Warning: This article contains spoilers for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
With Phase Five kicking off in the MCU with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, it’s pretty obvious that the Marvel Universe has moved on from the Thanos threat and is living life as usual, while still being oblivious to what’s to come. Sure, there is still the displacement issue that was mentioned in Phase Four, but from what we saw in the trailers, it seems like things are going back to normal.
It is also important to remember that the blip lasted for five years so it’s understandable if people forget what year the newer MCU films and shows take place in. Especially now since we’re up to the Multiverse Saga and the concept of time travel and universe jumping are being mentioned in some of the newer titles, with Ant-Man 3 being no exception.
When is ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ set?
While figuring out what year each Marvel title takes place is a bit difficult at times, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania managed to make things easier to pinpoint when these events unfold. The first clue is through his book, Look Out For the Little Guy. We know that Lang likes to publicly talk about his time as an Avenger thanks to the Disney Plus series, Ms. Marvel. In the show, the only thing that was released was a podcast, meaning a book hasn’t been released yet. This means that the film could take place at least in 2025 or later.
Another clue to help pinpoint the year is through Cassie’s age. In Ant-Man 3, she’s 18 years old. This was confirmed by the film’s director, Peyton Reed in an interview with Nerdhunter. She also said in the film that she was six years old during the events of the first Ant-Man film. That means there is a 12-year gap between the first and third Ant-Man films.
“To us, after the events of ‘[Avengers] Infinity War‘ and ‘[Avengers] Endgame’, it really occurred to us that…Cassie’s going to be 18 in this movie! That’s great!”
Fortunately, we also know when Ant-Man takes place. According to an old interview with Marvel Studios executive Kevin Feige with Cinemablend, he said that Ant-Man takes place after the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron, but it’s unknown for how long. But one thing is certain, Avengers 2 takes place in 2015. So for simplicity’s sake, let’s say the first Ant-Man film also takes place in that year. We just don’t know how long it has been since the battle in Sokovia.
“We don’t exactly say. There’s an indication that is probably just after Ultron, just after Avengers 2. The present day films take place within the chronology of the release of movies, the exact months and the exact weeks after sometimes determined later.”
If we add 12 years from 2015, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania takes place in the year 2027. Meaning Scott Lang took 2-3 years to write his book after his podcast became very popular. That explains why people recognize him on the street, wear his suit as a costume, and are interested in hearing his story.
Catching up with the dates and years in the MCU can be very exhausting, especially with all the time travel and multiverse jumping involved in this arc. Not to mention, dates and years are barely even mentioned in the MCU. So thank goodness Ant-Man 3 was able to give clues on where we are in the timeline and how long it has been since past events.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is now showing in theaters.