“Ant-Man and the Wasp” catches up with two superhero characters who were, somewhat pointedly, not part of the big superhero team-up movie that acted as a culmination of the Marvel Cinematic Universe: “Avengers: Infinity War.”
That doesn’t mean that Scott Lang, a.k.a. Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) and Hope van Dyne, a.k.a. the Wasp (Evangeline Lilly) were idle, though. They got up to their own adventure while the rest of the MCU was dealing with the situation with Thanos (Josh Brolin) and the Infinity Stones. Marvel has been teasing how “Ant-Man and the Wasp” will tie into the greater “Avengers” story pretty much since “Infinity War” was released, but up to now, there was only a single line detailing what happened with Scott since the events of “Captain America: Civil War” two years previous.
But while “Ant-Man and the Wasp” sheds some light on the situation with some characters, there are two big MCU movies on the horizon: “Captain Marvel” and “Avengers 4.” The MCU is well-known for its post-credits teasers that sometimes link one film series to the rest, and with the looming specter of “Infinity War” over the whole MCU franchise, that raises a very important question: Does “Ant-Man and the Wasp” have a post-credit scene?
The answer is a resounding “yes” — as has become Marvel tradition, there is both a mid-credits scene and a post-credit scene, and you’ll definitely want to stay in your seat for both.
(Spoilers beyond this point for the post-credits scenes of “Ant-Man and the Wasp!”)
While “Ant-Man and the Wasp” is pretty much a self-contained story, there is a link to the greater happenings of the MCU. That link doesn’t come until the very end of the story, though: Marvel Studios held back the impact of Thanos’ actions on the Ant-Man crew until the movie’s mid-credits scene.
It finds Hope, Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) sending Scott into the Quantum Realm with the use of the quantum tunnel Hope and Hank built during the course of the movie, shrunk down to fit in the back of the van belonging to Luis (Michael Peña). The plan is for Scott to gather quantum “healing particles” that will help stabilize Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) — who Scott calls “our new Ghost friend,” suggesting she has become an ally to the heroes.
Just before Scott goes through the tunnel, Janet gives him a warning about what he might find there: that he should avoid the “tardigrade fields,” where the microscopic creatures called tardigrades might try to eat him, and to not fall into a “time vortex” — which sounds an awful lot like a potential tease for Ant-Man’s future in “Avengers 4,” possibly related to time travel.
As soon as Scott has what he needs, however, the scene catches up to the final moments of “Infinity War,” when Thanos’ finger snap causes half of all life in the universe to cease to exist. We see what happens at the same time as Thanos gets his wish in Wakanda, and among the casualties are Hope, Hank and Janet. The scene leaves Scott seemingly stuck in the Quantum Realm with no one at the controls to bring him back to normal size. It seems it might not be until “Avengers 4” that we find out how Scott will make it back home.
There’s also the post-credits scene at the end of the movie, which might hint at who else fell victim to Thanos. It heads back into Scott’s house, where the giant ant Hope left behind to fool Scott’s ankle monitor is hanging out, playing Scott’s electronic drum set. It’s a continuation of one of the jokes in “Ant-Man and the Wasp,” but the camera panning over a TV set with its feed off the air suggests the wide-ranging aftermath of Thanos’ actions. It’s also somewhat pointed that Luis isn’t at home — here’s hoping he was in the lucky half of humanity.
“Ant-Man and the Wasp” ends with one last final joke, as well. Marvel traditionally leaves off each MCU movie with a message that the characters of the film will be back. “Infinity War” ended with the joke, “Thanos will return,” but “Ant-Man and the Wasp” is less funny and more heart-wrenching. It ends with the message, “Ant-Man and the Wasp will return.” After a moment, though, the period becomes a question mark, leaving the fates of the characters up in the air.
“Avengers: Infinity War” changed everything for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and we have some ideas about how “Ant-Man and the Wasp” could be setting up “Avengers 4.” Click here for an explanation of that mid-credits scene and what a “time vortex” might be all about. Read this for some ways Ant-Man’s potential time travel adventures could impact both of next year’s big MCU films. Check out our speculation on how Ant-Man could pop up in “Captain Marvel.” For a look at how we think “Ant-Man and the Wasp” links “Infinity War” to “Avengers 4,” click here.There are also quite a few lingering questions from “Ant-Man and the Wasp,” which we explore here.