The Future of the Smallest Avenger
In 2015, Marvel Studios took a gamble when they gave Antman his first solo film in the MCU. While it didn't break the bank it gave the studio enough momentum to go forward with his trilogy. Flash forward to today, we just watched the first trailer for what looks like to be the biggest entry in his journey, "Antman and the Wasp: Quantumania".
Throughout the years we've seen Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) take on the biggest and smallest foes in the MCU. From Yellowjacket to Thanos to even the Avengers themselves, Scott has been in the line of fire ever since he donned the title of Antman from his mentor Hank Pym (Michael Douglas). In his upcoming outing Scott will be facing his biggest foe yet, Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors).
Kang first appeared in Marvel Studios "Loki" which premiered on Disney + earlier this year. While he was revealed to be a Kang variant (The One Who Remains), he still teased a threat to our characters future with an upcoming war. While we've seen no further evidence of this war brewing, with the recent announcement of both "Avengers: The Kang Dynasty" and "Avengers: Secret Wars" I think it's safe to say come 2025 Kang's full presence will be felt.
As the recent trailer and title reveal, Scott and his family will be returning to the Quantum Realm. While this will be many characters first time in this micro universe, to Scott he knows this place all to well. As seen in the post credit scene for "Antman and the Wasp" Scott became trapped when everyone on the outside was snapped by the Mad Titan at the end of "Avengers: Infinity War". Next time we see Scott return is 5 years later when he is set free in "Avengers: Endgame".
Using their newfound ability to travel the Quantum Realm the Avengers use this to travel through the timeline to defeat Thanos once and for all. While Scott's post Endgame life has only been mentioned and seen briefly, we can assume that saving the universe has boosted his ego quite a bit as he is promoting himself in a kind of "hollywood actor esque" spotlight. That ego will then be demolished when he comes face to face with our universes Kang in Quantumania. Assuming this is the end of quite a few actors contracts, it's safe to say Kang will exit this film with quite a bit of blood on his hands. Even with the assistance of Hope (Evangeline Lilly) and his daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton), Kang will be just too much for these heroes to handle without some backup.
As we all know time passes differently in the Quantum Realm, this begs the question, will this film thrust the MCU even further into the future? Kang is known for traveling through time, so it's quite possible he uses the Quantum Realm to do so. This could result in Scott ending the film even further than the already established timeline of 2026-2027. While nothing has been confirmed it would be interesting to see our heroes, especially the newer ones, older and more experienced than they currently are.
While Paul Rudd is a fan favorite, to prove himself to be as powerful as the likes of Thanos, killing an Avenger is probably on the top of Kangs to-do list. Whether or not that takes place in this film or in 2025's "Avengers: The Kang Dynasty" has yet to be seen. Antman returns to the big screen February 17, 2023; a day in which I encourage many to be seated and ready.