Ant-Man: Quantumania

Once again, Jonathan Majors makes a surprise appearance at the end. Here's how 'Quantumania' sets things up for 'Loki' Season 2.

Remember: The series ended with a reset of the timeline, resulting in Mobius (and maybe the entire MCU) forgetting Loki existed. Either scenario is not good for the MCU, as Kang is here to stay no matter what. Just as he did in Egypt to become Pharoah Rama-Tut, Kang uses his Victor Timely disguise to build Timely Industries and amass power and influence over a more primitive society. Actor Jonathan Majors returns to play a new version of [“He Who Remains,”](https://www.inverse.com/entertainment/loki-kang-the-conqueror-he-who-remains-mcu-scene-stealers-2021) a role that Majors first played in his surprise appearance in the finale of Loki. Victor Timely is yet another one of Kang’s many egos from the comics. But what show is getting the Marvel movie bump?

Loki introduced Jonathan Majors to the MCU, and now Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania has brought Kang into the mix. Here's how they connect.

And if we’re also right that Loki season one ended with Kang the Conqueror in charge, that means Victor Timely is the Exile who survived Quantumania. But what might be most important is who Loki thinks this Quantumania credits character is: the new head of the TVA. But if the Exile is alive, and if he currently controls the TVA, when did that scene with the Council take place? But thanks to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, we know why He Who Remains worried about branching. (Note: The only person besides Loki and Sylvie who seemingly will remember about He Who Remains is Ravonna Renslayer. (Which seems to be the same dimension He Who Remains ruled from). The TVA existed outside of time and space, as did the Void of Alioth and the Citadel of He Who Remains. Loki knew to fear more than just one Variant of He Who Remains, though. The Multiversal War created Alioth, a storm-like creature that could “consume time and space.” With his Variants bested, He Who Remains created the Sacred Timeline. Loki recognized the necessary evil of the TVA. But he eventually grew tired and sought a replacement to maintain the Sacred Timeline. [Loki‘s season one finale marked the surprise debut of Jonathan Majors](https://nerdist.com/article/loki-season-1-finale-ending-explained/) in the MCU.

Breaking down the many variants of Kang the Conquerer we meet in the two Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania end-credits scenes.

In a comics storyline, Kang the Conquerer travels to the early 20th century, takes on the name Victor Timely, and founds the city of Timely, Wisconsin. In a mid-credits scene, three different variants of Kang (all played by Majors) meet and discuss the threat of Kang the Conquerer. Presumably, Loki and Mobius are now on the hunt for Kang in order to reverse the effects of what Sylvie did or at least stop him from conquering the entire multiverse. He Who Remains warns that if Loki and Slyvie kill him they will simply unleash many other scarier variants of him, like Kang the Conquerer. destroy) branching timelines that aren’t part of the one “true” timeline and kill variants of characters we’ve met in the MCU. We learn in Quantumania that Kang’s other variants feared him and banished him to the Quantum Realm (essentially the realm where subatomic beings live). He Who Remains managed to defeat the other variants and created the one true timeline to maintain order and prevent future battles among the timelines. [Avengers: Endgame](https://time.com/5576656/avengers-endgame-time-travel/), the MCU introduced the concept of [the multiverse](https://time.com/6174219/doctor-strange-2-mcu-future/)—that there are parallel timelines in which different versions or “variants” of each character can live. The concept has been central to shows like Loki in which Loki (Tom Hiddleston) creates a branching timeline by diverging from his destiny and [Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness](https://time.com/6174104/doctor-strange-2-end-credits/), which features a character named America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez) who can travel across the multiverse. We meet another multiversal traveler in Quantumania: Kang the Conquerer (Majors). We get hints of how Kang—or a different version of Kang from a parallel timeline—might return in Quantumania’s mid-credits and post-credits scenes. Here’s a full breakdown of both Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania end-credits scenes.

Uh oh. That was my first thought when I saw the review scores rolling in for Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, the third Ant-Man movie, but a seemingly ...

I do wonder if a few more reviews may sink Quantumania below Eternals, though I will say in the middle to bottom ranking order of MCU movies by critic scores, I think they got a long wrong. That’s obviously something DC can’t say, as the DCEU boasts a number of films under that mark, and early on often split between high audience scores for Snyder-era films and low critic scores. Taking place almost entirely in the Quantum Zone, the film is in turn almost completely CGI, and even in the trailers it looked like that could be a problem. Second, since the movie is actually out now, user scores are in and they are not just higher than critics, which you might expect, but much higher, currently at an 84%. That’s a dismal score for an MCU feature, and marks only the second time that an MCU movie has had a “rotten” (below 60%) score on the site, the first time being Eternals in 2021. The thrill isn't just gone, it's been buried beneath a swarm of plot contrivances and truly hideous CGI.” [Whynow](https://whynow.co.uk/read/ant-man-and-the-wasp-quantumania-review): “Visually, the film is messy and flat; the CGI is shockingly poor and the action looks muddled. It says something that out of 30+ MCU features in a decade and a half, that there are literally only two with sub 60% scores. Of course, many MCU fans may wait and see what audience scores are like. But I would be surprised if this was a huge disparity as this always seemed like a pretty risky film. What’s wrong with the movie? We know there’s currently a visual effects shortage in Hollywood, in part because of the demands of places like Marvel, and perhaps this was too much work given not enough time and the end result is just…not very good. They were never really considered top-tier Marvel movies but this is a huge drop.

Disney has been stretching out the time that films spend exclusively theaters, which means they're taking longer and longer to hit Disney Plus.

Disney didn't mention any connection in the timing, but it's possible the film's wait to start streaming was drawn out so its availability coincided with an opportunity to celebrate Black culture. While Disney has been much more aggressive than Paramount in putting its movies onto its streaming service quickly, Disney's trend for Marvel movies has been to hold them back longer in theaters as well. The Black Panther sequel marked the longest wait for a Marvel movie to start streaming since the company resumed theatrical exclusives in 2021.

These are the most high stakes post-credits scenes Marvel has had in awhile. Here's what they tease for Phase 5 going forward.

In Quantumania, the Council of Kangs looks to be governed by three distinctive versions of Kang: Rama-Tut (the Egyptian Pharaoh), Immortus (the older, bearded version), and the Scarlet Centurion. Part of that involves creating the Council of Kangs to determine which variants of Kang were too dangerous to exist. In fact, the final image in the movie is a direct recreation of We then cut to a stadium full of gathered Kangs for the MCU’s debut introduction of the Council of Kangs. The first stinger opens in an undisclosed location as we see a gathered triumvirate of Kang variants discussing the fallout of Kang the Conqueror's demise. The previous two Ant-Man movies arrived( in 2015 and 2018 respectively) as digestifs to substantial MCU entries—the first film released after Age of Ultron and the sequel hit after Infinity War.