall, Taylor and I both solidly agree it was a good movie that has opened doors to the bigger MCU like you couldn’t imagine. This film did what a Phase kick-off film needs to do: prepare us for what is to come in the next two phases. I don’t want to waste any time getting into our reactions to this film so I will cut to it. As always, go listen to our latest podcast episode which will detail everything we felt about the movie. You can find your listening platform of choice by clicking the button below or listening live using the link provided.

I have to say, some films make it difficult to know where to start when discussing them and this is definitely one of them. I’m going to do the weird thing and start at the end of the actual movie itself. Starting here is mainly so I can air a little frustration I had, which is that the ending felt meh. Once they left the Quantum Realm, the whole last few scenes just felt like something super terrible was going to happen. I was shaking, expecting the very worst. Okay, maybe not the very worst but at least something wonky, like a camera pan to something suspicious, something that would just solidify that everything in our world is not as okay as we think. In reality, we didn’t really get anything and it felt just weird. It almost felt like they forgot they had to write a final scene. We had the little snippet where Scott thinks he could have done something to screw the whole world and then we just go on our merry way. I was a little disappointed there, as I think it had some potential to leave everyone shocked just like Infinity War and then fizzled out instead.

I’m about to sound like I didn’t like this movie at all by saying I didn’t love the start either. I didn’t have a problem with it other than the fact that I wanted a little more. There was never a connection formed between myself and Janet and this grown version of Cassie, so I needed the beginning to make me find them valuable characters I’m supposed to care about. In reality, I never had this relationship form, making our time in the Quantum Realm only important to me for Scott, Hope, and Hank. I also didn’t feel like we really could understand this new family dynamic that had been created. I haven’t seen these guys all together (minus Cassie) since at least 2018. I need to understand how Janet fits into all of this and how a teenage Cassie plays into it as well. It felt like we just needed a few more minutes to establish it, and listen, I know they wanted to get into the Quantum Realm ASAP but in the meantime, they sacrificed building a character background for me. 2/5 of the characters I couldn’t care less about and only cared because their family made me by association.

It’s important for me to get into the things we enjoyed or I think you’ll all walk out of here convinced we hated the movie, which we definitely didn’t. The Quantum Realm as a whole was really interesting and the CGI (for the most part) created a world you felt fully immersed in as the viewer. It’s uncharted territory and the movie did a fantastic job at showing not only that but just how weird and unpredictable the Quantum Realm really is. This is part of the Quantum Realm we never have dabbled in before, even in Endgame when the Avengers used it to time travel. I mean the whole point here is to bear witness to a really weird world that should be near to impossible to reach. So I was good with weird. I enjoyed the scenery and the thought that went into it. I really loved the world-building, as it feels a little rare now in the MCU to have these new landscapes laid out for us. The people were interesting (although I could have done without the whole revolution storyline, minus my hole guy, loved him), and everything fit together like puzzle pieces to get us to where we needed to go: Kang.

Jonathan Majors was always going to do an amazing job as Kang. We knew this after seeing him that very first time in the Loki season finale last June. I do have to say, though, that I was anxious to see how he would mold a different version of the character for this film and he didn’t for a second let us down. His performance was amazing and from what I’ve seen, whether people have loved or hated the film, everyone agrees Kang was awesome. We’re beyond stoked to see what he brings to the MCU as his character only grows.

Another character I want to touch on real quick is Hank. I wanted more of him in this movie. I feel like, to a degree, he was pushed to the side during most of the runtime or was overshadowed by Janet’s inability to communicate. The last battle with him bringing the ants luckily did steer it back for me and bring the attention to him. Now I know Hank isn’t the most important character in a movie like this one, I can acknowledge that. It just feels when you have a movie based in the Quantum Realm, a huge topic that has driven Hank for many years, that we should see a little more of him in the world. I’m thankful for what we saw and like I said, the final scene was able to really move his character back into who the man is and always will be: the first Ant-Man.

Let’s work our way into some of this plot a little more. I enjoyed seeing the background between Janet and Kang and how that impacted where we were today. It also intrigued me that Kang pretty much told Scott that defeating him is what Time calls for, but if he lets him out, he can stop the worst from coming. It reminded me a lot of what He Who Remains said in Loki, so I liked the little callback. Not to go too far off from the original point though, we figured Janet was going to have some relationship with Kang, as it seems hard to live in the Quantum Realm for so long and not know him at all. Yet to see her be the reason he not only survived but why he almost got out (then why he was currently still stuck there) did lend itself to being the deeper pull that I wanted from the film. Janet, while annoying at times, really did become the main protagonist, as it was her past with Kang that made him so hungry for Scott’s help. Overall, this drove the storyline.

There’s no point in dancing around what I consider the most critical aspect of this movie and that is the little sphere battery that allows Kang to travel the Multiverse. I consider this the most important part because we just saw that there was a machine created in the future that allows someone to travel through the Multiverse without the help of America Chavez or dream walking. I want to know more about it and I want to understand how many versions of Kang, or really just anyone, have this machine and can use it. It’s what I think part of this Multiverse travel might be riding on, both from our universe’s end and from others.

Moving right into the end-credit scenes, these opened the rest of Phase 5 and 6 beautifully. We are going to discuss one at a time here, but I have to say Taylor and I certainly missed some low-hanging fruit with the second one. At least we were right about the first one fitting into the category of direct effects from this movie. The first end credit came swinging with the Council of Kangs, which I think doesn’t need much explanation as to what they are since we physically saw them, and also the name is pretty clear. To shed some light on who we saw specifically, the older version of Kang is called Immortus, who is extremely powerful and would like to wipe all the other Kang versions out of the Multiverse. Then we also saw Rama-Tut, whose Egyptian background might be pretty interesting for a specific character who quite likes the moon. And lastly, we saw one in blue who many believe to be the Scarlet Centurion. None of the variants want the Avengers to meddle in the Multiverse and this is the reason they were all brought together.

Clearly, this is going to be an issue for the Avengers, but a part of me thinks we won’t be seeing them fight all these Kangs at once, if at all. For one, Immortus is power-hungry and literally already wants all the variants dead. Then there’s the production problem where I’m unsure they’ll create movies based around Jonathan Majors playing millions of versions of himself. But lastly, I think we will be seeing some main Kangs, just like at the end here, the ones who are most powerful and can do the most damage. Either that or one Kang will rise to the top and will do just as our Kang from the Quantum Realm did: create an army and destroy. There’s a ton of possibility here and we are possibly going to get answers sooner than we anticipated we would.

That brings me to the second end-credit scene, which like I said, should have been low-hanging fruit but was certainly missed by both Taylor and myself. Of course, tying any of this into the Loki series makes a ton of sense. It was the first place we saw Kang and it opened the doors for all of it, plus he’s traveling outside time and everything else. Not to mention, Loki season 2 is one of two shows we are confirmed to actually be getting before the end of 2023. All this being said, we missed a big one, but it’s important to talk about the bigger ramifications of this end-credit scene. It, of course, introduced a new variant of Kang, whose name is Victor Timely. This seems all good and dandy until we pan to Mobius and Loki who are apparently looking for Kang variants themselves. The bigger ramification here? I think we might end up seeing our Loki back in our MCU timeline at some point, as now his storyline and the storyline of the MCU are rapidly approaching the same end point. On top of that, I am curious to see if Victor remains the main Kang variant of this season of Loki or if we are exploring other versions throughout the episodes. Either way, Victor could also be an interesting variant to bring to the table as we move towards Kang Dynasty.

As promised, there were two things from our episode that we said we would confirm here for everyone. The first is if some of the people in the Quantum Realm have comic book background by being from the Microverse. The simple answer is yes, some of the characters we were introduced to do have comic book similarities. Starting with Jentorra (the woman who was leading the resistance) she is pulled directly from a Microverse character of the same name. Quaz (are mind reading friend) is a unique character himself, but may have pulled inspiration from a Microverse character named Arcrutus Rann. In a similar sense, Xolum (dude with the light as a head) pretty much also is unique in the MCU, but very similar to the character Psyklop in the Microverse. Last but certainly not least, our favortie hole buddy Veb is pretty much entirely unique to this movie itself. So there you have it, we did see quite a bit of inspiration brought from the Microverse comic lines into the Quantum Realm story.

Our second topic of confirmation is whether Nathaniel Richards is Iron Lad. As I was very passionate about in our episode, I was right in saying that Nate Richards is in face Iron Lad (and of course later Kang). While we didn’t see him pop up anywhere in this film, don’t be shocked if we see him soon. There are quite a few storylines that 100% could tie him in easily coming up, so we just have to keep an eye out. If you would like to read up on Nate Richards as Iron Lad, you can click the link here to take you to his MCU Wiki page!

That is going to wrap up our reactions post about Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. If you haven’t listened to our much more detailed podcast episode, go ahead and give it a listen because there’s more where that came from. Our next episode will be in recognition of Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day and after that we will be diving back into this film and going into more detail about some of the important topics. All this being said, make sure you’re keeping an eye out for those episodes, which will be coming out on a two week basis. We will also be covering the history of women in marvel in our March newsletter, which you can sign up for here. The first movie of Phase 5 has come and gone, so make sure you keep up with all the news from Marvel to stay updated, as Marvel just blew your mind, so let’s talk about it.

Image: “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania”, Jessica Wang, Entertainment

Sources: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/ant-man-and-the-wasp-quantumania-post-credits-scene-explained-1235328248/

https://collider.com/ant-man-and-the-wasp-quantumania-every-new-character/#lord-krylar

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