Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is shaping up the be the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s biggest oxymoron. Come Feb. 17, the tiniest Avenger on Earth will go for a face-to-face with one of the strongest villains of the multiverse. The battle is expected to leave an echo throughout the MCU, and although Kang (Jonathan Majors) has pummeled several multiversal Avengers in the past, his encounter with Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) will apparently be the first time he goes up against the miniature superhero.
Why is that? As evident from the Quantumania clip shown above, Kang has met the Avengers before. He’s even killed them. “You’re not the one with the hammer?” he asks Scott, referring to Thor. If Kang has met the Avengers, killed them, and even recognized their signature weapons, why then doesn’t he remember Scott? Surely someone who can grow as tall as a building would catch his attention?
The answer may just be as simple as it is absurd, small as it is large: all the other times Kang has come face to face with an Avenger – Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, and so on – he never saw Scott because Scott might never have left his ant-sized form, choosing instead to fight out of Kang’s line of sight and eventually winding up squished under his ruthless heel.
This is of note because it underlines the importance of this Scott’s presence in the quantum realm now. This variant of Scott – all variants of Scott, in fact – are foreign to Kang. He hasn’t fought him before, hasn’t witnessed his strengths or his weaknesses. This lack of knowledge could turn out to be the chink in Kang’s armor, his unforeseen Achilles heel. It’s not an entirely foreign concept, as Scott’s strength and skill as a superhero have been given considerable weight in the conversations leading up to Quantumania’s premiere, but it does add importance to the first words Kang utters upon meeting the ex-convict.
“You’re an interesting man, Scott Lang,” Kang says as the thin film of blue armor covering his face retracts. Interesting might be the word Kang uses now, but come the end of the movie we have a feeling he’ll be singing a different tune.
That’s not to say we’re suggesting Scott might kill Kang. We all know that won’t happen since Kang is a key player in the Multiverse Saga. But all this talk about Kang killing Scott seems to have eclipsed the notion of what Scott might end up doing to Kang. What is so important about this phase five film that Kevin Feige chose the world’s tiniest superhero to solo against the multiverse’s greatest threat? There’s only one way to find out.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania premieres in theaters on Feb. 17.