As Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania continues its stellar run at the global box office, we were granted an exclusive opportunity to sit down with Emmy Award-winning screenwriter Jeff Loveness to get all the inside scoop on that explosive ending as well as the über-ominous post-credits sequence that introduced the villains of the next Avengers movie.
With rumors circulating that Quantumania reshot its ending a few months prior to its February release, Loveness seemingly confirmed to us that the theatrical ending was indeed his planned ending since it actually changed the status quo. He explains,
"We certainly, pitched out and we gamed out how many versions of how to do the ending and we certainly went through our paces with that. I think, ultimately, I see the thoughts on the internet about stranding people and killing people, but, at the end of the day, it would have just been the same ending as Ant-Man 2. It's like, ‘Oh, Scott is trapped in the Quantum Realm again,’ and then, it would have been the same exit point as Endgame where, ‘Oh, he's in the Quantum Realm, and now he's out of the Quantum Realm.’
Hey, comic book fans are like sports fans, it's gonna get messy, and there's going to be opinions, but I loved where we landed because it's a real Hero's Journey of the guy who was carefree and thought his hero days were done, having to really bite the bullet, be willing to sacrifice himself and then get saved by his family and then, saved by his daughter, realizing that he's not as alone as he thought he was, you don't have to throw yourself on the grenade if you've got help.
The guy who starts out so carefree is now burdened with this dread at the end, and now he's going to be almost the Paul Revere of the multiverse, I think. He's the only one who knows about Kang, and he's not quite sure what's going to happen and I think going forward, we'll see, but I think it's very interesting with this ending that we went with. The guy who saved the universe in Endgame may potentially be the guy who [frick]s the universe now, multiverse actually."
While the film did wrap up in a relatively happy manner, with Scott Lang reunited with his family, the post-credits teased an even bigger incoming threat: The Council of Kangs!
Loveness did confirm they'll be led by Immortus, Rama-Tut, and Scarlet Centurion, and while he couldn't say much more, it sure sounds like The Council is going to have their sets sight on the Ant-Man family, as well as several other Marvel heroes that have already tampered with the multiverse, namely Spider-Man and Doctor Strange. When asked if they'll want revenge, he continues,
"It certainly seems that way, or the universe that killed him. That, to me, it's like the mafia, or it's like the Axis powers or something like that. It's like, we can kill him, but if someone else goes after him, okay, that's gonna threaten all of us. If someone out there is powerful enough to kill the guy that even we couldn't kill or the guy we were so afraid of that we had to overpower and get rid of. That's a big problem.
And it just ties into the other, in that credit scene, it says, ‘They're beginning to touch the multiverse.’ That's a very veiled shot across the bow, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, they have not gone unnoticed in their tampering with the multiverse. So, I think now, the threat is big enough that they've got to move on this pesky universe that's messing up their empire, and, just in the general sense, I think it's very fun to make Kang the Conqueror, correct.
When you go back to watch his interrogation of Scott, he's not lying, and he says, he's not a liar. He was the only shot our universe had against that overwhelming power, and now that guy is gone. So, good luck, Hawkeye! Good luck!"
If you still haven't seen the film, make sure to check out our review HERE!
Super-Hero partners Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) return to continue their adventures as Ant-Man and the Wasp. Together, with Hope’s parents Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) and Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), and Scott’s daughter Cassie Lang (Kathryn Newton), the family finds themselves exploring the Quantum Realm, interacting with strange new creatures and embarking on an adventure that will push them beyond the limits of what they thought possible.
Directed by Peyton Reed and produced by Kevin Feige, p.g.a. and Stephen Broussard, p.g.a., “Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania” also stars Jonathan Majors as Kang, David Dastmalchian as Veb, Katy O'Brian as Jentorra, William Jackson Harper as Quaz and Bill Murray as Lord Krylar. The sci-fi adventure opens in theaters on Feb. 17, 2023.