Ant-Man is the most important character in the MCU
By Matthew Roth
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will kick off Marvel’s phase 5 in 2023 and promises to solidify Ant-Man as the most important MCU character.
San Diego Comic-Con left us with a glimpse into the future of what is to come for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. With Phase 4 concluding with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever it was announced that Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania would be kicking off an explosive Phase 5.
With that announcement, Marvel may have just reinforced that Ant-Man may just be the most important character to the MCU. Let’s take a look as to how.
Marvel’s Ant-Man was the last film to debut in Phase 2 in June of 2015. With it, we met Scott Lang played by America’s heartthrob Paul Rudd. While the film may not have broken ground in cinema, it did introduce some very key elements that would come in to play down the road for the Avengers team.
1. The Van
When we see Scott Lang being released from prison, we meet Michael Pena’s character Luis who is driving a 1972 Ford Ecoline. This same Ford would later be outfitted with a Quantum Tunnel that provided entry into the Quantum Realm at the end of Antman and the Wasp. Having survived “The Blip” by being in the Quantum Realm while his friends were snapped (and with a little help of a trusty rat), Scott was able to return to the world.
2. Scott’s criminal background
As we all remember Scott was initially in prison for using his Master’s in Electrical Engineering to steal from the rich and become a modern-day Robin hood. His skills come into play in Avengers: Endgame as he devises a plan to snatch the stones from various places in time. The Time Heist wouldn’t have been possible without Ant-Man.
Scott theorized that with Pym particles and the Quantum Tunnel he was able to jump in time five years in what only appeared as minutes. Using these same Pym Particles, he then should be able to travel back in time and heist the Infinity Stones. To this point none of the surviving Avengers had any ideas as to how to save their fallen friends and the universe. This method would also allow Tony Stark to maintain the family he created in the five years since The Avengers’ initial defeat, while also bringing back those they lost.
3. Scott and his crew‘s sense of humor
While a majority of the Avengers films are seeing world ending events the Ant-Man saga does a great job of bringing us back down to earth. The first film was a simple heist film, and the second film was all about providing help to a would-be friend. They do a fantastic job of blending humor with street level threats to reel fans back in from what were world threatening MCU events, reminding us that these heroes are human after all.
4. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
It’s hard to believe we live in a time where a movie about a guy who makes friends with bugs is set to receive its third film but, here we are. There has been much buzz about what Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will bring when it releases in the spring of 2023. If you heard about (or saw) the SDCC trailer, then you know we not only get MODOK in the film, but we are also being properly introduced to the big bad of the Multiverse Saga, Kang the Conqueror.
Yes, we briefly saw Johnathan Majors in Loki but, it appears Kang will be introducing himself to us all and in an Ant-Man film nonetheless! They are using this film to kick off phase 5 and begin the true battle for our heroes.
What else is there left to say? Ant-Man is the most crucial member of the MCU.
Do you think Ant-Man is the most important hero in the MCU? Let us know in the comments below!