Warning: The following article contains spoilers for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
Time is a fickle thing, especially in the Quantum Realm, where most of the newest film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania takes place. This is the third film in the Ant-Man series, as the second entry. Ant-Man and the Wasp, was released in 2019. Directed by Peyton Reed, the film sees Ant-Man and the rest of the team get transported to the Quantum Realm, where Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors) is waiting for them.
Much has changed between the two entries, with Scott Lang’s (Paul Rudd) daughter growing up, and being recast — twice. If you have not watched any of the other Marvel movies, but have watched Quantumania, you might be a little confused regarding when the film is set in the MCU. So, let’s take a look at everything we know about when Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is set compared to Ant-Man and the Wasp.
How long after Ant-Man and the Wasp is Quantumania set?
To figure out the time difference between Ant-Man and the Wasp and its sequel, we need to know when the 2019 film took place. We know what time it took place because the post-credits scene of the film coincides with Thanos’s snap in Avengers: Infinity War. If you have forgotten, the post-credits scene of Ant-Man and the Wasp sees Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly), Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer), and Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) disintegrate as a result of Thanos’s snap. We know that Infinity War took place in 2018 because Kevin Feige confirmed it in interviews around that film’s original release.
Because of that, we know that Ant-Man and the Wasp takes place in 2018. Roughly 23 days after the Snap, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and Nebula (Karen Gillan) are rescued by Captain Marvel (Brie Larson). Shortly thereafter, the Avengers kill Thanos and the MCU progresses five years. But Scott did not experience those five years passing because he was stuck in the Quantum Realm for all that time. This gave him the idea to use the Pym Particles to travel back in time, steal the Infinity Stones, and bring everyone back.
Even though they completed the time heist and brought everyone who dusted during the blip back, they had still progressed five years. This five-year gap is why Scott’s daughter ages up in Avengers: Endgame, and is still older in Quantumania. Although, they also recast her from Emma Fuhrmann in Endgame to Kathryn Newton, which you can read more about here. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania takes place after Avengers: Endgame, which takes place in 2023. But just how long after? Well, we have got you covered for that question as according to our article here, the movie takes place in 2026 or 2027. We know this because in the first Ant-Man film, Cassie Lang was six years old, and it has been confirmed that she is 18 in Quantumania.
We know that the first Ant-Man film takes place in 2015, because it has been confirmed, yet again, by Kevin Feige. That means that Ant-Man and the Wasp is three years after the first movie, and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is set nine years after that. So, between the second and third Ant-Man movies, a total of nine years have passed. This gives Scott enough time to spend five years in the Quantum Realm and come back to write his book, Look Out for the Little Guy, which he has written prior to the events of Quantumania.
Of course, the MCU tries to stray away from concrete dates, giving writers and directors a little leeway as to when they want to set their projects. That makes it tough to pinpoint a month or an exact date. Time also does work differently in the Quantum Realm, so we don’t have an idea as to just how much time passed when they were trapped there during the events of the film. But, at least we can narrow down the year of Kang the Conqueror battled Ant-Man in the Quantum Realm.
You can catch Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania in theaters now.