In recent years, Marvel Studios has been forced to contend with more plot leaks than ever before. With that in mind, we're not exactly shocked that they're now looking to tighten up security and limit who attends screenings.
A few weeks ago, set photos showed the Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania cast back on set shooting new scenes for the movie. That's last-minute even for Marvel Studios, and now we've watched the threequel, it's clear Paul Rudd and company were there to film a new ending for Phase 5's opening chapter.
Last October, a detailed plot breakdown for the latest Ant-Man adventure started doing the rounds and, honestly, we didn't pay it the attention it deserved. Now, though, we can confirm its legitimacy, especially as it was both incredibly accurate and included details only someone who had watched the movie would know.
However, there are some significant differences, specifically in regards to an alternate ending. We're sure you're keen to know what that entailed and have all the details for you here!
Massive SPOILERS follow, so you'll need to tap that NEXT button to read through this breakdown.
Kang's Mission
For the most part, the leak from October matches what we've watched in theaters. Kang the Conqueror was still desperate to escape the Quantum Realm, but his relationship with Janet was explored in perhaps a little more detail.
She calls him "Nathaniel" at one point, for example, a reference to the fact Kang's true name is Nathaniel Richards. In the comic books, the villain is thought to be a direct descendant of Reed Richards (or possibly Doctor Doom), but the reveal is one Marvel Studios may now be saving for a project deeper into the Multiverse Saga.
In this cut, Kang also panned to make Janet's reality the first he conquered upon escaping as a means of revenge.
New Looks For Ant-Man And The Wasp
We're unsure whether this leaker saw a cut of the film with unfinished VFX, but they revealed that both Scott Lang and Hope Van Dyne would get new costumes in Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania's final act.
Both characters were set to don all-black suits, with Hope's wings compared to "lightsabers."
Despite this significant change, their respective costumes would have still had red and yellow accents, and we're presuming Hank Pym's army of technologically advanced intelligent ants created these for them. As for why they were cut, it's possible the overhauled suit designs were deemed superfluous to the story.
Kang Escapes!
We know many of you have been left flabbergasted by the decision to kill Kang the Conqueror, but it seems that was a last-minute decision on Marvel Studios' part as Avengers: The Kang Dynasty begins to take shape.
Just like in the theatrical cut, Janet, Hank, Cassie, and Hope all return to Earth, only for Scott to be confronted by a vengeful, battle-damaged Kang. They fight, but the villain escapes even after The Wasp returns to lend Ant-Man a helping hand. With that, they're left trapped in the Quantum Realm just as Janet once was.
Kang didn't head through the same doorway as our heroes from best we can tell, and Hope tells Scott that when she saw all those different versions of herself in the probability storm, she realised she didn't want to live a life without him (aww).
A Cliffhanger Ending
With Kang on the loose and Ant-Man and The Wasp stuck in the Quantum Realm, Hank and Cassie set about attempting to find them.
In the movie's final moments, we no longer see Scott agonise over whether stopping Kang was a terrible mistake; instead, Cassie is running countless simulations across multiple computers, with her eyes going wide after she sees something. The screen then cuts to black, leaving us to wonder whether they were rescued.
There's no mention of post-credits scenes in this leak, but we'd bet at least one was once much different.
As for why Marvel decided against Kang surviving, we have to assume it's because they didn't want to paint themselves into a corner where the Conqueror would then have to immediately target Earth-616 as he vowed after being trapped by Janet. This sounds like a better ending in a lot of ways, but only time will tell how the Multiverse Saga progresses from here...
h/t Reddit