Ant-Man 3’s Villain Could Be A Survivor From The LAST Multiverse War

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania could feature a subtle link to Loki, by making Jonathan Majors’ Kang the Conqueror a survivor of the last multiversal war. Kang was first introduced to the MCU via one of his multiversal variants, He Who Remains, in Loki. He Who Remains was the head of the TVA and built the organization to monitor the Sacred Timeline of the MCU in order to prevent the crossing of multiverses and the emergence of his more malevolent multiversal variants.

When it was revealed that arguably the evilest of Kang’s many variants, Kang the Conqueror, was set to be introduced in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, many began wondering how his origins would be explained. It is possible that, rather than simply being another version of Kang from the endless multiverse, the Kang from Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is a survivor of the last multiversal war. It was revealed in Loki that He Who Remains defeated his other variants in a huge multiversal conflict, coalescing the multiverse into the Sacred Timeline and building the TVA to monitor it. Kang the Conqueror’s brief depiction in the first trailer for Ant-Man 3 provides plenty of evidence that he could have survived this war in question, escaped to the Quantum Realm, and awaited his chance to escape.

Kang The Conqueror Has Been Living In The Quantum Realm

The first piece of evidence that this could be the case is just how established Kang seems to be within the Quantum Realm. It was made clear from the trailer for Ant-Man 3 that Janet van Dyne, who spent a great many years in the Quantum Realm, was aware of Kang’s presence. On top of this, Kang seems to have a huge city under his control, largely theorized to be Chronopolis in the Quantum Realm. Kang was also shown to have an army under his command, with all of these things proving that Kang’s stint in the Quantum Realm has been much longer than first thought. Janet’s time down in the Quantum Realm alone proves this, as she initially went subatomic in 1987. This means that she was in the Quantum Realm for over 30 years in real-time. While this may have gone much quicker for her in the Quantum Realm, she was still aware that Kang had his microscopic empire.

Could Kang The Conqueror Be A Survivor Of The LAST Multiversal War?

Kang being a survivor of the last multiversal war may have been set up in Loki. It was established that He Who Remains was using the TVA to monitor the timeline and prevent any variants of Kang from becoming a reality. However, Avengers: Endgame also established that time works very differently in the Quantum Realm, meaning that the TVA likely could not monitor the microscopic universe. If Kang the Conqueror somehow survived He Who Remains’ war against his variants in the multiverse, it would make sense for the former to escape to somewhere he could not be found by his enemy. Kang escaping to the Quantum Realm, away from the eyes of the TVA, and slowly building his army and empire ready for expansion seems highly likely given his establishment in the trailer for Ant-Man 3.

Also, the song choice for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’s trailer supports this theory. Elton John’s “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” was chosen for the trailer, hinting at many thematic elements of the film. One of these could apply to Kang being a survivor of the multiversal war. Elton John’s song from the Ant-Man 3 trailer took inspiration from The Wizard of Oz. In the original film, the titular wizard is simply a man who was trapped in the realm of Oz and eventually became its deity and ruler. This could apply to Kang, with the variant in Ant-Man 3 simply being a human, either from the prime MCU universe or another one, that became trapped in the Quantum Realm. He then came to rule the Quantum Realm and began looking for a way out to finish what he started.

Ant-Man Could Unwittingly Free Kang From The Quantum Realm

This way out could then be where Scott Lang comes into the fold. As shown in the Ant-Man 3 trailer, Scott, Hope, Hank, and Janet all get sucked into the Quantum Realm alongside Cassie Lang – who may become the MCU’s Stature – before being introduced to Kang. Kang then offers Scott a deal, with the former asking for the latter’s help in return for Kang sending Scott home. It is highly likely that Kang needs Pym Particles to escape the Quantum Realm and begin his multiversal war, as the Particles have been the only thing shown to allow anyone to escape the Quantum Realm (outside of Avengers: Endgame’s convenient rodent). Kang could either portray himself as benevolent, meaning Scott helps him escape before realizing what he has done and setting up Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, or Kang could manipulate and trick Scott into helping him escape. Regardless, it is clear that Kang has been in the Quantum Realm for a while and wants to escape, and being a survivor of the last multiversal war would certainly give him cause to want revenge on the multiverse beginning with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.