We’re getting smaller again, and as Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantum Mania by Peyton Reed becomes available to watch, it’s time to look back at the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s controversial Phase 5 debut.
Paul Rudd‘s little hero joins Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor, the original Avengers, in the exclusive “trilogy club” and moves the Multiverse Saga forward.
Even though Quantum Mania set up the franchise-breaking Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors), some people say that you could have skipped the end without losing much, except for MODOK’s CGI butt.
From what people say behind the scenes, it sounds like the ending was reshot in a hurry. This seems like an odd choice, but there’s a crazy idea that this different ending is here for a reason.
We’ve already talked about how easy it is to find the rumored reshoots, which changed the original idea of Lang and Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) being stuck in the Quantum Realm to a “happy” finish where the family eats a Baskin-Robbins birthday cake.
The movie’s ending had an ominous feel, like the beginning montage of Lang enjoying his Ant-Man fame, before the Council of Kang’s stinger after the credits.
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But New Rockstars shared a big idea that says the world Scott and Hope escaped to wasn’t the original timeline of Earth-616 continuity. Things seemed to come full circle when the same Welcome Back, Kotter theme song played over the same beginning scene.
Lang says in his story, “My life doesn’t make sense,” which shows that he knows something is wrong. It could be because more Kangs are coming, but it could also be because he knows this isn’t his house.
Some of the people Scott sees are wearing bright purple that stands out against the green background.
There are also other references to Kang’s signature colors from the comics.
In the scene after the credits, the Council of Kangs is seen gathering their forces outside of the Sacred Timeline.
They are telling the Avengers, who don’t really exist anymore, that they have learned about the Multiverse as they carry out their plan to stop Earth’s Mightiest heroes. It’s possible that the Baskin-Robbins ending happens after this after the Kangs have dragged Scott into a new reality.
Jeff Loveness, a writer, talked about the idea with ComicBook.com and made it sound like there might be more to it than we thought at first. “I think it’s a lot of fun. I haven’t much to say.
It’s not too far from some options, but I can’t say for sure,” Loveness said. “Right now, the most important thing to say is that the multiverse is infinite and that Scott Lang saved the universe in. However, he may have messed up the multiverse for everyone by accident.”
Some people have said that Scott is having a psychedelic trip like Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) did in Ant-Man and the Wasp, which would mean that he hasn’t left at all. This would match the proposed ending, in which Scott and Hope were going to be stuck in the Quantum Realm.
In the last scene, the extras do act like they’re in a recreation of The Truman Show, which has led to ideas that the Kangs have trapped Ant-Man in their own simulation. After all, Cassie’s (Kathryn Newton) saving of her dad from the Quantum Realm was a little too easy.
There were early talks of Ant-Man 4, but if Ant-Man and Wasp are important to the fight against Kang in Destin Daniel Cretton’s Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, then these loose plot lines will have to be picked up.
Remember that the rumored original ending of Quantum Mania had Cassie seeing something strange on her readings and then the screen went black. Was she supposed to realize that daddy dearest was stuck in an alternate reality or a Kangs-inspired Westworld creation?
After a painfully long tease in Phase 4, Phase 5 is all about the Multiverse. After the credits of Quantumania, Victor Timely hints that Loki will be hunting Kang versions in Season 2 of The Avengers.
Having Scott in an alternate timeline would let us go back to a place like Doctor Strange’s fan-favorite Earth-838 in the Multiverse of Madness. However, showing a world with only small changes shows that the Multiverse doesn’t have to be full of places where people are made of paint or look like Spider-Man: The Animated Series characters.
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