Scott and Hope will face Kang the Conqueror in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania – but can the duo really defeat the MCU’s next Thanos?
Scott Lang and Hope van Dyne will face Kang the Conqueror in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, yet the chances of the superhero duo succeeding against Kang are very low. Unlike Thanos, who only had a few small appearances in the MCU before being the main villain in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, Jonathan Major’s Kang will have been the main antagonist of both Loki and Quantumania by the time Avengers: The Kang Dynasty premieres. The fact that Kang can exist in multiple periods and universes at the same time creates a unique villain dynamic, and it makes Kang’s role in the MCU difficult to predict.
While it is rare for superheroes to lose on the big screen, especially in solo movies, the odds are against Ant-Man and Wasp in Quantumania. The Kang shown in the Ant-Man 3 trailer appears to be Kang Prime, also known as Kang the Conqueror, who, for some reason, is in the Quantum Realm and needs Scott Lang’s help. This seemingly ultimate version of Kang is the one who presumably returns to The Kang Dynasty to fight the Avengers, meaning that Ant-Man and Wasp simply cannot end the Kang threat already in Phase 5. Even if Ant-Man 3’s Kang is not the same version who will fight the Avengers, Scott and Hope’s victory is unlikely.
Why Ant-Man & Wasp Can’t Possible Beat Kang In Quantumania
Defeating Kang means not only beating a version of Kang in battle but also stopping whatever the time traveler villain is planning. Considering that at least a variant of Kang the Conqueror returns in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty as the MCU’s next Thanos, it is safe to say that Ant-Man and Wasp cannot possibly win in Quantumania. Even if Scott and Hope achieve some sort of victory in Quantumania, everything points to Kang still having the upper hand after the events of the film. What Ant-Man and Wasp could perhaps do is delay Kang the Conqueror’s plans, thus acquiring more time for the Avengers to prepare.
Kang Winning In Quantumania Would Repeat Infinity War’s Thanos Twist
Another possible outcome for Ant-Man and Wasp’s clash with Kang is that the time traveler villain wins at the end of Quantumania. That would be similar to how Thanos won at the end of Avengers: Infinity War, which saw Thanos defeating every Avenger on his way and performing the snap that erased half of the universe. Seeing Thanos contemplate his victory while half of the Avengers were being erased was arguably the most shocking moment in the MCU and one of the highlights of the Infinity Saga. While on a different scale, Ant-Man and Wasp losing to Kang in Quantumania can replicate that twist.
Similarly to how Thanos winning in Infinity War made Avengers: Endgame a must-see, Kang winning in Quantumania would set the stage for The Kang Dynasty. A strong impression made by Kang in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania can increase the expectations for the next Avengers movie, and it would help Kang feel like big enough of a threat for the Avengers to once again assemble on the big screen. Whereas the Avengers failed to defeat Thanos throughout Infinity War and allowed the villain to succeed in his plan, Ant-Man and Wasp can now fail to stop Kang the Conqueror in the Quantum Realm – thus putting the entire multiverse at risk.