While the first movie of the Ant-Man franchise turned out to be a mostly self-contained, light-hearted superhero origin story, the sequel, “Ant-Man and the Wasp,” found itself way too entangled with the larger MCU shenanigans, to the point where the simplistic charm of the first one almost seems missing. The first Ant-Man movie was set into the comparatively relaxed schedule of phase two of the MCU, whereas the placement of the sequel becomes crucial in the sense that it takes place right after the second biggest live-action comics event, “Avengers: Infinity War.” After the first movie’s events, our protagonist, Scott Lang, fought alongside Captain America, aka Steve Rogers, during the events of “Civil War,” which saw the premier Avengers locking horns over their ideological differences regarding the accountability of super-powered people. As the Captain’s accomplice, Scott is imprisoned and later freed by Rogers himself. The storyline of “Ant-Man and the Wasp” begins from this point.
Spoilers Ahead
‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’ Plot Synopsis: What Happens In The Film?
The movie begins with Hank Pym reminiscing about the fateful mission that resulted in his wife Janet Van Dyne’s disappearance into the quantum realm to their daughter Hope. Donning her Wasp moniker, Janet assisted the then-Ant-Man, Hank Pym, in covert missions during the Cold War era, and in one such mission, they had to neutralize a Russian nuke. Unable to pierce it from the outside, Janet decided to sacrifice herself by shrinking to subatomic levels, getting lost inside the quantum realm in the process. Things took a new turn when Hank passed the mantle to Scott Lang, who managed to descend into the quantum realm and return (as shown in the first movie). Hank started wondering about the possibility of rescuing Janet and decided to re-work his old plans regarding constructing a quantum tunnel.
It has been two years since the events of the last movie. In the meantime, Scott had fought alongside Captain America in “Civil War,” which once again got him arrested. He broke out of prison with Cap’s assistance and plea bargained to live in his residence on house arrest. In a nutshell, circumstances keep forcing Scott, and he can’t help himself from being the jailbird. However, at least he gets to spend time with his daughter Cassie, something he longs for very much, as seen in the last movie. Scott is also not permitted to contact Hank and Hope as they, too, are held responsible for breaching the Sokovia Accords as Scott had used their tech and is currently on the run from authorities.
A few days prior to getting released from house arrest, Scott gets a vision of Janet’s memory involving Hope. Terrified, he uses a hidden satellite phone to contact Hank, lets him know about the incident, and apologizes for his actions, which caused them significant trouble. Soon enough, Hope abducts Scott, replacing him with a trained giant ant, and takes him to Hank’s portable laboratory, where they have successfully built the quantum tunnel. The initial activation of the tunnel coincides with Scott’s vision, and after Scott delineates about seeing Janet’s memories, Hank gets assured about Janet being alive inside the realm. To attempt a rescue, the tunnel needs to remain open for a significant amount of time, which can be accomplished by adding a particular component to the mechanism. Hope goes to black-market operative Sonny Burch to negotiate a deal for the component but gets double-crossed in the process. Hope dons her new Wasp suit (teased in the post-credits of the first movie) and manages to retrieve the components by beating Sonny’s goons. Just as she is about to leave, a mysterious character with “phasing” powers attacks her and the rest of the team and escapes with Hank’s portable lab.
The quantum tunnel being inside the lab, Scott and co. need to retrieve it in order to rescue Janet. Despite Hank’s initial reservations, the team goes to his former S.H.I.E.L.D. colleague, and partner in heroics, Professor Bill Foster, with whom Hank had a falling out years ago. Bill suggests that modifying the diffraction unit in their Ant-Man suit regulators might help them locate the lab’s position. After locating the lab, they break in and get captured by the aforementioned assailant, who reveals herself to be Ava Starr, daughter of Hank’s former colleague Elias Starr. After getting fired and disgraced by Hank over some disagreement, Elias Starr desperately tried to regain his lost name by doing random quantum experiments, which led to disastrous consequences as both Elias and his wife died in an accident—leaving a quantum affliction-suffering Ava behind. Bill Foster reveals himself to be the unofficial guardian of Ava and is involved in her plans for capturing the trio. He also reveals that through the years, S.H.I.E.L.D. exploited Ava’s powers to further their ulterior motives, provided her with a containment suit to let her control the phasing powers, and used her as a stealth operative.
After knowing Hank’s intention of bringing Janet back, Bill conceptualized that by harnessing Janet’s oversaturated quantum energy, which her body might have stored for the last three decades, he might cure Ava. Hank feigns a heart attack, and the three escape with the lab after getting assisted by a swarm of giant ants. After connecting the component with the quantum tunnel, Hank is able to communicate with Janet. Due to being in a state of quantum entanglement with Scott, as shown previously during the shared vision sequence, Janet talks through Scott, almost like she possesses him. Getting precise coordinates from Janet, the team decides to start the rescue mission at that very moment, as she also mentions having a two-hour time limit until the quantum field shifts forever. However, after Burch sets the F.B.I. on the team’s location and tips them off about Scott’s escape, the team has the near-impossible task of returning Scott to his house and escaping the authorities.
Scott manages to reach his home just in time, but Hope and Hank get caught. Ava manages to steal the lab back once again. Motivated by his daughter’s goodwill, Scott risks it all to break Hank and Hope out of prison—a parallel from the first movie, where Hank did the same for him. Scott and Hope distract Ava while Hank goes inside the quantum realm to rescue Janet. Meanwhile, Burch and his men are taken care of with a little help from Scott’s Giant-Man form and mostly by Luis and his associates. After their safe return, Janet aids Ava by providing her with some of her excess quantum energy, which stabilizes her phasing. Ava and Bill escape, starting a new life, while Scott returns to his home, once again evading the F.B.I., and gets released from house arrest. Families reunite, Luis’ security business is saved, and Ant-Man and the Wasp prepare for their next adventure.
The post-credit scene shows the team once again venturing inside the quantum realm to harvest energy—in order to help Ava. Scott goes inside the quantum tunnel, and Janet warns him not to get stuck inside a time vortex. Scott harvests energy and gets stuck inside the realm as we see the rest of the team—Hope, Janet, and Hank—turn to dust. The end credits scene shows the giant replacement ant practicing drums at Scott’s empty house; it ends by showing a black screen with the note written: “Ant-Man and the Wasp will return,” and the statement turns into a question with a question mark appearing at the end—marking an ambiguity.
‘Ant-Man And The Wasp’ Ending Explained – What Happened To Scott’s Team?
The post-credit sequence of Scott’s Ant-family getting turned into dust is directly connected with the penultimate chapter of the MCU’s first overarching storyline, the Infinity Saga, i.e., the mega-crossover event “Avengers: Infinity War.” Chronologically, the movie was released after “Infinity War,” but as Marvel confirmed, the primary events of the movie took place before the mad Titan Thanos’ invasion of the Earth for infinity gems. “Infinity War” showcased the intergalactic warlord Thanos succeeding in his quest of gathering the cosmic elements known as “Infinity Stones,” engaging in a battle with Earth’s combined forces, and using the stones to manipulate reality, wiping away half of the living beings of the universe. In the showdown, Ant-Man and Hawkeye were the two Avengers missing. Scott got himself house-arrested right after the events of “Civil War” and spent two years that way (aside from sneaking out with his team to rescue Janet). However, the post-credit sequence suggests Scott’s re-entry inside the quantum tunnel to harvest energy coincides with Thanos’ snap using the Infinity Gauntlet—something that removed half of the living beings from existence. In the tragic climactic sequence of “Infinity War,” we witnessed a number of our beloved heroes like Spider-Man, Falcon, Black Panther, and Groot turning into dust, as they constituted the ill-fated half portion. Janet, Hope, and Hank were among the ones to be removed from existence as they turned to dust in a similar fashion.
Now, this might be purely a matter of luck that Scott didn’t meet a similar fate, or perhaps he was spared because, as we have come to know later, the quantum realm doesn’t get affected by the rules applied to the world outside. In any case, Scott’s survival is proven crucial as he remains trapped in the time vortex for five years, gets out, and it is then through his experience that Iron Man and Professor Hulk construct a time machine that uses the time vortex to retrieve the infinity stones and undo the effect of Thanos’ snap in “Avengers: Endgame.” Scott also misses five years of his daughter’s life, which will be a significant plot point in the upcoming third part of the Ant-Man franchise, “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.” The end credits scene seems a bit funny initially, with the gigantic ant playing drums, but it soon presents the eerie reality of Scott’s wife, Detective Paxton, being removed from existence along with others. The ambiguity presented by the question mark at the end tries to convey the suspense of the ending of “Infinity War,” which was later answered by the culmination of the Infinity Saga, “Avengers: Endgame.”
