Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania is now rolling out in theaters across the world, and while reviews are mixed, that makes the movie no less important to Marvel Studios' Multiverse Saga plans.
In this article, we're explaining the film's ending and its two post-credits scenes, revealing what happens and how they all set the stage for Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. That includes breaking down the characters introduced in those stingers, who they are, what all this has to do with the MCU's future, and which projects they're laying the groundwork for.
Marvel Studios isn't taking this Saga in the direction many of us anticipated, and Earth-616's Avengers will need a lot of backup if they hope to overcome the true threat that's on the horizon (and it's much bigger than a mere Conqueror).
Massive SPOILERS follow, so you'll need to tap the NEXT or VIEW LIST buttons below for this Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania explainer.
Ant-Man's Last Stand
The movie's ending makes Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania feel somewhat standalone in the grand scheme of things, so we won't waste too much time on that before getting to the Avengers: The Kang Dynasty teases in the post-credits scenes.
In an epic final battle, M.O.D.O.K. makes the ultimate sacrifice to help defeat Kang and Scott is left in the Quantum Realm to fight the villain alone after Hope, Hank, Janet, and Cassie all manage to escape.
However, The Wasp returns just at the right moment, kicking the time-travelling bad guy into his ship's Multiversal engine and killing the Variant we all assumed would be the MCU's new big bad. It seems to be a happy ending for our heroes, but Scott can't shake Kang's warning that something even worse might be coming and that it was imperative he escape the Quantum Realm.
Ant-Man brushes it off, but in a mid-credits scene, we learn who banished Kang: the Council of Kangs!
What Is The Council Of Kangs?
We're taken to a coliseum that's surrounded by statues of Kang Variants, and it's all but confirmed "the exiled one" is dead. Rama-Tut and a Variant who looks like a cross between Scarlet Centurion (minus the scarlet) and Kid Immortus meet with Immortus, who warns his fellow Kangs that "they" are beginning to touch the Multiverse.
The raspy-voiced baddie expresses concerns that Earth-616's heroes will "kill" everything they've built as they look out at the splintered timeline we first saw in Loki, prompting Immortus to declare they must stop wasting time.
He's summoned "all of us" to this location, and it's then we see countless Kang Variants arriving and cheering wildly as they prepare to presumably wage war across the Multiverse. And yes, the comic book panel above is recreated!
So, what is this Council of Kangs?
It's Complicated...
A concept that's never fully been fleshed out in the comic books, the Council of Kangs was led by Prime Kang and tricked by Immortus into eliminating all the divergent Kangs in the Multiverse. That was to ensure the Prime Kang would eventually become Immortus.
Neither Immortus, Rama-Tut, nor Scarlet Centurion appears to be a much earlier iteration of He Who Remains, so we presumably haven't met that Nathaniel Richards Variant yet. Perhaps he's the Earth-616 version who helps The Avengers destroy the Multiverse before creating the TVA? Then again, that's what happened last time, and history may not repeat itself.
Marvel Studios has yet to fully explain the Multiverse's rules, but it doesn't sound like Immortus has gathered his fellow Kangs to kill them; instead, he's formulating a plan to stop "them" (likely referring to The Avengers and the Ant-Man Family) from undoing what they've built.
Will Loki season 2 better explain what's happening?
Who Is Victor Timely?
"Time is everything," says Victor Timely - Jonathan Majors is rocking an impressive moustache and crazy scientist haircut - before telling his early 1900s audience that while time shapes our lives, "perhaps we can shape it."
A scared Loki watches on, though Mobius is confused why the God of Mischief told him that Kang is "terrifying." Loki makes it clear that he is, and appears to lock eyes with the Variant before the screen cuts to black and the ominous warning, "Kang Will Return" flashes up on screen.
On the page, this Kang established his Victor Timely identity after being defeated by The Avengers. Taking refuge in 1901, Kang Prime used his knowledge of the future to turn the city of Timely, Wisconsin (which he founded) into a technological wonder, effectively shaping the Marvel Universe into the world it eventually becomes.
As for how this fits into the wider story being told, that's hard to say.
Prime Kang
Time travel and the Multiverse are becoming increasingly muddled in the MCU, but if we look at the comics, then Prime Kang is simply a time-traveller, and we can argue that every Variant of Kang is the same person, albeit from different eras.
However, it would make more sense for Victor Timely (whose machinations may, in fact, explain why the MCU is more technologically advanced than our world), Kang the Conqueror, Rama-Tut, Scarlet Centurion, and Immortus to all be the same specific Kang. They just exist at different times, with the ultimate goal being to become the all-powerful Immortus.
All those other Kangs in the coliseum are just divergent Kangs who are mere cannon fodder, allowing Marvel Studios to focus on telling this Prime Kang's story (the Conqueror may have been exiled because he threatened their existence).
With that in mind, Avengers: The Kang Dynasty starts taking shape.
What Is Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, Anyway?
Based on what we've now seen in Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, we believe Avengers: The Kang Dynasty will tell the story of this Prime Kang and his attempts to rule the Multiverse as the all-powerful Immortus.
That's a much bigger tale than the comic this movie is named after and we expect the three Variants we met in the mid-credits scene to wage war on The Avengers to stop them from interfering with their plans. As for He Who Remains, that Nathaniel could be the movie's MacGuffin...or he could be a defeated Immortus who hid his true appearance.
After all, as the last Kang standing, his Sacred Timeline allowed him to write reality itself, the ultimate victory in many ways until he grew bored and offered the job to Loki and Sylvie.
What none of these Kangs may realise, of course, is that there's an even more powerful Variant - The Beyonder - who will create a new world in Avengers: Secret Wars (if the rumours are to be believed). Might that be the exiled Conqueror given untold abilities after being thrown into that Multiversal engine? We'll see...