'Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania's mid-credits scene, explained

Sure, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania might have been a lackluster mess of poor CGI and an incredibly questionable plot, but its mid-credit scene tells us what's happening next in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 

After accidentally getting warped into the quantum realm, Scott Lang aka Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) and co. face off against our new MCU big bad, Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors). Kang is something of an intergalactic time lord who's dead-set on conquering the entire universe, but he fortunately gets destroyed (or at least trapped down there, powerless) by Scott and Hope (Evangeline Lilly). However, he spends most of the film warning the group that he "knows the end," and that there are more versions of him out there waiting to basically capsize the universe. In Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania's mid-credit scene, we see exactly what that looks like. 

The credits cut to three different versions of Kang in a room, each creepier than the next, and all ready to basically destroy everything. They begin talking about how the "exiled one," aka Kang the Conqueror, has been destroyed, which means that timelines are going to start getting jumbled up and the multiverse is at risk. So they decide to take matters into their many, many hands. The mid-credits end with an amphitheater full of all different variants of Kangs, thunderously cheering as they get ready to dive into battle and possibly take over the universe. 

What do Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania's mid-credits scene mean? 

Credit: Marvel Studios

To fully understand why this scene is so important, we need to do a quick Loki recap. Quantumania is not the first time we meet a version of Kang — in fact, in Loki Season 1, we basically get most of his backstory. Loki (Tom Hiddleston) encounters an iteration of Kang called He Who Remains, who explains that he's one of many variants of a 22nd century scientist who dedicated his life to studying and discovering the multiverse. 

But upon discovering the multiverse, He Who Remains found himself in the epicenter of a battle where all his variants engaged in war to try to get complete control of all realities. He Who Remains was basically the one keeping everything under control, and keeping the multiverse at bay and different timelines from meeting and waging war. But when another variant of Loki kills He Who Remains, the entire multiverse and all its Kangs are unleashed, including Kang the Conqueror. It's like ripping a Band-Aid off a wound that hasn't healed yet.

What does all of this mean for the MCU's future? 

Credit: Marvel Studios

In the mid-credits alone, we already see some comic-book staples including Pharaoh Rama-Tut, a version of Kang from ancient Egypt. All of these Kangs are extremely powerful and extremely cold-blooded, which means the MCU might be introducing us to its next Thanos. 

We know Jonathan Majors is slated to appear in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty (scheduled for 2025) and Avengers: Secret Wars (2026), so it's safe to assume that he's the new big bad wolf of the MCU's current and upcoming phases. While our first three phases were all about the Avengers trying to put a stop to Thanos and his infinity stones quest, it seems that our upcoming instalments are going to be about putting an end to all Kangs. 

But who's going to fight against Kang? Majors is the only confirmed cast member for the next two Avengers films, but with the slew of Marvel shows and films released since Endgame, we can expect some of our newer heroes to join in the fight. We might see Shang-Chi (Simu Liu, who's hinted he may be in for the Avengers team-up helmed by Shang-Chi director Daniel Destin Cretton), Captain Marvel (Brie Larson), Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani), or maybe even our mysterious new Fantastic Four. A new Avengers film could also signal the return of Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), Captain America (Anthony Mackie), or Spider-Man (Tom Holland) — and it seems likely Ant-Man will return. 

So it's time to buckle up for our next doomsday battle, because if there's one thing Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania did right, it's setting up the MCU's future. 

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is out in theaters.