When Avengers: Endgame hit theaters, it marked the end of an era for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. For over a decade, audiences watched variations of the same group of heroes save the day. After Endgame, several of those heroes would no longer be a part of the MCU - for a variety of reasons. The impending Phase 4 of the MCU looms ahead.
Fans don't know too much about Phase Four just yet, other than that release dates for many of the projects had to be pushed beyond 2020. Led by the streaming series WandaVision, Phase Four is set to include the likes of Black Widow, Eternals, Shang-Chi, several sequel films and Disney+ shows, and potentially, the MCU debut of the Fantastic Four. The movies aren't set to include the same formulas of the early Marvel films, but to expand into the multiverse. One movie has already laid the foundation of what's to come for Marvel: Ant-Man And The Wasp.
The Quantum Realm
"Going subatomic" might have been introduced in the first Ant-Man movie, but the Quantum Realm took the spotlight in the sequel. The realm exists as a place so small that in order for anyone to get there, they have to be small enough to move through the space between molecules. Scott Lang is the first (as far as the audience knows) to go in and return. It's his return that sparks the experiment to get Janet Van Dyne back in the sequel.
The Quantum Realm, however, doesn't just set up a very tiny place. It can also be used to exit at different points in the timeline. That's what allows the Avengers to visit alternate timelines in Endgame. It's also what allows the Agents Of SHIELD main characters to find their way back to their original timeline in the final season of the show. Alternate timelines imply alternate realities and alternate dimensions. Ant-Man and the Wasp delving into the Quantum Realm, even just to bring Janet back, opens up all kinds of doors as other people in the MCU begin to utilize it, making way for the multiverse that is coming.
The third of the Ant-Man movies, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, will only broaden the audience's understanding of the realm. The movie is also set to feature a big comic book villain in Kang the Conqueror, played by Jonathan Majors. Kang usually finds his way to different points in history and alternate realities in the comics. He will likely build on what the second movie started.
The Movie's Unconventional Villains
Ant-Man and the Wasp also features plenty of new "villains." All three groups in action are very different from one another. The first is Sonny Burch, a criminal who sells technology on the black market. As the most traditional of MCU villains, he's done by the end of the movie as he and his sidekicks are arrested.
For Scott Lang's family, Jimmy Woo and the FBI team at his disposal seem like villains. In reality, Woo just wants to do his job. His job just happens to include keeping an eye on someone who violated the Sokovia Accords. Woo is very much an antagonist for Scott, but not a villain in the true sense of the word. His return to the MCU in WandaVision proves that.
For Hank Pym and Hope Van Dyne, Ava Starr and Bill Foster seem like villains. They want to use Janet's time in the Quantum Realm for their own purposes. The truth is, however, that neither of them are real villains either. Ava wants to stop her molecules from "ghosting" so she doesn't die. Bill has been taking care of her since she was a child. They both see the error of their ways, which could make them great allies instead of enemies for the future Ant-Man team.
The use of Agent Woo and Ava as antagonists interrupting the larger story of Janet's rescue proves that villainy in the MCU doesn't have to be so cut and dry. Leaving room for these antagonists to return in another capacity is a new approach for Marvel. It's one that will likely continue with Kang the Conqueror. Thor: Love And Thunder also has the potential for a recurring antagonist in Gorr the god Butcher. An antihero in the comics, Christian Bale has been cast in the role.
A Hint Of Magic
Both Thor and Doctor Strange reminded the Marvel audience that magic could be examined as an extension of science in the MCU. Ant-Man and the Wasp, however, straight up teased the audience with magic tricks.
While Scott Lang is on house arrest for two years, he has to find himself a few hobbies that don't involve shrinking down and communicating with ants. He plays video games, makes obstacle courses for his daughter, helps start a new business with his friends, and learns the art of illusion. One of his early exchanges with Jimmy Woo in the movie is him performing a card trick. The trick fascinates Woo, and he signs up for an online course in magic himself. He then produces that same card trick in an episode of WandaVision. Woo's fascination with Lang's misdirection and card tricks is a hint of what's to come.
Card tricks might not be the future of the MCU, but magic certainly is. Phase Four's first entry of WandaVision makes that clear. Just how large of a role magic will play remains to be seen. With Wanda Maximoff getting back to her comic book roots and teaming up with Doctor Strange in his Multiverse of Madness sequel, there is sure to be plenty on the way.