Four years later, Marvel still isn’t over the events of Avengers: Endgame. But maybe that’s a good thing. After all, half of the people (and aliens) living in this cinematic universe were unceremoniously snapped out of existence, only to reappear five years later in a world that was just starting to move on. So it’s no huge surprise that Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania opens with a reference to the damage done by Thanos even as this movie introduces us to an entirely new Avengers enemy.
Quantumania and Avengers: Endgame
Quantumania sneaks several small but impactful references to Avengers: Endgame into its opening scenes. Scott Lang’s (Paul Rudd) new book about his adventures as Ant-Man includes a brief nod to the challenges everyone has faced in recent years. But the bigger moment comes from Scott’s daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton), who winds up in jail after using some Pym Particles to shrink a cop car.
When she’s grilled by her father, Cassie replies that the cops deserved it because they were trying to displace a group of people who lost their homes in the Blip. The story quickly moves on from this revelation, but it’s the kind of worldbuilding that makes the increasingly cosmic MCU feel grounded and real.
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard similar details about the state of the MCU. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier devoted a chunk of its plot to a group of “terrorists” who were similarly displaced after the Blip. (In that case, these were people who didn’t vanish, moved into empty homes, and then were forced to vacate when the Blipped people came back.)
Other shows like She-Hulk have taken a more casual approach to the entire thing. In one episode it’s casually referenced that the Sokovia Accords were revoked after the Avengers defeated Thanos. Meanwhile, other entries like Moon Knight barely even mention it.
Can the MCU ever get past Thanos?
As the MCU hurtles towards a new big bad in Kang the Conqueror and another round of Avengers movies, it’s worth wondering how far the ripples of Avengers: Endgame can go. Will these movies still fill the need to reference the blip after Kang conquers the world? What about after Secret Wars re-orders the MCU into a bizzaro Battleworld?
Part of me thinks that even then, we’ll still be talking about Thanos, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Josh Brolin comes out of MCU retirement for a showdown with Kang in the next few years. But if Marvel can pull off its Multiverse Saga, then maybe we’ll finally be free of Avengers: Endgame once and for all.
