Explaining the Ant-Man and The Wasp Quantumania post-credits scenes
We reveal what the 2 post-credits scenes of Quantumania, the first Phase 5 movie with Kang and several references to the multiverse, look like and what they mean.
Phase 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is now underway. It's been three years of transition (since Avengers: Endgame in 2019), and most of the superhero movies and series released during Phase 4 have focused on introducing new faces and tying up loose ends with the most recognizable ones. But it's over. Ant-Man 3, or Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania kicks off the multiverse saga and serves as a calling card for Thanos' successor, Kang the Conqueror. The movie sows what the next installments of The Avengers (scheduled for 2025 and 2026) will reap in a few years. And it does so in part with its post-credits scenes. Because, as is tradition, the movie brings two extra scenes that outline the future of the MCU. Let's see what's in them and what they mean.
Warning: Spoilers for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania to follow!
Explaining the first post-credits scene from Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
The first scene is hard to miss. It appears shortly after the end of the movie, and in it we see all the alternate versions of Kang the Conqueror. Three of them, apparently the strongest (Scarlet Centurion, Immortus, and Rama-Tut), talk about the death of the Exile (the version defeated by Ant-Man) and decide to take matters into their own hands. They fear that the Avengers will interfere with their dynasty and alter the Sacred Timeline we see behind them at the very end (which also appeared in Loki). The coliseum of Kangs that it shows has always been one of the most iconic scenes of the character in the comics, and the message is clear: "Kang will return.”
Explaining the second post-credits scene of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
The second scene appears at the end of all the credits and shows us the next Marvel Universe project in which we will see Kang: the second season of Loki (scheduled for summer 2023). The scene shows another version of Kang, that of Victor Timely, giving a technological presentation in an early 20th-century theater. Among the surprised faces of the audience, we can see that of the Norse god and Owen Wilson (Agent Mobius). The latter turns to his partner and blurts out, "It's not as scary as you told me". But Loki can't look away, aware of his power. "Yes, it is," he simply replies in horror.
It makes perfect sense that Loki's second season would be Kang's next step, since the character first appeared at the end of the previous season. Though Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania marks his big screen debut, we already saw the Conqueror in the first season of Loki, which we highly recommend you watch, and whose ending we'll spoil below. In Loki, we already met Kang, but as The One Who Remains. It was a version of him that claimed to keep the others in check, many of whom were "Conquerors of Worlds". To control them, The One Who Remains had to isolate his timeline and make it the main one, creating the TVA and eliminating other problematic variants. A villain, yes, but also a lesser evil. He puts his life in the hands of Sylvie and Loki, who have conflicting opinions, and it all ends with Sylvie betraying Loki and killing The One Who Remains.
That gesture at the end of Loki meant the return of the menacing versions of Kang the Conqueror that we saw in the first post-credits scene, and all indications are that Loki will try again to find the one who can stop him. Will Victor Timely's version come in handy? Settled in Wisconsin in the early twentieth century, Timely's would become a brilliant scientist who would create his own city, give life to the first Human Torch, and eventually discover the multiverses. Will Loki be able to convince him to help him solve what he has caused before retaliation for what happened in Quantumania?
