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Ant-Man and The Wasp Quantumania ends Paul Rudd’s solo Marvel trilogy, following on from fellow Avengers Iron Man, Captain America and Thor. Marvel’s threequels tend to be epic in terms of size, scale and stakes and the shrinking superhero has certainly come a long way. From the trailers we’ve seen Scott Lang and his family sucked back into the Quantum Realm where they come face to face with the MCU’s new Thanos-level villain, Kang the Conqueror. Here are the franchise’s outings to watch – especially that Disney Plus TV episode – before seeing the new movie for a proper recap and to hopefully understand what the multiverse is going on.
Ant-Man (2015)
Scott Lang entered the MCU at the end of Marvel Phase 2. The thief comes across the original Ant-Man and creator of the Pym particle, Dr Hank Pym. His subatomic particles can increase and reduce mass, density and strength, giving the wearer of his suit the ability to shrink or grow in size.
After being forced out of his company by his former protége Darren Cross, Pym trains up Scott as the new Ant-Man to prevent Cross from using the same technology as a weapon for evil. He manages to defeat Cross aka Yellowjacket, who had been harnassing the tech for HYDRA. The last we saw of the baddie was being shrunk into the Quantum Realm, where he will reappear in Quantumania as M.O.D.O.K., an evil giant head who has undergone mutagenic medical experimentation.
Captain America: Civil War (2016)
Sam Wilson’s Falcon recruits Ant-Man to join Steve Rogers’ team in opposing the Sokovia Accords, which held the Avengers to government scrutiny. Scott becomes Giant-Ant in the epic German airport scene before being captured and imprisoned on the Raft. Captain America later breaks him out of prison.
Ant-Man and The Wasp (2018)
Ant-Man finds himself under house arrest two years after the events of Civil War. Scott is kidnapped by Hank and his daughter Hope van Dyne and the trio work on rescuing the scientist’s wife Janet, the original Wasp, from the Quantum Realm where she’s been residing since 1987. They need a part purchased from black-market dealer Sonny Burch, but they’re double-crossed by him when he realises the profit he can make from Pym’s work. He’s later defeated and Janet is freed from the Microverse.
During the mid-credits scene, the Pym family are watching over Scott who is in the Quantum Realm harvesting Quantum Energy. However, the three turn to dust after Thanos’ Snap, which takes place simultaneously during the events of Avengers Infinity War. Scott is trapped in the Microverse and no one knows he’s there.
READ MORE: Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania release date, cast, trailer, plot
Loki S1 E6: For All Time. Always (2021)
The 2012 Loki variant who escaped with Tesseract in Avengers Endgame was apprehended by the Time Variance Authority whose job it is to preserve the MCU’s Sacred Timeline. In the final episode, Loki and his female variant Sylvie enter the Citadel at the End of Time where they come across a man called He Who Remains. This is a variant of Kang the Conqueror, who set up the TVA after the first multiverse war. The conflict was between his variants from the 31st century who tried to conquer other universes.
Jonathan Majors’ He Who Remains offers Loki and Sylvie a choice of killing him and ending the Sacred Timeline, which would risk another multiverse war sparked by his variants including Kang or succeed him in managing the TVA. Sylvie kills him unleashing multiple Nexus events. Back at the TVA, the timeline has changed and Loki’s colleagues don’t recognise him, while a statue of Kang the Conqueror stands tall.
Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania (2023)
From what can be divulged from the trailers, Kang the Conqueror is stuck in the Quantum Realm and offers Ant-Man a Faustian bargain, which Janet warns him not to accept: assist the villain in getting out of the Microverse in exchange for the time back with his daughter he lost during 2018-2023.
Whatever happens, Ant-Man kicks off a multiverse storyline that will continue through Loki season 2 later this year and into 2025’s Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and 2026’s Avengers: Secret Wars.
Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania hits cinemas on February 17, 2023.
