With so much of Ant-Man and The Wasp devoted to finding the missing Janet Van Dyne, it doesn't seem unfair to say there was some disappointment when we only got the briefest glimpse of the mysterious Quantum Realm. Some fans were convinced they could see a city in the background, but even Avengers: Endgame failed to elaborate on what it really is.
Its importance, however, became apparent when Earth's Mightiest Heroes were able to use the Quantum Realm as a means of travelling through time. In Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, Kang the Conqueror appears to be stuck there, though the trailers have made it clear his escape could spell doom for the Multiverse (especially if he can travel anywhere, anywhen).
During a recent interview with Marvel.com, writer Jeff Loveness addressed the Quantum Realm's place in the wider MCU.
"We really wanted to build it from the ground up and we thought how do we make this different from just outer space, how do we make this different from underwater like Namor’s kingdom Talokan?" he explains. "We came up with [the idea] that basically it’s like the basement of the Multiverse."
"It’s this connected limbo outside of space and time."
This debunks theories that the Quantum Realm and Negative Zone may be one and the same, and while that feels like a missed opportunity in some ways, it means Marvel Studios now has two dimensions they can flesh out in crazy ways.
Producer Stephen Broussard would later add, "It’s a world unto itself not unlike Asgard or Wakanda or the world of the mystic arts in Doctor Strange. Getting the chance to establish something that big, and that big in part three of a film has been really, really fun."
Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania is set to arrive in theaters on February 17!