We are just about a week away from the theatrical debut of Marvel’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and things are starting to get real in the MCU. The Avengers changed things when we got our first look at Thanos in the post-credits scene. Now, we’ve got Kang the conqueror set to make his true debut and set the MCU on an exciting new path.
While the trailers for the upcoming film has revealed a whole lot of very quick glimpses of Marvel goodness, let’s take a look at 10 Marvel things I’d like to see in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
1 – Stature/Stinger
As always, we’re starting with the safest bet. We know we have a new actor, Kathryn Newton, taking over the role of Cassie Lang for this film. We also get to see her in her own quantum suit in the trailer. Now, all I want is for her to be acknowledged as her own hero. It seems like the MCU is heading in the direction of referring to her at Stinger rather than Stature, but Cassie has gone by both monikers in the comics and either one would be really cool to see on the big screen.
2 – Micronauts
This one needs to be taken with an oversized grain of salt. The Micronauts are a group of heroes from the microverse who have crossed paths with the Fantastic Four and Hank Pym. It seems unlikely we see the exact comic book version of this team but we know there are beings who call the quantum realm home and there is still the question of Bill Murray’s mysterious character. It’s possible this is some variation of these characters.
3 – Connections to Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Ms. Marvel
Ok, this one is cheating just a little bit because this isn’t really a reference to the comics, but rather a “Beautiful Mind” type of connection to the rest of the MCU. In the first trailer for the film, we see what looks to be Chronopolis (more on that shortly) and we can see some markings on a large structure. Similar markings have been seen on both the rings from Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and the bangle from Ms. Marvel. The former granted Wenwu some form of immortality while the latter sent Kamala back in time to save her grandmother. In other words, both relics have had some kind of time travel effect. It’s possible these are both pieces of technology left behind by Kang during his conquests and the Avengers are once again being assembled.
4 – Damocles
Chronopolis is a sort of base of operations for Kang that evolves into a city. When it comes to his conquests though, Kang more often operates out of his Damocles base. The giant, sword-shaped base is a powerful weapon used in the “Kang Dynasty” story arc. If we see the Damocles in this film, we know Kang is gearing up for war.
5 – Ravonna Renslayer
Yes, that Ravonna. The character we met in Loki has major ties to Kang in the comics. In the series, she is a judge for the TVA, protecting the sacred timeline from rogue variants, but in the comics, she’s a princess from the future and Kang’s origins time period. The relationship between the two is complicated, with both characters loving and hating each other at various times. Ravonna seemed to have some doubts about the TVA at the end of season one of Loki, so perhaps she is going to cross Kang at some point soon.
6 – Council of Kangs
As you might have guessed, time travel makes things complicated. Kang has actually been several different characters throughout time, including Immortus, Iron Lad and others. At times, all of those Kangs come together to form what is creatively referred to as the council of Kangs. He Who Remains has already referred to his “variants,” as in plural, so it’s possible there are plans for different versions of the character to make an appearance. And if anyone of them is going to show up, it would be very sool to see…
7 – Pharaoh Rama-Tut
Kang’s first appearance in Marvel Comics wasn’t actually has Kang. The time traveler from the future actually went back in time and conquered ancient Egypt under the name Rama-Tut. There, her encountered the Fantastic Four, who ended his reign and sent him back (forward?) to another time. Using Rama-Tut would be a great way to convey the true power of Kang and his impact on history.
8 – Doctor Doom
Kang has crossed paths with a lot of characters in a lot of different time periods, but one face that keeps popping up is that of Doctor Doom. The two first met after the Fantastic Four vanquished Rama-Tut and bonded over their mutual hatred for Marvel’s first family. There’s even the possibility these two are related or… possibly even the same person(?) but they have never really been able to get a real answer on that. It seems unlikely this would be the spot where we meet Doom, but anything is possible. And if that’s the case…
9 – Nathaniel Richards
Even with all his power, Kang is still just human and his name is Nathaniel Richards. Now, revealing that name wouldn’t really be all that exciting of a moment if not for the implications of that last name. Thanks to the ever-flowing nature of time travel and of course the occasional retcon in comics, it’s unclear exactly who Kang really is, but it’s possible he is the father of very well known character. And if that is true, his presence could lead to the introduction of…
10 – The Fantastic Four
Now I can stop dancing around it. Nathaniel Richards is possibly the father of Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four. Again, time travel complicates things, but these characters have been intertwined for a long time. We’ve already met the Reed Richards of another universe (he didn’t last long) but maybe it’s time we meet ours. There have been rumors that William Jackson Harper’s mystery role in the film might be Reed. That might not actually be the case, but it would make for a very exciting introduction.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will debut in theaters on February 17th.