The title for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania seemingly explains how Kang the Conqueror joins the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The third Ant-Man movie received a major update from Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige at the Disney Investor Day in December 2020. Ant-Man 3 has been in the works for a few months now and will see Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly), Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), and Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) return. Marvel also confirmed that Kathryn Newton is taking over the role of Cassie Lang.
Another bit of Ant-Man 3 casting that is now official is Jonathan Majors playing Kang the Conqueror. The Lovecraft Country star was linked to the role earlier this year but couldn’t confirm that such rumors were true. Kang is one of the biggest and most complicated villains in Marvel Comics. He’s a time-traveling warlord from across the multiverse who might be related to Reed Richards and also helped form the Young Avengers as Iron Lad. At first, the inclusion of Kang in Ant-Man 3 was quite baffling. As an Avengers-level threat, putting him in an Ant-Man film didn’t line up in the minds of most fans. However, it’s now more clear why he’s involved thanks to the sequel’s title.
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Marvel Studios announced the title for the sequel is Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. While Wasp retaining her co-lead status for the threequel was nice to see, the Quantumania subtitle did a lot to tease the direction of Peyton Reed’s movie. It not only pays off a joke from Ant-Man and the Wasp about putting “quantum” in front of everything, but the title also confirms that the film will heavily deal with the Quantum Realm. Those involved with the last installment indicated that this was the direction the franchise would go, but the Quantumania subtitle shows just how prominent it will be. And now that Kang is confirmed to be involved, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania exploring the Quantum Realm should be the explanation for him to join.
As a time-traveling and universe-hopping conqueror, Kang the Conqueror being tied to the Quantum Realm makes complete sense for the MCU. So far the Quantum Realm is the only confirmed way to time travel in the MCU after Avengers: Endgame. Tony Stark made this possible thanks to some of his final inventions, and even though the Avengers might not have fully understood what they were doing at first, Tony did have the foresight to know that if you mess with time, it tends to mess back. Now it can be Kang the Conqueror who arrives as Team Ant-Man continues to experiment with what the Quantum Realm can do.
It also makes sense narratively that Kang could come from the Quantum Realm and cross paths with both versions of Ant-Man and Wasp. They have explored the Quantum Realm several times but nothing truly bad has come from it so far. Ant-Man found a way to return from it at the end of Ant-Man, they helped rescue Janet at the end of Ant-Man and the Wasp, went back to get particles to help Ghost, and all of the time travel done in Avengers: Endgame ultimately worked. If Kang uses the Quantum Realm for his conquests and rules it as a result, it would only be a matter of time before he discovered what Ant-Man and the rest were up to. It remains to be seen just how much of a villain Kang will be right away, but Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania‘s title explains how and why he’s now showing up in the MCU.
Key Release Dates
- Black Widow (2021)Release date: May 07, 2021
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)Release date: Jul 09, 2021
- Eternals (2021)Release date: Nov 05, 2021
- Spider-Man: Homecoming 3 (2021)Release date: Dec 17, 2021
- Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)Release date: Mar 25, 2022
- Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)Release date: May 06, 2022
- Black Panther 2 (2022)Release date: Jul 08, 2022
- Captain Marvel 2 (2022)Release date: Nov 11, 2022
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