It’s hard to believe Phase 5 is finally upon us, and the first film in this vast lineup will be Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. From the trailers released so far, we’ve got a look at what looks to be a more serious take on Ant-Man. It’s time for a film where Scott Lang has to fight with bigger stakes and one that could potentially change the shape of the MCU moving forward.
Kang the Conqueror
The first thing that makes Quantumania stand out is the inclusion of Jonathan Majors’ Kang the Conqueror. We first saw him as a variant in the Loki series, but now we’ll get the full-fledged villain. Kevin Feige and Marvel have announced that he will be the big bad until Phase Six. The return of the Avengers films will aptly start with Kang Dynasty before we head into Secret Wars territory.
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Why is Kang the Conqueror such a Thanos-level threat? Well, his ability to move around time allows him to attack you from any point in history. Not only that, but he also gets to access different versions of himself to accelerate his plans. We did get a discussion in Loki of how there was a war of different Kang variants which eventually led to the establishment of the current MCU timeline.
Whether or not He Who Remains was being truthful at the time is hard to tell. We see the damage he could do at the end of Loki, where he effectively becomes the leader of the TVA.
A Singular Direction
The appearance of Kang in the very first entry of Phase 5 means things will now be more cohesive in the MCU. Phase 4 introduced many new characters, but many fans felt that it was disjointed because of a lack of interconnectivity. There were a lot of great moments, such as the Shang-Chi film and Moon Knight. However, aside from Wong appearing in several projects, many characters were busy doing their things.
It seems like we’re starting to accelerate on the multiverse concept. The projects that explored it were Spider-Man: No Way Home, Loki, and Doctor Strange and Multiverse of Madness. Kang will likely make an appearance in Loki season 2. There’s also the fact that he has connections with Fantastic 4’s Reed Richards.
There will still be some separate storylines and other threats. Secret Invasion comes to mind, though it takes place before Endgame. We also have Daredevil, the longest Marvel Disney+ show advertised so far. Things will only get crazier as we reach Phase 6 and see Deadpool’s shenanigans.
Teasing a Grim Fate for Phase 5
In the recent trailer, Scott Lang remarks “I don’t have to win. We both just have to lose.” The line indicates that Kang is indeed a threat that Ant-Man may not be able to defeat. There’s also a lot of imagery shown depicting Ant-Man’s fall. We have his broken helmet, falling from the Ant-Man anthill, hugging his daughter.
It feels like it’s leaning too much on the Ant-Man death, so we won’t likely see him perish. There is a possibility that someone else from the cast may die (or cease to exist) because of the fight with Kang.
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