Ant-Man and The Wasp's Ending, Explained

WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Marvel's Ant-Man and The Wasp, in theaters now.

Ant-Man and The Wasp may be Marvel Studios' lowest-stakes adventure to date, but that doesn't mean its ending won't have long-lasting consequences for the state of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

While most of the film is a suped-up game of cat and mouse, the film's final moments make good on a lot of the promises teased throughout the film. There's a lot going on here, from the return of some long-awaited characters to some unlikely allies.

The Quantum Realm Can Be Explored

The ending of Ant-Man and The Wasp proves that a major revelation from the 2015 film is totally possible: The Quantum Realm can be explored, and returned from. From the jump, this movie makes clear that Janet Van Dyne is lost somewhere in the Quantum Realm, and it's up to Team Ant-Man to journey there and retrieve her. But this doesn't actually happen until the film's closing moments, when Hank Pym heads solo into the unknown and retrieves his wife, who's been in there for thirty or so years.

With Scott Lang having gone into the Quantum Realm and returned in the first film, and Hank Pym safely returning with his wife in this sequel, it's safe to assume that traveling into the Quantum Realm, with the right preparation, can be totally manageable and, given Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige's recent comments, probably something we'll see a lot more of down the line.

Ghost May Be An Ally

Ghost may have been marketed as the main baddie for Ant-Man and the Wasp, but her dynamic with Scott Lang and Hope Van Dyne changes in the third act of the film, not to mention once we learn that she's really just suffering from a wild case of quantum phasing, and she just wants the pain to stop.

Ghost (Ava) has a plan to syphon energy from Janet as she returns from the Quantum Realm, in hopes of stabilizing her own make-up. Of course, Tema Ant-Man is convinced this won't work, so they thwart her attempts at the last moment, fearful that curing Ava could tear Janet apart.

Of course, Janet steps out of the Quantum Realm ship, sees Ava, and seemingly heals her affliction (but we'll get into more of that in a bit). With Ghost's pain apparently gone, the ending sets up a potential ally in the once-villain, something that subverts Marvel Studios' traditional hero/villain dynamic in an interesting manner.

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The Original Wasp Is Back, With New Powers

Yeah, so Janet returns from the Quantum Realm quite a bit different than before. When we finally see her, she's sporting a Mad Max-style getup, with one of her wings turned into a blade of sorts and a half-mask covering her face. But she hasn't just been surviving in the Quantum Realm. Janet reveals that it changed her, specifically using terms like "adaptation" and "evolution."

Now, this could just be a callback to how her original powers in the comics were more organic (due to experimentation), but it could also be a setup for the future of the Ant-Man films and the MCU at large. If there's an entire realm out there giving people powers, what's to stop someone from harnessing that?

When Janet returns, she touches her hands to Ghost's head and stabilizes her molecules, seemingly curing her of her illness. The film's post-credits scene delves a bit more into this, but we're left wondering if Janet's new powers have any side effects.

Hank Pym Suits Up (Sort Of)

When it was first announced that the Marvel Cinematic Universe take on Ant-Man would center around Scott Lang instead of Hank Pym, some fans were skeptical. After all, Hank has such a rich comic book history, what with his connection to Ultron and the Avengers, and Ant-Man and the Wasp is keenly aware of this. So when it's time for someone to head into the Quantum Realm to rescue Janet, it's none other than Hank who answers the call, suiting up in a sort-of suit that will protect him from the unknown.

It's not explicit, but seeing Michael Douglas in a suit, helmet off, is a bit of a nod to fans of the original Ant-Man. Sure, we've seen the original Ant-Man/Wasp duo in flashbacks, but really we just want to see Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfeiffer take on some present baddies together.

Happily Ever After?

Post-credits scenes aside, Ant-Man and the Wasp has a pretty happy ending. It's final moments show us that Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne have seemingly retired to a remote place on the coast, together again. We see Hank toss a tiny house onto the beach and enlarge it, turning it into this massive, classic-looking homestead.

Then there's Scott Lang and Hope Van Dyne, who we're left assuming are a bonafide couple by the end of the film. The film ends with Scott, Hope and Scott's daughter Cassie sitting in a car at a drive-in theater. The camera pulls back, only to reveal that they're in a bunch of toys, because of course.

While the post-credits sequences of Ant-Man and the Wasp may not be as happy as the main film, we can only imagine that a future sequel will pick up from this happy ending.

In theaters now, director Peyton Reed’s Ant-Man and The Wasp stars Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Bobby Cannavale, Michael Peña, Tip “T.I.” Harris, Judy Greer, David Dastmalchian, Michael Douglas, Michelle Pfeiffer, Laurence Fishburne, Hannah John-Kamen, Randall Park and Walton Goggins.