Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantamania is set to premiere in just a little over a week, officially kicking off Phase 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Given its place at the very beginning of a new phase in the MCU, Quantumania is expected to begin laying the foundation for Jonathan Majors’ Kang the Conqueror to become the franchise’s new mega-villain. While Majors was first introduced in Loki as He Who Remains, he has a much bigger role in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantamania, in which he plays a much darker variant of Kang. With Avengers: The Kang Dynasty scheduled for 2025, we can only imagine how the villain’s rise will play out in the MCU between now and then.
Enter Kang
Kang has been considered one of the greatest supervillains in Marvel history and is one of the few who (temporarily) achieved world domination. However, based on what we know about Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, he seems as if he may be stuck in the Quantum realm with a non-functioning time chair. With the help of experts like Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer), he may be able to get his technology in order and check off the first few items on his world domination to-do list.
Needless to say, Scott Lang / Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) is facing an extremely significant enemy in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and the events of the film could have huge implications for the MCU. These high stakes are a little unusual, especially considering that the first two films in the series, Ant-Man and Ant-Man and the Wasp, were largely self-contained, save for a few brief but important moments tying them to the broader MCU. Quantumania almost seems more like a change in direction than a definitive conclusion for the Ant-Man series.
Will there be another Ant-Man film?
So far, a fourth Ant-Man film has not been officially confirmed by Marvel. However, according to Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania producer Stephen Broussard, talks have already begun about a potential Ant-Man 4. Broussard told ComicBook.com:
We’re already thinking about it. It’s like, every movie’s its own battle and you bear the scars of making it and wanting to make it great. But hope springs eternal and you start to put yourself back together after the journey of making the movie. You’re like, ‘Yeah, what if we did X and what if we did Y?’ Like the wheels start turning, you can’t help yourself. I don’t want to say anything about specifically what those are, but yeah, you can’t help yourself. Those conversations, those whispers have already started to happen between myself and [Ant-Man series director] Peyton [Reed] and [Marvel Studios president] Kevin [Feige].
While Broussard did not give any specifics about the whispered conversations going around, he did suggest that the film left the door open for further developments. Right now, he and the other Marvel executives seem to be in a very early stage of contemplation. Considering that Ant-Man director Peyton Reed and Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige are reportedly involved in these early conversations does mean there might be some substance to them.
Ultimately, there isn’t any reason why there couldn’t be an Ant-Man 4. While there has been some speculation that Scott Lang might die in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, the franchise could always continue with his daughter, Cassie Lang (Kathryn Newton), now that she will be taking on her own superhero identity: Stature. Plus, the Thor franchise recently revealed it would extend into a fourth film, and there’s no rule that MCU franchises have to stop after the third installment.
Of course, whether conversations of Ant-Man 4 move forward will largely rely on how Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania performs at the box office.
(featured image: Marvel Studios)
