Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is already tying up the loose ends of the Ant-Man franchise as it sheds new light on Scott Lang's character arc throughout the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film, set to release in February, has finally begun to release new trailers and promos with regularity, giving new insights into the story at hand. The film will not only kick off Phase 5, the second act of the Multiverse Saga, but it will also introduce Jonathan Majors's Kang the Conqueror, the future villain of Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, who manages to summarize Scott Lang's entire character arc in a single trailer line.
Kang is the new Big Bad of the MCU, with Quantumania marking his first appearance in the franchise after his multiversal variant, He Who Remains, showed up in the season finale of Loki last year. In the upcoming Ant-Man sequel, Kang appears to recruit Scott for a very important mission while they are both trapped in the mysterious Quantum Realm, making a compelling offer in exchange for the Avenger's services. While the film is unclear about what exactly this deal includes, it is apparent that Kang knows far more about Scott's life than he ever should, knowing exactly what strings to pull in order to attain his help.
Scott's Arc Is Defined By The Time He Lost With His Daughter
Scott Lang's entire story arc completely revolves around his daughter, Cassie, portrayed in Quantumania by Katheryn Neuton, and the years of her life that he missed. Cassie is about eight years old during the events of the first Ant-Man movie, but her father had already missed out on half of her life by that point, serving four years at San Quentin prison for burglary. At that point, Scott was already acutely aware of the formative years he'd lost out on, remarking to his ex-wife Maggie that he'd already "missed so much time" with his daughter. Unfortunately, that wasn't even close to the end of Scott's lost time with Cassie.
After the events of Captain America: Civil War, both Hawkeye and Ant-Man were under house arrest for two years, making it difficult for Scott to spend time with his daughter, as he was confined to a singular space in doing so. While he was able to make those two years work, Ant-Man and the Wasp clearly shows that Scott is counting down the days until he can spend time with his daughter outside the same four walls. However, only days after finally being released from house arrest, Scott became trapped in the Quantum Realm, emerging five years later in a completely different world in which Cassie was nearly an adult.
Now eighteen years old and an adult, Cassie is on the verge of becoming Stature, her superhero alter-ego from Marvel Comics, and is a far cry from the little girl that Scott had once known. By the time of Quantumania's events, Scott has been absent for nine years of his daughter's life, with an additional two in which his contact with her was severely restricted. Despite trying his best to be present for Cassie's childhood years, Scott missed most of the formative experiences in her life, much to his despair. It is natural for Scott to feel as though he lost out on far too much time with his daughter.
In Quantumania, Scott's insecurities about his fatherhood will be exploited by Kang in attempting to escape the Quantum Realm. Recent trailers for the upcoming film have seen Kang offer the one thing that Scott wants more than anything else: "more time." While the trailer doesn't explicitly reveal what Kang is referring to with this offer, it seems clear that he is offering Scott a second chance at being a father, perhaps making it so that he never missed those nine formative years of Cassie's life. For a father wounded by the painful reality of his failures, this would be an extremely compelling offer for Scott, suggesting that he will accept.
Can Kang Really Restore Scott's Lost Time (And Can He Be Trusted)?
While Kang's offer seems too good to be true, there is evidence that he can deliver on his promises to Scott. Kang may seem weaker than usual in Quantumania, but this is likely a condition of his imprisoned state during the film's events. When he is restored to his full power, there is no doubt that Kang has the ability to rewrite timelines in such a way that would allow Scott to be the father that he always wanted to be. Kang is a villain with deep Multiversal connections and even time travel technology, suggesting that he really could restore the "lost time" that Scott so desperately seeks with Cassie.
Although Kang is capable of fulfilling his promise to Scott, he cannot be trusted to do so. In fact, the trailers already indicate that Kang will betray Scott during Quantumania, as evidenced by their third-act battle and Scott's desperate cries that they "had a deal." However, this also reveals that Scott will accept Kang's offer, likely providing the Conqueror with whatever he needs to escape the Quantum Realm in hopes that he will uphold his end of the bargain. Nevertheless, Kang being the deceptive supervillain that he is, will not follow through on his promises to Scott, leading to his battle with Ant-Man in the film's climax.
How Scott's Story Has To End In Quantumania
With Scott's entire MCU arc revolving around being a good father to Cassie, Quantumania must end his story with an emotional breakthrough on his behalf. Ant-Man wants Kang to rewind time, but this isn't the answer to his problems. What Scott really wants is the assurance that he was a good father to Cassie, even if he wasn't always there for her. He needs to accept that he missed many of her greatest years and that there isn't much he can do about it now. More importantly, Scott needs to come to terms with Cassie's becoming an adult, finally leaving behind the little girl that he once knew.
Cassie's life has been greatly affected by the relationship she had--and didn't have--with her father. Ever since she was a little girl, she idolized Scott despite his flaws and, after losing him for five years, was forced to grow up without him. For better or for worse, Cassie's father had a tremendous impact on who she grew up to be. Whether or not Scott dies in Quantumania, his story cannot end without him making peace with his imperfect fatherhood and realizing that, despite everything, Cassie turned out alright in the end. In the complicated but loving relationship between Scott and Cassie lays the heart of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
This article was originally published at Screen Rant.
