The final trailer for Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania features a wealth of new details and Easter eggs. Phase 4 has come to an end, but naturally that simply means the Marvel Cinematic Universe is about to launch Phase 5. The action will kick off with Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania, which is clearly being positioned as a crucial step in the Multiverse Saga. It continues to expand the Ant-Man cast; Paul Rudd’s Scott Lang, Evangeline Lilly’s Hope Van Dyne, Michael Douglas’ Hank Pym, and Michelle Pfeiffer’s Janet Van Dyne are now joined by Kathryn Netwon as the latest iteration of Ant-Man’s daughter Cassie. But it’s also a dramatic departure from the franchise to date, set mostly in the mysterious dimension known as the Quantum Realm.
Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania introduces viewers to Jonathan Majors’ Kang the Conqueror, believed to be the main villain of the Multiverse Saga. Previous trailers have confirmed the Ant-Man family gets stranded in the Quantum Realm after one of Cassie’s experiments goes badly wrong, and it had seemed as though Scott struck a deal with Kang in an attempt to get them out. The final trailer, released during the National College Football Championship game, suggests the stakes are even higher.
13/13 Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania Introduces Kang The Conqueror
Kang the Conqueror stands at the center of Marvel’s final Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania trailer. Majors has already played another variant of Kang in the MCU, He Who Remains, but the two characters are very different; Kang has an ominous and brooding presence, and his voice carries a sense of threat and danger. The Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania trailer appears to suggest Kang knows a great deal about Scott Lang, perhaps because of his time travel exploits. Scott has become something of a celebrity in the modern MCU, even writing an autobiography, and it’s possible Kang has access to these as historical records.
12/13 Scott Lang Has Become Famous
The opening shots of the Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania set up Scott Lang’s personal world – which has changed a lot since the events of Avengers: Endgame. Phase 4 has already established that Scott has gone public about his time among the Avengers, conducting a series of podcasts, and Ant-Man’s fame was particularly visible in Ms. Marvel‘s AvengerCon. There have been reports Scott will have just published an autobiography at the beginning of Quantumania, and a number of these opening shots may be from his press tour.
11/13 Cassie Lang Is Taking After Her Father In The Worst Possible Ways
Cassie has always hero-worshiped her dad, but the Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania trailer hints she’s taking after him in the worst possible ways. One shot shows Scott collecting his daughter from prison, although it’s unclear why she was arrested. She may well have broken the law as part of some sort of activist cause; Scott himself was originally imprisoned after conducting a Robin Hood-style crime against a corrupt company. No doubt he’s left wishing he’d lived a different life, one that had set Cassie on a very different journey.
10/13 How The Ant-Man Family Become Stranded In The Quantum Realm
Ant-Man and his family are trapped in the Quantum Realm after an experiment goes wrong. Previous trailers have shown a slightly different version of these shots, so the precise circumstances may change. Still, based on evidence so far, Cassie appears to have developed technology that sends a signal down to the Quantum Realm. In the previous trailer, Janet Van Dyne desperately attempted to turn the device off, but was too late. Janet had been trapped in the Quantum Realm for decades, so she understands the forces down there, and she has likely crossed paths with Kang the Conqueror many times.
The Ant-Man family are drawn into the Quantum Realm through a flare of blue energy. This color seems to be associated with Kang the Conqueror’s armor and weapons, although it’s difficult to say whether it has a deeper meaning. The Quantum Realm is adapted from the comic book dimension called the Microverse, which has a blue power called the Enigma Force. Kang could well be tapping into the Enigma Force.
9/13 Kang’s Face Mask Explained
In the comics, Kang’s face is concealed by a blue mask. Marvel Studios has reinvented this mask, turning it into an energy shield that forms in front of his face, presumably designed to help him survive in inhospitable atmospheres. It’s a smart reinvention, a way of paying homage to the comics while updating a design that is frankly a little dated.
8/13 Kang Offers Scott Lang A Deal
The MCU’s version of Kang the Conqueror is portrayed as the lord of time, possessing the power to alter reality on a fundamental level and shatter entire timelines at will. Previous Marvel movies have indeed established that tampering with the forces of causality can cause chaos on a multiversal level. “Temporal manipulations can create branches in time,” Wong warned Doctor Strange as he experimented with the Time Stone. “Unstable dimensional openings. Spacious paradoxes! Time loops!” These are the forces Kang plays with, and he understands the nature of time well enough to control such unpredictable effects – and weaponize them.
Ant-Man 3 pays off references in Ms. Marvel that portray Scott Lang as a celebrity superhero. But he’s filled with regrets nonetheless, because he wishes he’d had more time with his daughter, Cassie. Kang offers Scott a deal; if he helps Kang in some unknown way, performing a heist of some kind, Kang will rewrite history on Scott’s behalf. Scott has a second chance, another shot at life, one where he can avoid the mistakes that separated him from his family. It’s possible the offer of “time” conceals another subplot, that Scott has major health troubles and wishes to put those right.
7/13 Kang’s City Features A Number Of Marvel Easter Eggs
The Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania trailer features more shots of Kang’s Quantum Realm city. This is probably the city of Chronopolis, Kang’s base in the comics. There, Chronopolis sits outside time in a realm called Limbo, a dimension that every time traveler passes through. Limbo has probably been absorbed into the MCU’s Quantum Realm, making Chronopols a logical part of the Quantum Realm. Hopefully Marvel will explore some of the secrets of Chronopolis, which is one of Marvel’s most fascinating locations. Each block of Chronopolis extends to the ends of the Earth in a different time period. The more primitive time-periods are on the outskirts, the more advanced towards the center, and the heart is dominated by Kang’s Citadel.
The architecture of the MCU’s Chronopolis contains a number of subtle Easter eggs. The pyramidal structure is probably a subtle reference to a variant of Kang named Pharoah Rama-Tut (subtly teased in the MCU in Moon Knight). The circular motiffs are reminiscent of another MCU design; Shang-Chi’s Ten Rings. Shang-Chi & the Legend of the Ten Rings ended with the revelation these mysterious rings have sent a signal across the multiverse, so they may be connected to Kang and Chronopolis in some way.
6/13 Exploring The Quantum Realm In Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania
Marvel visited the Quantum Realm in Ant-Man & the Wasp, but in truth it all felt like something of a missed opportunity. Marvel’s official book of concept art, The Art of Ant-Man & the Wasp, confirmed the studio toyed with so many different ideas for the Quantum Realm; alien species and civilizations, even a nexus of memories through which people could peer into the past. Thankfully, Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania proves the MCU is finally going to explore the Quantum Realm, with so many shots of strange aliens and races. Some of these could be lifted from the comics; Bill Murray is confirmed to be playing Lord Krylar, a character associated with a dimension called the Microverse in the comics. The MCU’s Quantum Realm is basically a mash-up of the Microverse and Limbo, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see other Microverse characters in this film.
5/13 Ant-Man’s Memories Could Be A Part Of The Quantum Realm
There’s an odd juxtaposition in the Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania trailer, which moves from exploring the Quantum Realm to flashbacks from Scott’s life. This could be a mysterious nexus of memories, explored a little during development on Ant-Man & the Wasp. As concept artist Jackson Sze explained in The Art of Ant-Man & the Wasp: “Early on, there was almost a Nexus inside the Quantum Realm that they wanted to explore, which was a quantum memory palace. I think they were discussing ideas about how Hank might actually be able to go into his own memories and change history.“
4/13 Kang The Conqueror’s Armies Gather In The Quantumania Trailer
Kang has a massive, high-tech army – one he appears to turn against Scott Lang (and possibly some sort of Quantum Realm resistance movement). This is true to the comics, where Kang gathered together the best warriors from across history in his service, included twisted versions of the Avengers. Attentive viewers will notice the trademark blue colors and the repeated ring motifs.
3/13 The Quantumania Trailer Finally Shows The MCU’s MODOK
Kang isn’t the only villain in the Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania trailer; it also finally gives a glimpse of the MCU’s version of MODOK, the “Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing.” A classic Marvel villain, MODOK has even starred in his own short-lived animated TV series. He’s been heavily redesigned for the MCU, and this iteration doesn’t even look organic at all – but rather seems to be a robot. Kang has always tended to collect the most powerful weapons from across time, so it makes sense for him to have MODOK, but the new design will be controversial.
2/13 Ant-Man’s Goal: “We Both Just Have To Lose”
The Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania trailer shows several action scenes involving Kang and Scott Lang, and there’s a delightful power imbalance between the two. Kang is an Avengers-level threat, meaning Ant-Man is completely out of his depth. Marvel’s trailer seems to imply Ant-Man will die fighting Kang – but he may well consider this a price worth paying. Ant-Man knows he can’t win against Kang, but he’s hatched a plan that will mean they both lose. For Scott, that presumably means no more time with his family – whether through death, or because he is stranded in the multiverse.
1/13 Scott Lang Is Attacked By An Army Of Ant-Man Variants
The Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania trailer eschews the traditional Marvel-style joke ending, assuring viewers this is a very different kind of Ant-Man film. It ends on an emotional note, with Scott Lang overwhelmed by an army of Ant-Man variants, apologizing to Cassie as she watches him fall. In the comics, Scott’s death inspired Cassie to become the superhero Stature; the MCU has been setting up Cassie’s own superhero career since 2015, and this would complete her evolution. Still, viewers would be wise not to assume this is the case; Marvel trailers are known for their misdirection, and Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania‘s trailer is surely no exception.