What to Watch Before ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’

The MCU has spawned a series of intertwined films and shows to become one of, if not the most popular franchise in cinematic history. The studio’s latest project, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, will be the 31st film in the franchise, but perhaps more importantly, it’s the first to kick off a brand-new story in Phase Five — but there will be callbacks to the past.

Scott Lang makes his much-anticipated MCU debut in 2015’s Ant-Man.

When fans first meet him, he’s a fresh-out-of-prison master thief who becomes the mentee of Dr. Hank Pym. Alongside the physicist and his daughter, Hope, the miniature hero uses his new abilities to stop Hank’s former protégé Darren Cross, aka Yellowjacket, from perfecting the same Ant-Man technology and using it for malicious purposes.

The film also highlights the loving relationship between Scott and his daughter, Cassie.

After a brief scuffle with Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) in Ant-Man, Scott gets recruited by Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) to fight alongside him and other powerful superheroes in Captain America: Civil War. The iconic airport battle marks the first time Ant-Man grows in size to become Giant-Man — it’s also so cool to see Scott interact with fellow heroes!

Due to his involvement with the Avengers in Civil War, Scott is under house arrest and struggles to balance his home life with his Ant-Man responsibilities. But, when confronted by Hank and Hope (who now assumes her own superheroic alter ego known as the Wasp), Scott once again dons the Ant-Man suit for an urgent mission in Ant-Man and the Wasp.

The dynamic duo also battles it out with two antagonists — Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) and Sonny Burch (Walton Goggins).

Despite his absence from Avengers: Infinity War, Ant-Man lang plays a pivotal role in its sequel, Avengers: Endgame.

Ant-Man was presumed to be among those lost in the snap, but in reality, he was trapped in the Quantum Realm for five whole years! His long-awaited return and knowledge of the Quantum Realm turn out to be the key that helps the remaining heroes to bring their loved ones back and stop Thanos once and for all.

Scott also reunites with his daughter Cassie, who’s much older than the last time he saw her.

We highly recommend binge-watching the entire first season of Loki, but when it comes to Quantumania, the finale is, without a doubt, the most important piece of the puzzle.

The episode, titled “For All Time. Always,” follows Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) as they discover that “He Who Remains” (Jonathan Majors), one of Kang the Conqueror’s many variants, founded and ruled the TVA to preserve the Sacred Timeline and prevent a multiversal war led by his variants.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania hits theaters on Friday, Feb. 17.