Ant-Man 3’s Quantum Realm Can Introduce 1 Strange Marvel Team

New MCU characters will be introduced in the Quantum Realm in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, who could form one strange superhero team from Marvel Comics. With its release right around the corner, speculation is rising about new characters that will debut in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. The upcoming Marvel Studios project will feature Scott Lang and his team traveling into the Quantum Realm, meeting the inhabitants of the strange minuscule universe, and being pitted against Kang the Conqueror in his most recent MCU appearance after Jonathan Majors previously portrayed He Who Remains in the Loki season 1 finale.

Alongside returning cast members, including Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas, and Michelle Pfeiffer, Kathryn Newton will be playing Cassie Lang, and several new characters are set to be introduced. After previously portraying Kurt in Ant-Man and Ant-Man and the Wasp, David Dastmalchian will be playing a new character known as Veb, while The Good Place's William Jackson Harper, The Mandalorian's Katy O'Brien, and film legend Bill Murray will all be taking on roles in the MCU's newest Quantum adventure. Speculation has been rising about what role these characters will have in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, with many theorizing they could be one obscure superhero team from Marvel Comics.

Ant-Man 3’s Quantum Realm Characters Could Be The Micronauts

quantum realm characters in ant-man and the wasp quantumania

The characters of Lord Krylar (Murray), Veb (Dastmalchian), Quaz (Harper), and Jentorra (O'Brien) have been theorized to be Marvel Comics' Micronauts, who operate in the Microverse, a.k.a. the MCU's Quantum Realm. This idea has seen some rebuttal, as Marvel Studios doesn't own the film rights to the Micronauts, with these instead lying with Hasbro Studios. A proposed Micronauts film has been in development hell with Hasbro Studios and Paramount Pictures since 2009 when J. J. Abrams was in talks to develop a movie. As late as 2019, How to Train Your Dragon's Dean DeBlois was attached to write and direct Hasbro's Micronauts project, but this was shelved again in 2020.

While Marvel Studios can't call the team shown in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania the Micronauts, these characters can be adapted for the MCU, and eagle-eyed viewers have noticed similarities between the characters featured in the Quantumania trailers and the comics' Micronauts. With the introduction of many new characters living inside the Quantum Realm, Marvel Studios has practically confirmed that the Quantum Realm is their version of the comics' Microverse (a name which also lies with Hasbro). This means that the introduction of a team akin to the Micronauts would be the next logical step for the MCU.

Marvel Comics’ Microverse & Micronauts Explained (& How The MCU Is Different)

micronauts and the microverse in marvel comics

Based on Mego Corporation's 1976 action figures, the Micronauts debuted in Marvel Comics during 1979's Micronauts #1, created by Bill Mantlo and illustrated by Michael Golden. In the comics, the microscopic heroes protect Homeworld, a human-inhabited environment in the Microverse. The team comes together to fight the forces of Baron Karza, a murderous dictator who takes control of Homeworld after eliminating the Kingdom's royal family. Led by Commander Arcturus Rann, who returns from a thousand-year deep-space voyage, the Micronauts battle Karza in an epic war that spans that entire Microverse, which often leads them to come into contact with many iconic Marvel heroes when they find themselves in the Microverse.

Marvel Studios would obviously need to make some significant changes to the team when adapting them for the MCU so that any legal issues surrounding licensing rights can be avoided. The Microverse itself has been featured in the MCU since 2015's Ant-Man, though Marvel Studios renamed it the Quantum Realm, keeping the same concept as the comics but changing several aspects of the strange reality. Character descriptions for the new Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania characters bear a striking resemblance to some members of the Micronauts; O'Brien's Jentorra has a namesake in the Marvel Comics team, and Harper's Quaz could be Arcturus Rann, since both are notable telepaths.

How The Micronauts Could Connect To The MCU's Fantastic Four

john krasinski as reed richards in doctor strange in the multiverse of madness

Since the brief appearance of a small domed city inside the Quantum Realm in 2018's Ant-Man and the Wasp, Marvel fans have speculated that the MCU's Fantastic Four could be found inside the miniscule universe. In Marvel Comics, the Fantastic Four often find themselves battling various threats in the Microverse, including the likes of Psycho-Man, which they went up against with the aid of the Micronauts. Marvel Studios' Fantastic Four will finally release during Phase 6, so it makes sense that hints could be given soon to set up the first official appearance of Marvel's First Family, and the Micronauts' debut in Quantumania could be the perfect catalyst.

In Marvel Comics, the Micronauts regularly have contact with Ant-Man, so it would make sense for the team to be introduced to the MCU (in one form or another) during Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, especially since it seems that most of the upcoming project will be taking place in the Quantum Realm. This would put to rest months of rumors suggesting different characters for the film's new cast, especially Harper, who has been theorized to be the 616-universe's variant of Reed Richards or a version of the superhero, Quasar. Instead, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania could see the debut of the Quantum Realm's answer to the Avengers.

More: Scott Lang's Ant-Man 3 Conflict Is Insulting To MCU's Infinity Saga