‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’ May Have Set Up These ‘Avengers 4’ Time Travel Plots
”Ant-Man and the Wasp“ delves back into the strange Quantum Realm, which could hold secrets for how the Marvel heroes will deal with Thanos in ”Avengers 4“
(Note: Major spoilers for the end of “Ant-Man and the Wasp” found herein, as well as spoilers for the end of “Avengers: Infinity War.” You’ve been warned!)
Marvel has been pretty good about keeping “Avengers 4” details under wraps for the most part, but they haven’t been airtight. Some set photos have leaked that indicate strongly that time travel will be involved (we’ll spare you the details in case you don’t want to know anything concrete), and “Ant-Man and the Wasp” certainly provides the means for getting some kind of time travel party started.
The Quantum Realm is the key to this line of thinking — folks in both “Ant-Man” movies make offhand comments about time being weird there, but the most pointed line comes right at the end of “Ant-Man and the Wasp” during the mid-credits scene when Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer) gives Scott (Paul Rudd) a strange warning right as he’s about to travel through the quantum tunnel: “Don’t get sucked into a time vortex.”
Now, that is an extremely interesting concept for Janet to bring up right before she, Hope (Evangeline Lilly) and Hank (Michael Douglas) are turned to dust by the finger snap Thanos (Josh Brolin) used to eliminate half the life in the universe in “Avengers: Infinity War,” marooning Scott in the Quantum Realm. And we can’t help but assume that reference means that Scott will definitely get sucked into a time vortex, and it’ll likely play into MCU events from here forward.
There are any number of ways that Quantum Realm time travel could matter hugely in the resolution to the war with Thanos, and we’ve come up with a few possibilities for how this will play out. Now, we’re not going to guess here about how “Avengers 4” will end — that level of speculation is way beyond this nugget we were given in “Ant-Man and the Wasp.”
But, for now, we’re going to assume that Scott being stuck in the Quantum Realm is the incident that sets the events of “Avengers 4” in motion, and so here we’re going to think about the ways Scott’s second visit to the Quantum Realm will play out. We’re not saying any of them will definitely happen — but from our view, with so little info about where all this is going, these feel like the most likely possibilities, either individually or in tandem with each other. So let’s dig in.
1. Scott will encounter a past version of Janet in the Quantum Realm
All that talk about how time works differently in the Quantum Realm has thus far just been talk — we haven’t actually seen any evidence of time weirdness down there yet. Janet apparently even aged normally in the Quantum Realm, which seems a bit odd, and she discusses the length of time she spent in the Quantum Realm in the same terms as Hope and Hank do, which suggests she experienced it the same way they did.
But there’s one very important quantum concept that would give us some wacky Quantum Realm time stuff and also provide the impetus for Scott to go on his time journey: the idea that time is not linear in the Quantum Realm.
The concept here, which relies on actual quantum physics, is that in the Quantum Realm, all times are happening simultaneously, and that physical locations within the Quantum Realm also correspond with different times — like, for example, your bedroom in your home being 2018 but your bathroom being in 1918. Basically, the Quantum Realm’s weirdness creates an intersection of all those times and locations, which Scott could travel between freely if he knew how. Which would mean, then, that Janet is and will always be down there in certain locations because they’re different points in time, even though she returned to the normal world. Thus, Scott could meet her in one of those locations that also includes a different bit of time.
That could potentially give Scott access to a person with intimate knowledge of the Quantum Realm, as well as Quantum Realm powers, to bring to bear in the conflict with Thanos in 2018.
2. Wherever Scott time travels to, Janet goes with him
Given the way Hank and Janet have described the Quantum Realm, it seems a little bit odd that Janet aged normally in the three decades she was down there. But what if she wasn’t actually in the Quantum Realm for that long? What if, instead, past Janet met present Scott and went on a time travel adventure with him back to the normal world and that’s why she aged (and also, maybe, how she managed to survive in a place where food and water could maybe not exist)?
There would have to be some rules in place for Janet, however, because Janet would have to return to the Quantum Realm in order to make sure that the chain of events in “Ant-Man and the Wasp” could be set in motion. Because if Janet doesn’t end up back in the Quantum Realm then Scott would never get stuck there and you’d end up with a paradox. Likewise, if they were to go back to before Janet entered the Quantum Realm the first time then they’d have to avoid doing anything that prevents that from happening.
If Janet does go adventuring outside the Quantum Realm with Scott it could mean that, like Doctor Strange, Janet has potentially even seen the end of the war (or at least, a potential end) before it was even fought, thanks to her ability to time travel. And that could provide the heroes in the present with essential information in “Avengers 4.” Ugh, our heads hurt.
3. Scott could pop up in “Captain Marvel”
Next year’s “Captain Marvel” is set in the 1990s, a time period unexplored in the Marvel Cinematic Universe thus far. And so if Ant-Man is going to travel through time, it would be perfectly reasonable to expect that’s where he could end up. Now, it doesn’t seem particularly likely that he will be a major player in that film’s events because we would probably know if Paul Rudd had been spending a lot of time on the “Captain Marvel” set, but he definitely could pop up in a mid-credits cliffhanger. What that sort of appearance would mean for the greater story is tough to grasp, though, but at least showing up in the past could provide a means for someone to save Scott from the Quantum Realm in the future.
4. Scott could give Captain Marvel the heads-up about Thanos — somehow
Scott having access to time travel ahead of “Avengers 4” definitely feels like it’ll have some major role to play in reversing the events of “Infinity War” and saving all the characters lost to Thanos’ snap and the Infinity Stones. How that might work, however, is a very open question. And if Scott shows up in “Captain Marvel,” the natural assumption would be that his usefulness will be in alerting Captain Marvel to the Thanos threat in the future. The trouble is, as of the end of “Ant-Man and the Wasp,” Scott doesn’t know about Thanos at all.
We have a pretty good idea that “Captain Marvel” will be integral to dealing with Thanos, both because of the “Infinity War” post-credits scene in which Nick Fury contacts her, and because of her backstory in the comics. Carol Danvers, who becomes Captain Marvel, gets her powers from a Kree alien called Mar-Vell, the original Captain Marvel, who’s played by Jude Law in the movie. In the Marvel comics, Mar-Vell has a history fighting Thanos; Mar-Vell dies after Carol gets her powers, passing the mantle of Captain Marvel on to her.
We also know that, obviously, Captain Marvel has not been an active part of the MCU for the past 10 years. Something had to take her out of the proceedings; if she was around, it would make sense for Nick Fury to have contacted her during “The Avengers” to help fight off the alien invasion of New York, for instance. Carol must have something important she’s doing. Maybe that thing is her leaving Earth to find a way to beat Thanos or reverse the power of the Infinity Stones — thanks to information she got from Scott after he traveled through time to the past from 2018.
“Ant-Man and the Wasp” ends with Scott being stuck in the Quantum Realm, after Hope, Hank and Janet all disappear, but Scott doesn’t have any information about what happened to them. So while it makes sense for him to warn Captain Marvel about Thanos in the past, there’s a missing piece about how he would know enough about the situation in 2018 to do that.
Janet’s line about getting sucked into a time vortex might hold a clue. It suggests that falling into one is accidental, and likely without control for where one might wind up if they do. Thus, Scott’s time travel could be uncontrolled, maybe taking him to multiple different time periods, possibly even to the future. Similarly, if Scott runs into a version of Janet still trapped in the Quantum Realm thanks to nonlinear time, she might have seen the Thanos situation play out, and could pass that info along.
We don’t know, but what we do know is, Scott traveling through time doesn’t make a ton of sense if he can’t do anything to change the future by altering the past. His interaction with Captain Marvel could be a great excuse for her to leave Earth, taking her out of the MCU until “Avengers 4,” though.
All 61 Marvel Movies Ranked, Including 'Shang-Chi'
This year will end up bringing us five (5) new Marvel movies, but somehow we're just getting started. "Shang-Chi" is the second after "Black Widow" -- let's see how it stacks up against all the previous theatrically released Marvel movies, both inside and outside the MCU.
61. "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer"
Just a nightmare. A total nightmare. There have been a number of bad superhero movies, but from the talking gas cloud the filmmakers cast as Galactus to Jessica Alba's dye job, this one transcends bad.
60. "X-Men Origins: Wolverine"
A totally chaotic stir fry of nonsense that tells the story of how Wolverine got his claws. Features an early version of Deadpool (also played by Ryan Reynolds) whose mouth is stapled shut, which should tell you all you need to know about it.
59. "Elektra"
That five minutes when they tried to turn Jennifer Garner into an action star went about as well as it should have.
58. "X-Men: The Last Stand"
Just a total mess, incoherent from the word "go." After losing director of the first two X-Men films Brian Singer to the first Superman reboot attempt, replacement Matthew Vaughn gave way to eventual director Brett Ratner, who might have killed off the superhero genre entirely were "Spider-Man" not blowing up the box office.
57. "Fantastic Four" (2015)
There could maybe have been a good movie in here somewhere -- the cast (Michael B Jordan, Miles Teller, Kate Mara) certainly warranted one. But this Frankenstein of a film is a behind-the-scenes horror story, and you can see it in the totally disjointed final product.
56. "Daredevil"
This was basically "Early-2000s: The Movie," with Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner, Colin Farrell and Michael Clark Duncan as the main players. The cherry on top of this turd sundae was that damn Evanescence song.
55. "Fantastic Four" (2005)
Tim Story's first "Fantastic Four" is just sort of there, challenging you to remember it exists. With Chris Evans, who played the Human Torch here, going on to embody Captain America in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, that gets tougher every year.
54. "The Punisher" (2004)
This is the Punisher as a straight revenge thriller, and it's not bad. Thomas Jane performs admirably, but the whole thing is missing that extra something that would have elevated it beyond standard genre fare. Setting it in Tampa didn't help.
53. "Spider-Man 3"
Maybe the bad outweighs the good here, but Emo Peter Parker's dance number remains one of the greatest single moments in any comic book movie, sorry, haters.
52. "Howard the Duck"
A notorious flop at the box office and, yeah, it's not exactly "good." But now, 30 years removed from its premiere, "Howard the Duck" is pretty fun as a relic of the '80s.
51. "The Punisher" (1989)
Dolph Lundgren and Louis Gossett Jr. star in a low-rent '80s grunge C-level classic. This one's all novelty value.
50. "Ghost Rider"
For a movie starring Nic Cage about a dude who rides a Harley and turns into a flaming skeleton, this is a surprisingly mundane movie.
49. "The Amazing Spider-Man"
We may never figure out what went wrong with Marc Webb's Spider-Man duology, but his choice of Andrew Garfield to play Peter Parker is still brilliant. It just sucks that this movie doesn't really make any sense.
48. "X-Men"
The beginning of the current wave of theatrical superhero movies, "X-Men" was kind of a cheapie and it showed. Novel at the time, now it just comes off as unremarkable mid-budget action fare as Fox was merely sticking its toe in the superhero waters. Timid.
47. "The Incredible Hulk"
It's sometimes hard to remember that this one counts as part of the MCU, since it placed Ed Norton in the Dr. Banner role since inhabited by Mark Ruffalo in the "Avengers" films. It's also hard to remember because it's generally not memorable.
46. "Thor"
The fantasy Marvel movie is directed by Kenneth Branagh, who covers the whole movie in canted angle shots and theatrical stylings. It's pretty boring, also, but at least it looks cool.
45. "The Amazing Spider-Man 2"
More of the same impossible-to-follow hack-n'-slash plotting from the previous movie, offset by Andrew Garfield continuing to be awesome and Jamie Foxx going way over the top as the big bad.
44. "Thor: The Dark World"
"The Dark World," in contrast to the first "Thor" movie, is certainly not boring. If anything, it suffers the opposite problem, going so hard and fast that it loses substance.
43. "Blade: Trinity"
Starring a pre-Deadpool Ryan Reynolds basically playing a vampire-slaying Deadpool, throwing out one-liners like his mama's life depended on it, this may not a "good" movie, but it sure is fun.
42. "X2: X-Men United"
A big step up from the first "X-Men" both in production values and quality, it still lacks much in the way of energy. Which is inexcusable when you've got Alan Cumming as the teleporting mutant Nightcrawler all over your movie.
41. "Spider-Man"
Sam Raimi truly assembled the prototypical superhero movie with this first entry in the "Spider-Man" franchise, in 2002. Like "X-Men" before it, "Spider-Man" is a bit underwhelming today, but unlike "X-Men" it was proud of its nerd roots.
40. "X-Men: Apocalypse"
Could have been a bizarre ironic summer classic if it were structured like a real movie and had any character development whatsoever. Instead it's just a shot of visual adrenaline that I'll probably want to revisit at some point -- but not when I'm sober
39. "Avengers: Age of Ultron"
"Ultron" is frustrating for what it lacks -- chiefly the feeling that it's advancing the overall story arc of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But as with the first "Avengers" movie its weaknesses are overcome by great character work.
38. "The Avengers"
The story is a total mess, relying heavily on moviegoers' memories of previous MCU films (if you didn't remember or know coming in what the Tesseract was, hoo boy). But the novelty of the Marvel's first big superhero team-up was irresistible, and director Joss Whedon balanced his ensemble expertly, giving everyone plenty to do so none of them ever fades into the background.
37. "Blade"
Pure B-movie trash, which is fine because that's precisely what it aims for: bloody, crass, awesome. Blade, by the way, remains the only black comic book character besides Shaquille O'Neal's "Steel" to get his/her own movie, though Marvel's "Black Panther" is slated for a 2018 release.
36. "Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance"
For the sequel, they tapped the "Crank" director duo known as Neveldine/Taylor. It was an inspired choice, because "Spirit of Vengeance" was exactly as nutty as you'd hope a PG-13 comic book movie would be. Shame that it was apparently stressful enough to break up the tandem of Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor.
35. "Captain America: The First Avenger"
A lot of folks like to complain that all superhero movies are the same. But this was actually a pretty good World War II movie, too.
34. "Guardians of the Galaxy"
Plot-wise, it never really adds up to anything, but the strength of the cast and the bizarre world they explore more than make up for it.
33. "The New Mutants"
It's an absolutely serviceable little piece of entertainment, and there's a lot of novelty in its overall strange vibe. But after years of delays and reshoots you can definitely feel the hand of the focus group a bit too much.
32. "Blade 2"
Beloved nerd Guillermo del Toro took over for this one and ramped everything up to 11. More vampires, more blood, more people getting sliced up -- and of course baddies whose jaws can split open and swallow a person's head whole.
31. "Big Hero 6"
Disney Animation Studios made a Marvel movie, and it's really sweet. Sure, it's the kiddie version of Marvel, but that doesn't prevent it from being a wholly satisfying experience.
30. "Captain Marvel"
It’s fine, but “Captain Marvel” feels like a movie from before Marvel Studios really hit its stride in Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Right now it’s a movie that seems very much out of place.
29. "Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2"
An improvement on the first film, and an absolute delight from moment to moment -- but it never quite coalesces into a coherent whole because so many subplots distract from the core story and rob it of its emotional impact. Would be a top 5 comic book movie if it had just reigned in the plot.
28. "Iron Man"
It was Robert Downey Jr.'s reemergence on the big screen, and he's flawless in this origin story that takes Tony Stark from billionaire playboy weapons manufacturer to billionaire playboy other-things manufacturer.
27. "Avengers: Endgame"
This movie is, frustratingly, far from perfect. In fact, it’s kind of a huge mess. But it’s also awesome and thrilling and hilarious and contains some individual moments that are perfect. I wish it was better, but with everything required of a movie that exists to wrap up 21 movies’ worth of story arcs, I’m glad it’s as good as it is.
26. "Hulk"
In 2003 the modern wave of superhero movies was still in its infancy, and Ang Lee -- still the best filmmaker to do a comic book movie -- got experimental with "Hulk." And what he made was an incredible melodrama with visual stylings meant to ape comic book panels. It didn't sit well with audiences, but "Hulk" remains one of the most compelling and interesting Marvel movies to date.
25. "The Wolverine"
This was, like, just a legitimately enjoyable melodramatic action movie. Sure, it turns into a video game boss battle by the end, but for most of its running time it's just an actual movie.
24. "Punisher: War Zone"
Whereas the previous "Punisher" movie was melodramatic and contemplative, this one is just murderous. And it's awesome.
23. "Venom"
How can anybody resist the pull of Tom Hardy doing comedy? This movie knows exactly what it's trying to be, and what it's trying to be is dumb and fun and nothing else. And it is extremely fun.
22. "X-Men: Days of Future Past"
Its time travel logic is a bit iffy, but "Days of Future Past" is still tremendously entertaining because, while epic, it's not overly serious. As "Back to the Future" taught us long ago, you can get away with a lot of logical leaps if you strike the right tone.
21. "Iron Man 2"
Swaps Terrence Howard for Don Cheadle, while Mickey Rourke breaks cars with laser whips. Who knows what was going on in this movie, but it was almost OK anyway.
20. "Deadpool"
In the angsty and angry times we live in, "Deadpool" is perfect. Aggressively violent and flippantly meanspirited, it's the exact emotional release we needed.
19. "X-Men: Dark Phoenix"
The main series "X-Men" movies have never achieved any sort of greatness, but at least "Dark Phoenix" ends the whole thing with one of the best efforts of the bunch. And that sequence on the train in the third act is easily the best action sequence of these movies.
18. "Spider-Man: Far From Home"
It’s frustrating that it doesn’t really deal with the immense fallout from “Avengers: Endgame,” but it’s still as visually creative as any movie in the MCU, and Jake Gyllenhaal’s Mysterio is an all-timer of a villain. Dude goes all the way out in this.
17. "X-Men: First Class"
The first "X-Men" movie that could be described as "fun." It's basically two movies crammed into one, story-wise, but director Matthew Vaughn's touch is so breezy and enjoyable that it totally works anyway, thanks in large part to a brilliant cast that includes Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence and James McAvoy.
16. "Shang-Chi"
There's some amount of "bit off more than they could chew" with this one because there is so much stuff we've never heard of that needs explaining -- the classic origin story problem. But the action is unbelievable, and probably the best and most interesting we've seen in the MCU in that regard. If they can hold on to director Destin Daniel Cretton I bet the second movie, unburdened from those standard first movie issues, is gonna rip.
15. "Spider-Man: Homecoming"
Not quite the best "Spider-Man" movie, but still an absolute delight, with a cast full of scene stealers. Michael Keaton as the Vulture makes for one of the best Marvel villains ever.
14. "Deadpool 2"
While you may get whiplash from the "Deadpool" sequel's occasional very serious and emo scenes, the rest of the movie is thoroughly delightful, somehow managing to be even funnier -- and more hilariously violent -- than the original.
13. "Ant-Man"
"Ant-Man" represented a first for the MCU by being a straight-up comedy. And it's a very good one, with a cast that's perfectly suited for it. Aside from Paul Rudd who plays Ant-Man himself, Michael Pena is the true standout as Scott Lang's best friend and former cellmate.
12. "Ant-Man and the Wasp"
It's ever so slightly frustrating that this one doesn't fully integrate into the "Infinity War" situation, but even so it's thoroughly a delight. Evangeline Lilly is so good at the Wasp that I'm retroactively irritated that she didn't don the suit in the previous "Ant-Man" movie.
11. "Doctor Strange"
If it weren't hamstrung with all the requisite elements of an origin story, "Doctor Strange" might have been the best Marvel movie ever. That's the power of the astonishing visual imagination on display here. People love to talk about the nebulous concept of capturing some long lost childlike sense of wonder though the magic of cinema -- "Doctor Strange" is one of the only movies I've watched as an adult that really accomplishes that.
10. "Spider-Man 2"
This is a movie that fully understands its main character and taps into what made him such a captivating figure for so long. Yeah, Peter Parker's a superhero, but he's also a college kid working a minimum wage job to make rent while also taking university physics classes. Peter buckles under the pressure, something we can all relate to.
9. "Iron Man 3"
As far as I'm concerned this is the "Iron Man" movie. Somehow, Shane Black was able to infiltrate the MCU and make a legitimate Shane Black movie with all the wit and raw humanity you'd expect from him. It carries exactly the sort of authorial identity we should want all these movies to have.
8. "Thor: Ragnarok"
A thorough delight. This might be the most fun we had at the movies in all of 2017, and so we can't help but love it.
7. "Captain America: Civil War"
Multiply the two previous best Marvel movies by one another and you get "Civil War." It packs the sort of emotional payoff all the disconnected Marvel movies can't really provide. And as an action film it's easily the best of the superhero genre.
6. "Avengers: Infinity War"
You could certainly make the argument that "Infinity War" does not really hold up on as a complete movie on its own, because it kinda begins with the second act. But I don't care. The culmination of this ten-year shared universe experiment should stand on the shoulders of the movies that came before it. The fact that it packs such a profound emotional punch, however, is what really makes it work.
5. "Black Widow"
Natasha's long-overdue solo is held back a little by some fully unnecessary trademark Marvel CGI nonsense, but otherwise this film has a vibe that is fully it's own thing. It does away with the Marvel house style, aside from in two big action sequences, in favor of a low-key indie look that feels so much more intimate than any previous MCU flick.
4. "Black Panther"
It's held back a little by being saddled with standard "origin movie" issues -- introducing audiences to the world of Wakanda isn't a quick and easy task, and it could use an extra 15-20 minutes to flesh out the supporting characters -- but still manages to be the most substantial superhero movie ever. It's kind of amazing that Disney let writer/director Ryan Coogler make this overt a political statement -- it's the most openly political mega-budget movie I've ever seen . Also, while I'm listing superlatives: Michael B Jordan delivers the best performance ever in a superhero movie. Good lord.
3. "Logan"
James Mangold's small-scale western is a game changer for the entire superhero genre, daring to defy pretty much standard by which you expect these movies to operate. It's just a great movie by any normal standard. Where "Civil War" elevated the genre, "Logan" opts instead to be something else entirely and we're all the better for it.
2. "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse"
The best superhero movies, and movies in general, are the ones that are truly most human. And "Spider-Verse," despite being animated, despite the wacky cast of Spider-People, despite the outlandish premise, is as real as movies get.
1. "Captain America: The Winter Soldier"
The Russo brothers, who made their entrance to the MCU directing "Winter Soldier" before taking the reigns on "Civil War" and, eventually, 2018's "Avengers: Infinity War," really impressed with "Winter Soldier." It's a classic spy thriller with a superhero twist. And Robert Redford as the bad guy is a really nice touch.
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Decades of big-screen Marvel adaptations demand a long, ranked list. This is that list
This year will end up bringing us five (5) new Marvel movies, but somehow we're just getting started. "Shang-Chi" is the second after "Black Widow" -- let's see how it stacks up against all the previous theatrically released Marvel movies, both inside and outside the MCU.
