Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will have a direct link to Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, which means the MCU can continue to fix its oldest Ant-Man and Wasp mistake. Two of the most important Marvel comic book heroes, Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne only joined the MCU after Phase 2 with Ant-Man (2015) and Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018). The MCU’s actual Ant-Man and Wasp, Scott Lang, and Hope Van Dyne will now return for the third film in the Ant-Man franchise, one that can pave the way for the often-forgotten MCU heroes to have a central role in the next Avengers movie.
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The first MCU hero who was not part of 2012’s The Avengers team to receive a solo movie, Scott Lang never officially joined the Avengers. Scott met Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, in which Ant-Man fought for Team Cap. Similar to all the other Team Cap heroes, Scott Lang was arrested at the end of Civil War and had to accept a plea deal in other not to return to jail. Ant-Man would reunite with the Avengers only in 2023 after returning from the Quantum Realm and discovering that half of all life in the universe was gone. After stealing the show in Avengers: Endgame, Scott Lang will now reunite with Hope van Dyne for Quantumania.
With a trilogy of films and a key role in saving the universe, it may not seem like Scott Lang and the Ant-Man corner of the MCU need fixing. Still, compared to the role Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne had in the original Avengers comics, Ant-Man and Wasp’s roles in the MCU leave a lot to be desired. Fortunately, Marvel seems to be aware of how significant Ant-Man and Wasp can still be for the future of the franchise. Following what was established about the Quantum Realm and the Pym Particles in Ant-Man, Ant-Man and the Wasp, and Avengers: Endgame, plus the fact that Kang the Conqueror will be in Quantumania, Scott Lang and Hope van Dyne can now be the Avengers’ gateway to the Multiverse Saga.
The MCU’s Phase 1 & 2 Failed Ant-Man & Wasp
In the comics, Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne are founding members of the Avengers and central characters in some of Marvel’s most important stories. However, in the MCU, Hank Pym was only introduced at the end of Phase 2 as the mentor to Scott Lang in Ant-Man while Janet was only introduced close to the end of Phase 3 in Ant-Man and the Wasp. While the MCU established that Hank and Janet have used the Ant-Man and Wasp suits in the past, they acted as actual superheroes long before the Avengers were put together.
That is a major deviation from the comics, one that led to a series of differences between the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the Marvel Comics’ Earth-616. For example, it was Hank Pym who created Ultron in the comics and not Tony Stark. In fact, the MCU’s Iron Man borrowed a lot from the comic book Hank Pym. The original Ant-Man, who also used the Giant-Man and Yellowjacket alias, would often try to end a war before it even began and protect the world from threats that were not even there yet, two traits that were displayed by the MCU’s Tony Stark. Likewise, the original Wasp was essential in some of Marvel’s most important sagas, such as when Janet sacrificed herself to end the Skrull’s attack in Secret Invasion. Considering Hank and Janet’s roles in Marvel’s history, skipping over the original Ant-Man and Wasp in the MCU was a mistake.
Avengers: Endgame Only Worked Because Of Ant-Man
Seven years after The Avengers, the MCU finally put Ant-Man in the spotlight with Avengers: Endgame. Obviously, it was the Scott Lang version of the character, as the MCU’s Hank Pym only serves as a mentor and as the “guy in the chair” for Scott and Hope. Still, seeing Ant-Man have an important role in an Avengers-level mission and not just being comic relief was a nice change of pace that somewhat honored what the character means for Marvel. Not only that but the fact that the Pym Particles are what essentially saved the universe after the Thanos snap was also a good way of acknowledging Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne’s role in the Marvel universe.
Despite being his first and so far only Avengers movie, Paul Rudd’s Scott Lang was the heart of Avengers: Endgame, with the character working both as a MacGuffin and as a charismatic lead superhero. Ant-Man saved the world in Endgame, and it seems like that will be something Quantumania will explore too. The first Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania trailer shown exclusively at San Diego Comic-Con reveals that Scott Lang will be living as a celebrity after saving the universe, with the once-forgotten superhero now having his own book and podcast (which was previously mentioned in Ms. Marvel).
How Avengers: The Kang Dynasty Connects To Quantumania
Jonathan Majors, who plays Kang and his variants in the MCU, will reprise his role as the Avengers villain in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Kang will also be the main villain in the next Avengers movie, Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, which therefore creates a connection between Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and the first Avengers film in the Multiverse Saga. Thanks to the concept of the Quantum Realm, which was introduced in the first Ant-Man, both Ant-Man and Wasp now have access to time travel through this technology. Likewise, Kang’s signature power in the comics is the ability to travel through time with the assistance of highly advanced tech. As such, it makes sense that Kang’s first appearance in an MCU movie will be in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
Marvel Is Setting Up Ant-Man & Wasp To Be Crucial Against Kang
Going by the title of the movie, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, it seems like Ant-Man and Wasp will learn about Kang in the Quantum Realm. Many have theorized that the city in a bubble briefly shown inside the Quantum Realm during Ant-Man and the Wasp is the MCU’s version of Chronopolis. In the comics, Chronopolis is a city created by Kang-Prime from which the time-traveling villain operates. Ant-Man and the Wasp establish that Janet van Dyne lived in the Quantum Realm and interacted with other societies there. So it's possible that Janet already knows of Kang and of what he was doing in Chronopolis. Should that be the case, then Scott and Hope should be able to quickly learn about Kang and how he operates.
Loki already met He Who Remains, one of the less dangerous Kang variants, but everything points to Quantumania being the film to establish Kang-Prime as a threat to the Avengers. Therefore, even if Janet never heard about Kang, the fact that Scott and Hope will face them before any other Avengers already makes Ant-Man and Wasp essential to fight Kang in The Kang Dynasty. The stakes for Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars will be even higher than they were for Endgame, and if Ant-Man and Wasp turn out to be as important to Avengers 5 and 6 as Scott was for Endgame, then the MCU will have finally made up for the lack of Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne in Phases 1 and 2.