Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is the third movie starring Scott Lang as the titular Ant-Man. It has been a while since he got his own solo film as Ant-Man and the Wasp was in 2018. Both of his movies were more singular adventures that did not tie in much to the greater MCU which is why they were so enjoyable.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is the beginning of Phase 5 which means that the movie was more or less created to fulfill a purpose. It needed to set Kang up as the new big bad of the MCU. It did that, but not without leaving some questions on the table.
Warning! Spoilers ahead.
6 Kang In Relation To Loki
Viewers going into this movie may have thought this Kang was the same one as the character in the show based on Loki. Perhaps Loki did not kill him in that final scene. It turns out the Kangs from both properties are separate although they do share common interests. Kang in Loki explains that he exists to make sure that his other, more evil selves, cannot come back into reality.
That’s why he created the agency so that there was one core timeline. It backfired on him in the end which gave way to the multiverse. Now, there are Kangs all over the place. The Kang in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania wanted to similarly destroy other realities to create one timeline and to prevent his other versions from doing whatever it is they want to do.
5 What Do The Kangs Want?
This brings to question the next mystery. What does the council of Kangs want from the universe? Do they want to keep an eye on everything, or is the council hungry for power? Conquering is what they do best, but if that is the case then why did the prime Kang in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania resent his brethren so much? Don’t they want the same thing?
The idea of a multiverse was wild enough but introducing hundreds more of one character creates something even harder to follow. Who knows where the MCU wants to go with this plot, but assuredly they are going to let something slip eventually. MCU fans just have to be patient with the rollout of content.
4 Kang’s Powers
What are Kang’s powers? One could dive into the comics to find out what they are, but the MCU often has different interpretations anyway. Loki did not describe them well although it appeared as though he had some grasp on time as a concept. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania then expanded his powers to show a little more flash.
He can fly, open portals within the same realm to teleport, and he can shoot energy blasts. Apparently, he has enough energy stored inside his body to presumably destroy entire universes. There is a scene wherein he discharged a large blast radius of energy when he gets angry at a younger Janet. Is this how he destroys worlds? How else could he close timelines unless he had an unknown helper?
3 Kang Couldn’t Power His Own Ship?
The final question about Kang relates to his ship. Kang explains to Janet that he was exiled from his people and he needed to get away. Unfortunately, the core to his ship was destroyed and Janet then was responsible for finding a chemical compound in the Quantum Realm to fix his ship. Eventually, she does find the right resources, but Janet also learns who Kang truly is once she touches his ship.
That’s when she decides to sabotage the whole mission and destroy the relic. It’s hard to believe in Kang’s infinite knowledge, he was not able to replicate Janet’s work for more fuel and a new power grid. He created a giant robot army and an empire in that time for crying out loud. Thankfully, he gets stopped in the end before he can warp himself and his army elsewhere. However, the end credit scene makes it clear the heroes aren’t safe yet.
2 The Diversity Of The Quantum Realm
The Quantum Realm was filled with monsters that looked like they could be amoebas, which fit. However, there were also sentient, human-like creatures as well. Many of them looked indistinguishable from humans like Lord Krylar, or Jentorra, or even Quaz. Quaz did have telepathic powers, but superpowers aren’t exactly weird in the MCU anymore especially if mutants are on the way.
There were stranger humanoids too like the broccoli creature. Where did this eclectic grouping of individuals come from? Were they always here? Did they crash land in the Quantum Realm after an accident too? There are so many questions and the movie didn’t bother to answer any of them in a satisfying way.
1 Darren’s Turn
Darren coming back in this movie has to be one of the biggest surprises. He was defeated in the first Ant-Man film, seemingly left for dead. When his body was zapped to the Quantum Realm it apparently mutated his body to look like an egg with baby arms.
It’s a good thing Kang had the right resources to build this killing machine suit. Again, he didn’t have the right resources to build his ship though. It’s all very confusing. As entertaining as Darren’s return was as the new villain M.O.D.O.K., his turn didn’t make sense. Why did he suddenly feel remorse after all of this time?