Given the interconnected nature of the MCU, it's become the norm for us to leave the theater (or the couch these days thanks to Disney+) with a list of unanswered questions about where these stories are heading.
However, while the Infinity Saga quickly made sense of those, the Multiverse Saga only continues to muddy the waters as we get closer to Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. Very little makes sense right now and a film that was supposed to clear things up, Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, has only left us even more confused.
In this feature, we present our biggest burning unanswered questions after watching the threequel. From trivial inconsistencies to ideas that make no sense and larger queries about where the hell this is all going, we take a closer look at those and at least try to provide some answers.
To find those, we just need you to tap the NEXT button below.
7. Is There A Prime Kang?
Marvel Studios' approach to time travel and the Multiverse still doesn't have a defined set of rules. Despite initially making it sound like changing the past would simply create a new timeline, Loki revealed that there are worlds where the God of Mischief is a she rather than a he...or an alligator.
That makes the Multiverse a vast array of very different realities, with seemingly no rhyme or reason for why they differ. It also means Kang is more than a mere time traveller, and that's a big difference from the comic books. In those, it's thought we're encountering the same Kang at different points in his existence, not an endless series of Variants.
Immortus is who Kang becomes, and Rama-Tut was who the villain first became when he travelled back in time. However, as a teenager, he also attempted to become a hero called Iron Lad. They're all the same person, and while there are divergent Kangs, there's also the Prime Kang. Does the MCU have a Prime Kang? Right now, it doesn't appear that way.
6. Where Did Janet Van Dyne's Powers Go?
When Janet Van Dyne returned from the Quantum Realm at the end of Ant-Man and The Wasp, she appeared to have gained mysterious new powers after spending decades lost in that universe.
Using them to heal The Ghost, the assumption was that the hero might receive a major upgrade in the MCU moving forward. Instead, those newfound abilities are forgotten, leaving us to assume that whatever energy came from the former Wasp's hands was depleted when she helped Ava Starr (it's odd that there's no mention of them in flashbacks, however).
Equally as confusing is why Janet wouldn't tell her family about Kang's existence, especially when she sent Scott into the Quantum Realm in Ant-Man and The Wasp's mid-credits scene. Perhaps she felt guilty about leaving her fellow freedom fighters?
5. What Was Kang's Endgame?
Kang the Conqueror's desire to escape the Quantum Realm is clear, but what does the villain actually want?
He claims that he must destroy timelines in order to rid the Multiverse of his Variants, and suggests that if he fails, there will be "a lot of me" to contend with. On the one hand, we're led to believe he wants to avoid incursions, but if he's destroying every timeline and killing trillion anyway, then what do those matter?
We're going to assume Kang wishes to rule over his own singular timeline, and decimating the others is the only way to stop an incursion affecting his. In many ways, his plan seems to parallel He Who Remains, though he gets his hands dirty and doesn't rely on the TVA to prune them.
4. Has Scott Lang Doomed The Multiverse?
The movie ends where it begins with Scott Lang enjoying his newfound celebrity lifestyle. He emerged from the Quantum Realm unscathed and, despite showing momentary concern about what Kang says, seems happy enough to continue on as normal.
Has he learned nothing? It certainly seems that way, and it's now down to Avengers: The Kang Dynasty to make him pay. Ant-Man helped save the universe when he escaped the Quantum Realm in Avengers: Endgame, but stopping Kang may well be what now dooms the entire Multiverse, especially if another Multiverse War beckons.
We still don't know how time works in the MCU, but there's no guarantee that another Nathaniel Richards will formulate a plan to end the Multiverse War with Alioth. Heck, while that creature exists out of time, it's seemingly been destroyed, so it's not going to be that easy next time around.
3. Should We Really Fear Kang?
Kang is constantly described as a Thanos-level threat, only to be beaten relatively easily in Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania. Yes, the Conqueror has been weakened, but if he can't even make it out of an Ant-Man movie alive, should we really fear this guy?
Beyond making use of incredibly powerful technology, the man beneath the costume doesn't appear to have any notable superpowers and the only thing that really seems to make him a threat is the fact there are a lot of him. They plan to go to war with each other in an effort to control and conquer the Multiverse, but this story didn't make them scary enough.
Kang talks about killing what sounds like countless Avengers, but the movie does little to make us believe the villain is someone who has defeated so many of them he can't even remember who Thor is. It doesn't help that we never learn how he decimated all those timelines.
2. What Is Kang's Army, Anyway? And Is He Dead?
A slightly more trivial question than the others we've asked here, the threequel also fails to explain what Kang's army is. They're decked out in armour and have robotic voices, but whether they're actually citizens of the Quantum Realm, androids, or something else entirely is never addressed.
Kang wastes a lot of time in the final act attempting to escape with them, a surprise when he's destroyed timelines single-handedly in the past. Yes, we can imagine that he needs them to overcome the Council of Kangs, but not leaving when he has the chance just makes the villain seem dumb.
We also have to query whether Kang is really dead. An alternate ending saw him escape the Quantum Realm, trapping Scott and Hope Van Dyne as he went. Thrown into that Multiversal Engine, it appears he's killed, but what if all that power turns him into something new? Something beyond Kang?
1. What Does The Council Of Kangs Have Planned?
He Who Remains told Loki and Sylvie that his Variants initially worked together in harmony, only for some of them to decide they wanted to conquer the timelines they'd discovered, not help improve them. Kang the Conqueror was clearly exiled after setting out to kill his Variants, but are those we see in the colosseum all on the same page?
Immortus looks to be in charge, while Rama-Tut and a character we assume is the Scarlet Centurion are also high up on the pecking order. Clearly concerned that "they" (presumably meaning The Avengers) are now interfering in the Multiverse, it seems as if they're now going to work together in an effort to stop these heroes.
Why do they not care about the incursions? How do they know Kang was killed? Will they be the MCU's new big bads in place of the Conqueror? We appreciate that this was a tease, but it was a perplexing one that's more confusing than exciting.