Phase 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is upon us as we’re just days away from the release of Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania. The third film in the Paul Rudd superhero franchise promises to be the weirdest yet. But we’re hoping it’s even weirder than the trailers and posters are promising.
If you’re looking to catch up before the new MCU movie hits theaters on February 17, we compiled the movies and shows you need to see.
We scoured the archives of Marvel Comics for the weirdest Ant-Man-adjacent characters that we hope to see when Quantumania debuts, even if it’s just in a post-credits scene.
Grizzly
One popular member of the Ant-Family that we haven’t seen show up in the franchise yet is Maxwell Markham, a.k.a. Grizzly. A former professional wrestler and reformed criminal, Grizzly was hired by Scott Lang to work for his Miami-based business Ant-Man Security Solutions. Despite looking like he walked right off the set of Midsommar, Grizzly would be a great fit for the MCU’s version of Lang’s private enterprise, X-Con Security Consultants.
The Young Avengers
Quantumania promises to introduce us to an older, teenage version of Scott’s daughter Cassie Lang, a character with an eventful and compelling history in Marvel Comics. Among her most important achievements in print is her status as a founding member of the Young Avengers, a team consisting of several characters who have recently been introduced to the MCU, including America Chavez, Kate Bishop, and the Scarlet Witch’s sons Billy and Tommy. Will we finally see some hints of Marvel’s next generation of heroes teaming up?
Other Versions of Kang
Marvel fans are all highly anticipating their first official introduction to Kang the Conqueror, one of the all-time classic Avengers villains, but as we learned in the Loki series, there are countless variations of this character. In the comics, the different versions of Kang that we meet represent the time-traveling supervillain at different points in his life, from a good-hearted childhood version calling himself Iron Lad to the elderly Immortus, whom Kang is destined to become. The biggest question is not whether we’ll see any alternate versions of Kang but rather how many we’ll see.
Jack of Hearts
Possibly the strangest and most obscure Avenger, Jack of Hearts is a character who played an important role in the life of Scott Lang. The two clashed frequently as members of the same Avengers lineup, but the two set aside their differences when Scott’s daughter Cassie was kidnapped. Jack ultimately sacrificing himself to save Cassie. Also, Jack was later resurrected from the dead by the Scarlet Witch and made his body explode, killing Scott Lang because, you know, comic books.
(Don’t worry, Scott obviously did not stay dead because, again, comic books.)
The Fantastic Four
Kevin Feige, I know you’re reading this. I appreciate your patience. I know you love a slow build. But listen…just let us see them already. Seriously. COME ON!
In all seriousness, there’s plenty of history between Ant-Man and the Fantastic Four, including their first ever meeting in a place called the Micro-Verse, the comics version of the MCU’s Quantum Realm. Scott Lang has even served as a temporary member of the Fantastic Four on multiple occasions.
