It's a new year, and that means there's a new movie from the Marvel Cinematic Universe on the horizon. This year, that initial MCU offering is Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. And maybe, just maybe, this film will finally give the MCU a little bit of focus after three years of movies and TV shows have struggled to connect to one another.. While it's doubtful Disney has felt any kind of pain in the wallet over the fan response to the post-Endgame MCU yet, the people have gotten restless with this supposed shared universe being dominated by unrelated stories.

　　And then when they have tried some of that connective tissue lately, it's gone poorly. Take Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, an astonishing film from a great filmmaker that nearly grinds to a halt whenever Martin Freeman or Julia Louis-Dreyfuss is on screen as part of the greater MCU story.

　　But Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania could change this state of affairs for the MCU by dealing with some major dangling threads and finally giving the MCU the new central plot thread it's been lacking since Endgame. Things may be about to change in the MCU in the biggest of ways.

　　

Where is the latest trailer?

A brand new Quantumania trailer dropped on January 9, and its full of clues and details that might surprise you. Give it a watch here, and then check out our breakdown to find all the Easter Eggs that might have flown under the radar.

　　

When is Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania coming out?

This third Ant-Man film is slated to hit theaters on February 17. You can watch the trailer here.

　　

What's Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania about?

In the last film, the titular Scott Lang (Ant-Man) and Hope Van Dyne (The Wasp) rescued Janet Van Dyne from the "Quantum Realm," which is a super-small universe that exists between atoms. It was implied that Janet got into all sorts of mayhem down there, but so far 've learned pretty much nothing about it.

　　This time, however, Scott, Hope, Janet and Dr. Hank Pym are going to venture back into the Quantum Realm. We have pretty much no specifics about why they're going down there (it doesn't seem like it's their choice to go back) or what they'll be doing. But we know that whatever happens will be big--at least in terms of overall MCU plot significance, if not physical size.

　　

Who's coming back from the other Ant-Man movies?

All the core names from the previous movies--Paul Rudd as Ant-Man/Scott Lang, Evangeline Lilly as the Wasp/Hope Van Dyne, and Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfeiffer as Hope's parents and the previous Ant-Man and Wasp--will be back. Scott's daughter Cassie, now a bit older and played by Kathryn Newton after the big time jump, will have a major part to play as well. Yes, she'll be super too.

　　And rumor has it that Corey Stoll's Darren Cross, who was the villain of the first Ant-Man movie, will be making an appearance. Since going subatomic with Pym tech took Janet to the Quantum Realm all those years ago, it tracks that the same thing would have happened with Cross, who has otherwise been treated as dead. Plus, we saw his helmet in an episode of Loki. So, really, this is to be expected.

　　Peyton Reed, who sat in the director's chair for the first two Ant-Man movies, also returned to direct Quantumania.

　　

Which past Ant-Man characters aren't returning?

There is no indication that Quantumania will follow up with Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) or Dr. Bill Foster (Laurence Fishburne), who played key supporting roles in Ant-Man and the Wasp, though surprise cameos are not out of the question. Tip "T.I." Harris won't be back as Dave, after he and his wife faced multiple sexual abuse accusations in early 2021.

　　Michael Pena's Luis is also not expected to return, but no reason is known. That leaves David Dastmalchian as the only member of Ant-Man's team of pals from the previous films to return.

　　

What new folks should we expect to show up in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania?

This movie will introduce us to some new characters, perhaps most notably with Bill Murray entering the MCU as a villain character. William Jackson Harper of The Good Place and Underground Railroad will also appear in an unknown role. And we saw a brief glimpse of MODOK in the new trailer--word is that MODOK is how Daren Cross ended up, and if true he'd be both a returning character and a new one.

　　

Will Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania actually include meaningful connections to the rest of the MCU?

Signs point to yes! Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors), who was first introduced in the Loki series, features prominently in the first Quantumania trailer. And since he's the main big bad of this upcoming stretch of MCU stories, you can bet that this movie is going to lay a lot of groundwork for the next couple years of the MCU's overall plot. Of course, we also thought the same would be the case with the most recent Spider-Man and Doctor Strange movies.

　　But this new Ant-Man and the Wasp film is the start of the MCU's Phase 5. It's probably not a coincidence that they would mark this movie as the start of a new era--this one is probably going to be important.

　　

Is Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania an essential part of the MCU, or is it safe to skip this one?

While the previous two Ant-Man movies were a ton of fun, they were not really essential to the greater MCU story--the only part of Ant-Man and the Wasp that ended up being important for the greater MCU was the mid-credits scene when Scott gets stuck in the Quantum Realm.

　　But Quantumania looks like a different animal. This one will tell a key piece of the big story, while bringing the new main franchise villain into focus. So, yeah, there's no indication that this story will be optional. Quite the opposite, in fact. If you're any kind of fan of the MCU, this is one of the ones you really do need to watch.

　　

What should you watch or rewatch to prepare for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania?

To get the full story as we know it so far for these folks, you probably won't need to do a complete viewing of the entire MCU. But there are two parts to this prep work.

　　First, the story of Ant-Man and the Wasp. That includes, in chronological order: Ant-Man, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War and Ant-Man & the Wasp (they happen simultaneously), and Avengers: Endgame.

　　Second, the story of Kang the Conqueror. Which thus far consists only of the first season of the Loki series on Disney+, where he and his multiverse-shattering potential were first introduced. Those six episodes will take you about four hours to get through, so that's basically a couple extra movies. The good news, though, is that it's not really that much of a chore to watch Tom Hiddleston play Loki, no matter the context.

　　Phil Owen on Google+