Each day that gets us closer to Avengers 4 brings us more clues that prove the Infinity War deaths will not be permanent. Many of the characters who just turned to dust will appear in other Marvel movies that come after Avengers 4 in Marvel’s timeline. And we already have a pretty good idea of who’s going to return from the dead — well, I think every single one of those deaths will be undone, but we need more proof before we can be certain.
We also have a pretty good idea of how that will happen, since we dug up plenty of evidence that seems to support one popular theory from fans. Now, thanks to a new revelation from Marvel execs, we know for sure that one theory is pretty solid. Before we go any further though, I have to warn you that the following post contains spoilers from Marvel’s newest film, Ant-Man and the Wasp, which you should see before reading any further.
Ant-Man 2’s credits scenes tie the movie to the Infinity War timeline, explaining both why Scott Lang wasn’t in Infinity War, and showing us that he survived the Snap. Hope and her parents were not as lucky, turning to dust right after they sent Lang to the Quantum Realm. Let’s revisit that scene, edited with the Snap scenes from Infinity War — it’s not the highest video quality, but it gets the job done:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eP-vWUxOAjM
We know that Ant-Man was spared, and we suspect Doctor Strange made sure it all happened precisely this way because Scott is an essential piece of the puzzle.
Now, the fan theory I mentioned before the break involves time traveling. We know that Marvel shot scenes for Avengers 4 featuring the attack on New York from the original movie. Leaked photos from the set showed Ant-Man hanging out with the original Avengers, as well as a second Tony Stark whose purpose might be to recover the Tesseract and all the other Stones.
What matters here is the time travel aspect of the theory. You’d think time traveling is pretty much impossible without Doctor Strange and his Time Stone, but that’s not quite so. And now we have confirmation from none other than Peyton Reed, the director of Ant-Man and the Wasp, set in place all the plot elements we need to see time travel in the next Avengers.
Reed told The Huffington Post that Lang, who’s stranded in the Quantum Realm, doesn’t have the Pym Particle disc he used to escape the Realm in the first movie. They would have brought him back anyway, but Hope, Hank, and Janet are now dust.
“This is a new suit, so it really wouldn’t have the same growth that he had in the first movie … I would answer, ‘No, he does not have it.’ He can’t go to that well twice,” Reed said.
Now, I showed you the Ant-Man 2 credits scene above for a secondary reason. Janet does warn Scott that there are time vortexes in the other dimension which he should avoid. That’s a detail I completely forgot about, but Reed addressed it in the interview.
“Based on the science that we’ve set up in the first movie and this one, I won’t rule out the possibility [of Lang showing up in past Avengers scenes,]” Reed said, “because, again, we are dealing with a time vortex. That could happen.”
Sure, others will probably check in on Lang and Co. after the Snap, but that doesn’t mean Lang is going to come out of the Realm using the equipment in the van, considering what Reed just revealed. Or, if he does, he might remember Janet’s remark and go back in the Quantum Realm to find the vortexes and use them.
Reed’s revelations could also explain why a teenager Cassie is rumored to appear in Avengers 4 next year. Because time travel.
The director also said that the Quantum Realm is “definitely a priority” in the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but did not expand on the subject.
Since we’re talking about Ant-Man 2, we’ll remind you that just a few days ago we analyzed the statements of a different exec, Marvel Studios producer Stephen Broussard, who suggested that Ant-Man 2 scenes might contain spoilers for a potential Ant-Man 3, with a particular emphasis on the Quantum Realm world. That prompted us to speculate that these secret spoilers might also tease what’s going to happen next in Avengers 4. After all, whatever happens in the upcoming Avengers it’ll likely precede the Ant-Man 3 events, if that movie ever gets made.
