Since April, Marvel fans have been trying to come to terms with the events that took place in Avengers: Infinity War. And they've busied themselves by coming up with countless theories about how major characters are going to come back and take down Thanos once and for all in Avengers 4. One popular theory is looking pretty good after Michael Douglas shared a possible Avengers 4 spoiler about the significance of the Quantum Realm.
In a recent interview that aired on On Air with Ryan Seacrest, Douglas confirmed which movies Ant-Man and the Wasp connect to in the MCU. The actor revealed,
"I mean, all of them. The Quantum Realm, that's the key. That's the key. The Quantum Realm plays an important part in all the next chapters, I think, of the Marvel films."
For anyone who's seen Ant-Man and the Wasp, you know the gist of what the Quantum Realm is and the role it played in that movie. Now, this huge spoiler is possible confirmation of a long-running theory that's been swirling around since Avengers: Infinity War.
A main plot point in Ant-Man and the Wasp was that Hope Pym's mom — and Hank Pym's (Douglas) wife — went into the Quantum Realm when she went subatomically small for a mission when Hope was a child. They want to use Scott Lang's connection to the realm to bring Janet van Dyne back. (Due to the fact that Lang also visited the Quantum Realm in the first Ant-Man, he's susceptible to quantum entanglement with Janet — meaning he's a sort of conduit for her mind).
During the mid-credit scene, after Janet is saved, the Pym family wants to send Scott back to the Quantum Realm to obtain quantum healing particles for Ghost, in order to heal her from the quantum energy that's killing her. However, once he's inside the Quantum Realm and has collected the energy, Hope is about to send him back when Thanos' snap disintegrates all three of the people who can help Scott (Hope, Janet, and Hank). And fans are just left with Scott hanging out in the realm, not knowing what just happened, and with no way to return (yet).
This new info from Douglas, that the Quantum Realm is the "key" to "all" Marvel films is confirmation that many have been hoping for since that ending scene in Ant-Man and the Wasp. In the scene, Janet tells Scott not to get stuck in a time vortex in the Quantum Realm, which was a big hint at how Scott can (and will) escape his current predicament. Many have speculated for months that time travel is ultimately going to be how the remaining Avengers reverse what happened in Infinity War — and thanks to time vortexes being prevalent in the Quantum Realm — they might just find a way to do so.
One Twitter user, @BeRealBrooo, pointed out that the mysterious photo the Russo Brothers shared when Avengers 4 wrapped could very well be a contraption that's able to send the Avengers back in time through the Quantum Realm. They tweeted, "Bro. That Russo tease photo is a vehicle to transport heroes into the Quantum Realm. Something to do with ghost and her rejuvenation pod."
Fans can't stop talking about the Quantum Realm, which offers an abundance of conspiracies. One thing that continually comes up, is all the little Easter eggs hidden in the most mysterious part of the MCU. Director Peyton Reed told Comicbook.com that a scene was cut out that shows even more "intelligent life" is in the Quantum Realm, bolstering another theory fans have started that comes from a closer glimpse at the realm.
This new information from Douglas hints that Scott will probably seek out a time vortex to escape and propel himself to the future, which makes sense with the rumored 5-year time jump between films and the other rumor that a 16-year-old actress will be playing Lang's daughter (who was 10 at the end of Ant-Man and the Wasp) in the next Avengers film.
The Quantum Realm is just so expansive that anything can be in there and it can mean so many things for the next wave of Marvel movies. But with Douglas seemingly giving us the answer that it's the "key" to the MCU, it's pretty good news for fans hoping that there's a way to fix that whole snap thing from Infinity War.
