Marvel Studios broke their trilogy trend with the release of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, the third adventure for Ant-Man and his Quantum team.
Warning: This post contains spoilers for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania!Marvel Studios broke their trilogy pattern with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Peyton Reed’s third adventure in the Ant-Man franchise released on February 17, 2023, kicking off the MCU’s Phase 5 by introducing Jonathan Majors’ Kang the Conqueror, a variant of the mysterious He Who Remains from Loki season 1, to Scott Lang, a.k.a. Ant-Man, and his size-changing team, who find themselves trapped in the Quantum Realm. Trailers and promotional material for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania set the film up to feature many twists and turns, much like other MCU trilogy films, but audiences were given something very different.
As the first film in the MCU’s Phase 5, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania set up some huge storylines for upcoming projects, including introducing the MCU’s Council of Kangs and Victor Timely in the post-credits scenes. Quantumania also marks the first time that one of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes has come face-to-face with Kang the Conqueror, the Multiverse Saga’s major villain, and Thanos’ perfect MCU replacement. Reed’s newest Marvel entry differs from other trilogy films in the MCU, however, proving that viewers might not always know what to expect from Marvel Studios.
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MCU Threequels Result In Big Character Endings Or Changes
Typically for Marvel Studios, the third film in each separate franchise tends to bring with it some monumental changes for the characters, which could include seeing a major death, or significant changes that shape the course of the MCU’s future. Iron Man 3, the first film of the MCU’s Phase 2, picked up in the wake of The Avengers, and saw Tony Stark destroy all his Iron Man suits and apparently retire as a superhero, though this only lasted until Avengers: Age of Ultron. Captain America: Civil War featured the Avengers disbanding and Captain America, the Falcon, and Black Widow going on the run from the US Government.
Thor: Ragnarok saw some huge changes for Thor under the guise of Taika Waititi, not only was his hammer destroyed, but Odin also died, and Asgard was obliterated, leaving Thor and his Asgardian subjects displaced. Spider-Man: No Way Home featured everyone across the multiverse forgetting who Peter Parker is, leaving him completely alone in the world. However, it was perhaps Avengers: Infinity War that saw the greatest change for Earth’s heroes, as they lost in the battle against the Mad Titan, Thanos, and witnessed half of all life killed, including some of their closest allies.
Quantumania Avoided A Major Ant-Man Change (Despite Setting One Up)
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania veered away from this trend, leaving Scott and his family practically unchanged by the end. This occurred despite some massive changes being set up, not least in theories preceding Quantumania’s release that Ant-Man would meet his demise in the film. Towards the end of Quantumania, Scott and Kang battled hand-to-hand in a few intense moments as Scott tried to stop Kang from escaping the Quantum Realm, and for a moment, it looked as though Scott and Hope Van Dyne would be trapped in the Quantum Realm themselves.
Despite this being a dramatic and shocking ending for the pair, Scott and Hope were saved at the last second by Cassie Lang’s Quantum portal technology. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania does carry significant changes for the MCU as a whole, but not so much specifically for Scott Lang, proving that Marvel Studios has finally broken their threequel trend. Even so, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is set to continue this pattern as the beloved team embark on their final journey together.
