The plot of “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” was a bit flimsy because it spent such an unnecessary amount of time on the most inconsequential things. It wanted to be a father-daughter movie with Scott and Cassie figuring out what they’d lost when they were ripped away from each other by the Blip. But since the new big bad of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Kang, has entered the picture, they have had to do the same while trying to ensure that he doesn’t win. Yes, Janet, Hope, and Hank were in the film too. Hope and Hank had no reason to be involved in the plot. Janet was instrumental in Kang’s uprising. Hence, her inclusion kind of made sense. But then again, Kang would’ve figured out whatever he figured out, and the rest of the film would’ve played out the way it played out. Therefore, Janet’s role felt unnecessary. However, you are not here to get a review of the film. You want to know about the ending, the mid-credits, and the post-credits. So, let’s talk about them.
Major Spoilers Ahead
Why Was Kang Imprisoned In The Quantum Realm? What Does He Really Want?
Kang referred to himself as “Kang the Conqueror” and said that he was exiled by other variants of him. Why? Because he saw different timelines across the whole multiverse as things that should be conquered or destroyed. But since the other variants of him wanted to maintain some semblance of control across the multiverse, they exiled the Kang we see on the screen to the quantum realm. That’s where he found Janet, and he lied to her about his backstory and said that he was just a lost traveler who had to get back home. Kang had a spaceship and the device that powered it and helped him navigate it was damaged. Kang said that if Janet helped him fix it, she’d be able to get back to her family as well. So, Janet used her skills to get his ship, which was basically a glorified sofa, up and running. However, since that device was connected to Kang’s brain, Janet got a glimpse of the genocides that Kang had committed and the ones he was about to commit in the future. That was why, instead of just destroying the device, she used her shrinking and enlarging shooting stars and messed it up, thereby trapping Kang in the quantum realm. Janet managed to escape her clutches, but Kang wreaked havoc all over the realm while creating his empire and a massive army. That said, his big plan to take over timelines wasn’t possible in the quantum realm. That’s why he pulled the Langs in there, because of Cassie’s device that acted as a telescope into the quantum realm and forced Scott to bring the navigational device back to its original form and then deliver it to him.
Ending Explained: Did Scott, Hope, Cassie, Hank, and Janet Beat Kang?
That was the question that Scott was wondering about at the end of the movie because, on paper, the Langs did defeat Kang the Conqueror. Cassie riled up the citizens of the quantum realm to revolt against Kang. She even managed to turn MODOK (Kang’s “ultimate weapon”) into a good guy and fight against Kang. Scott became humongous and tore through Kang’s defenses. Hope helped Scott with it. Janet knocked over the navigator and delayed Kang’s efforts to get out of the realm. And Hank showed up with his ant army and took care of Kang’s army. The Langs opened a portal back to their home, and all of them walked through it except Scott because Kang knocked him over.
Things looked “bleak” (I’ve put it in quotes because Marvel can’t let a hero lose for a change) as Scott failed to physically beat him, and it seemed like Kang was going to go through the portal and into Earth. But Hope dropped in to help Scott, and the two of them shrank the navigational device along with Kang, thereby destroying both of them. At this point, I thought that Scott and Hope were stuck in the quantum realm and wouldn’t be able to make it back. So, it’d be a bittersweet ending. Nope! As Scott and Hope looked over the horizon, Cassie reopened the portal, and the couple went back home. However, soon after that, Scott started to wonder if they had done the right thing because Kang the Conqueror was apparently the one who could’ve fought the other Kangs. The downside of that would’ve been that he would commit genocide again. There was a chance that he’d make an exception for Earth-616 because Janet had helped him in the past. Since heroes can’t choose the survival of their world over the survival of trillions of lives, they have to stop him. Now, with him gone, this means that Earth-616 and every single universe in the multiverse are vulnerable to attacks by the variants of Kang.
Mid-Credits Scene Explained: Are Those Variants of Kang?
Yes, those are variants of Kang that we see congregating in some kind of colosseum to script their rise to power. I think that essentially means they are going to go around taking control of the timelines and universes in the multiverse that are in chaos because of various characters meddling with time. Loki, Sylvie, Peter Parker, Doctor Strange, the Avengers—everyone has done something to anger the Kangs, and since the Kangs see themselves as the only beings who should be in control of the multiverse, they’ll try to implement their fascist rule all over the galaxy. It has already been hinted that “Avengers: Kang Dynasty” is going to be all about Kang trying to create a timeline without superheroes. So, that’s precisely what the mid-credits are hinting at.
As per the movies, there are infinite variants of him. The two that we have seen so far are Kang the Conqueror and He Who Remains. As per the comics, the most recognizable ones are Ahura Boltagon, Immortus, Nathaniel Richards, Kang the Conquering Robot, Mr. Gryphon, Rama-Tut (I think we see this one in the movie), The Scarlet Centurion, Kang the Conglomerator, Kamala Kang, Kid Immortus, Iron Lad, Chronomonitor, Kang Kong, Frederick Kang, and Kang Nebula. Are we going to see all of them? Possibly, yes. It’s also possible that the MCU will deviate from the comics and create its own variants that will suit the requirements of its cinematic machinations and tone.
Post-Credits Scene Explained: What Are Loki and Mobius Up To?
To understand what’s going on in the post-credits of the film, you have to watch “Loki” Season 1 or at least the final episode, which is titled “For All Time. Always.” In that episode, He Who Remains revealed a variant, a 31st century scientist who discovered the existence of the other versions of the universe also called the multiverse. At the same time, other versions of this scientist discovered the multiverse too. This was succeeded by a few years of peace and harmony. But when other variants of this scientist, i.e., Kang, started to have ideas of conquering timelines and universes, this led to a multiversal war. He Who Remains used Alioth to put that war to an end and then founded the Time Variance Authority (TVA) to keep the timelines in each multiverse in check, which meant destroying any universe that was created because someone decided to take the road less traveled.
He Who Remains gave Loki and Sylvie the option to take over the TVA and essentially rule over the multiverse because he was too tired and old to continue his role as a fascist controller of timelines and universes. If they killed He Who Remains, then one of the more aggressive Kang variants would arrive to fill that void, and things wouldn’t be as peaceful. Loki was ready to consider that option (because he likes to rule over people), but Sylvie wasn’t because she was too angry at He Who Remains for destroying her timeline. So, Sylvie sent Loki back to the TVA headquarters, while inside the castle at the end of time, she finished off He Who Remains. The first impact of Sylvie’s action was that everyone had forgotten about Loki’s identity, including Mobius (Loki’s friend), and there was a giant Kang statue in the TVA. So, in the mid-credits of the film, I think we are seeing that 31st-century variant of Kang’s, and his name is Victor Timely. And I am assuming that Loki thinks that he can help them fix the multiversal chaos that’s about to ensue or, at the very least, find Sylvie again because Loki is in love with her. To know if that’s actually the case, we have to wait for “Loki” Season 2 to arrive.
