Phase 5 of the Marvel Cinematic is now starting and, well, according to some critics, it’s off to a rocky start. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is definitely not living to a lot of expectations. I personally enjoyed it myself and I do think some people are being overly harsh to it. But I do understand why some people are feeling a little more than just disappointed with the movie.

Like with most Marvel movies, I did walk out of my screening with more than just an opinion of the film. I also walked out with an abundance of questions. These aren’t questions like “when is this conglomerate of Kangs going to invade the Marvel Cinematic Universe?” Or “when is Loki Season 2 coming out?” No, my questions were a little more focused on the inconsequential things that happened in Quantumania.

Oh, and since a lot of these questions do deal with specific plot points from Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, I’m putting out the obligatory SPOILER warning now. If you don’t want me SPOILING some of the nitty-gritty of Quantumania’s story, stop reading. If you’ve seen the movie or are fine with SPOILERS, then read on. Maybe you have the same questions I did.

#1 Why can Ant-Man shrink and grow in the Quantum Realm now when he couldn’t before?

Why does Marvel break their own rules? In the first couple of Ant-Man movies, they state a lot of stuff about the Quantum Realm, including how the laws of physics and science don’t really work there. One thing they specifically mention is how Hank Pym’s Pym Particle won’t work properly in the Quantum Realm, meaning Ant-Man cannot simply “grow” to escape the subatomic space under normal circumstances. In fact, this was precisely why Janet Van Dyne was stuck in the Quantum Realm for three decades.

You do get that in Quantumania as Ant-Man and crew have to find a way to escape the Quantum Realm. However, what I don’t get is why Ant-Man and the Wasp can still use their size shifting technology in the subatomic universe. If the laws of physics and science are all wonky there, then the shrinking and growth tech they use shouldn’t work, right?

I guess it’s possible Hank Pym manage to reconfigure the suits to work even in the Quantum Realm… even though they literally had no plans of going there. Basically, Hank Pym would have no reason to modify the suit to work there. So that explanation is a long shot but at least that would be an explanation.

Speaking of Janet Van Dyne being trapped in the Quantum Realm…

#2 Could Janet Van Dyne really repair Kang’s power source after she enlarged it?

So, Janet Van Dyne was stuck in the Quantum Realm for three whole decades. She also helped Kang the Conqueror rebuild his Multiversal Power Core without realizing his true intentions. After she did figure out Kang is, well, a bad guy, Janet does try to do the right thing and stop the multiverse travelling destroyer by stealing the very thing she repaired. To make sure Kang couldn’t use it, Janet sticks a bunch of growth discs on the Multiversal Power Core, making it too big to be usable. This leads to Kang taking over the Quantum Realm, building his army so that, when he does get Janet to shrink down the macguffin, he can go traipsing throughout the multiverse and killing trillions. Kang then learns about Ant-Man and also goes after him because he does have the same size changing tech.

However, I do have to question why Kang would even go after Janet after she blew up the macguffin engine because she probably might not have been able to shrink it back down anyway. For one thing, how would she get close enough to the core to shoot her shrinking discs? In Quantumania, Ant-Man nearly lost his mind because of the infinitely expanding number of possibility clones that emerged as he got closer to it. The only reason why he was even able to get close enough to it was because he and his possibility clones had the same objective of saving Cassie. Janet wouldn’t have any incentive as Kang didn’t have any leverage over her.

Second, would Janet even have enough shrinking discs left? In the movie, Ant-Man managed to shoot one measly disc onto the Multiversal Power Core and that burned out quickly. It took his and the Wasp’s combined efforts to shoot enough discs into the macguffin to successfully shrink it down to a manageable size. Did Janet even have enough of these discs that would work? I kind of doubt it, seeing as she’s been stranded there for quite some time.

Speaking of Kang finding Ant-Man…

#3 How does Kang know about Ant-Man?

After Ant-Man and Cassie were transported into the Quantum Realm, they were captured by a rebel faction opposed to Kang’s rule. The rebels then learned of their connection with Janet Van Dyne and immediately assumed Kang would be on the lookout for them. Sure enough, the resistance fighters and refugees are attacked by Kang’s men, including the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s version of MODOK. Ant-Man and Cassie are captured and the multiverse traveler tries to convince Ant-Man to help him.

But how did Kang know to hunt down Ant-Man in the first place? And why would he care? By this point of the movie, he knows Janet Van Dyne is back in the Quantum Realm as she was nearly captured when Bill Murray’s character betrayed her. He has no reason to go after anyone else except Janet. Kang wouldn’t know that Ant-Man also has the same size-morphing tech Janet uses. So why send MODOK, his “greatest hunter,” to hunt for Ant-Man instead of Janet?

I can’t even say it’s because MODOK told Kang about Scott Lang because MODOK wouldn’t even know that it’s Scott Lang he’s hunting. So MODOK couldn’t tell Kang that it would be best to capture Scott Lang instead of Janet Van Dyne because he doesn’t know it’s Scott he’s trying to capture, right? It just doesn’t make sense to me.

Speaking of going to and from the Quantum Realm…

#4 How did Cassie open up a portal from Earth?

Going way back to the start of Quantumania, it turns out Cassie invented a device that’s able to map out the Quantum Realm without actually going there. Unfortunately, this does lead to Kang using the same device and using that as a means to suck Scott Lang and the rest of his extended family into the Quantum Realm. At the very end, after Ant-Man and the Wasp defeat Kang by smashing the villain into the very power source he wanted fixed. It looks like both Ant-Man and the Wasp are going to be stuck in the Quantum Realm Multiversal Power Core is destroyed. Cassie, with some tech wizardry known as Deus Ex Machina, uses the device she created to open a new portal so they could be rescued and be reunited with their friends and family.

But how was she able to do that with her satellite mapping device? After all, when Cassie was confronted by Janet because of the dangers, she said it just sends a signal to the Quantum Realm. She didn’t mention anything about transporting actual objects like ants and people.

Also, was it able to do that all this time? I don’t think so as they didn’t really need something like that because don’t they already have the weird van with the quantum tunnel. Heck, this opens up a new question: why was Janet so adamant about sending a signal into the Quantum Realm but it was okay to send Scott Lang into it to gather quantum energy to help Ghost as seen in Ant-Man and the Wasp? Hey, two-for-one question!

Speaking of the ants that were sucked into the Quantum Realm…

#5 Are the ants the real heroes of Quantumania?

When Ant-Man and company were sucked into the Quantum Realm, they weren’t the only living creatures who got transported. These were already fairly smart ants as they were creating their own tech back on Earth. Anyway, after being teleported into the Quantum Realm, they start immediately evolving. They start becoming super smart and begin creating super high-tech inventions. After Kang gets the multiverse macguffin thingamabob and leaves Ant-Man, the Wasp and Hank Pym stranded, who comes to rescue them? The ants, of course! In fact, it’s the ants who really give Kang and his empire the beating. Not Ant-Man. Not the Wasp. Not Cassie. Not the rebels. No, it was the ants!

So, are the ants the actual heroes of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania? I mean, think about it. Who are the ones who saved Ant-Man, the Wasp and Hank Pym? The ants. Who are the ones who overwhelmed Kang’s army and made Kang weak enough so that Ant-Man and the Wasp could actually take him out? It was the ants!

Now, think about what Ant-Man actually did. He got a bunch of resistance fighters slaughtered because Kang and MODOK tracked him down. He gave the bad guy the device he needed to take over the galaxy. He didn’t even take out the big bad at the end! It was the Wasp who basically did that! Sure, I’ll give credit to the Wasp but, if it weren’t for the ants, she wouldn’t have even made a dent in Kang’s defenses! Who’s the hero now?

BONUS: When’s the audiobook coming out?

So, apparently, Scott Lang has published a successful autobiography called Look Out for the Little Guy. And guess what? It’s an actual, real book!

In fact, in the movie, there’s an audiobook version with someone who sounds suspiciously like Paul Rudd playing in Scott Lang’s car. So, I gotta ask: where’s the audiobook? I’ve looked online on Audible and it’s not there! But why get the audiobook when you can read the real thing? Because reading is for suckers.

What other questions popped up in your head while watching Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania? Let me know in the comments section below!