How 'Ant-Man and the Wasp' Connects to 'Avengers: Infinity War'

Ant-Man and the Wasp is the first Marvel Cinematic Universe movie to arrive after the dark, game-changing events of Avengers: Infinity War, so naturally, Marvel fans have been super curious about connections between the two films.

It's been tricky to guess how Ant-Man 2 and Avengers 3 would weave together, since the events of the former are set before events of the latter. However, now that Ant-Man and the Wasp is in theaters, we know for certain just how much impact (or not) the film has on the events of Infinity War, and where things stand as we head toward of Avengers 4.

Obviously, MAJOR SPOILERS Follow!

*

Life On The Run

Most of Ant-Man and the Wasp's storyline is a self-contained tale of tech-espionage, with a rescue mission thrown in as the main objective. The first real connection to both Infinity War and Captain America: Civil War is found in the premise of Ant-Man and the Wasp's story - namely, Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lily) being forced to go underground, after Pym tech was used by Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) to help Captain America and his team oppose the Sakovia Accords. In Infinity War we met "Nomad Cap" and his Secret Avengers team; well in Ant-Man and the Wasp, Hank and Hope recruit Scott (who then recruits his convict buddies Luis, Dave, and Kurt) to be their own little covert team, operating under the government's nose.

Life After the Snap

The biggest connection between Avengers: Infinity War and Ant-Man and the Wasp is found in the film's two post-credits scenes, which drop an epic reveal on MCU fans!

The mid-credits scene sees the reunited Pym family (Hank, Hope, and Janet) conducting an expedition to send Scott back into the Quantum Realm, in order to harness some of its powerful energy. Just when Scott uses Hank's "Quantum Tunnel" to re-enter the microverse, he's stranded there by the fact that the "Battle of Wakanda" and Thanos' genocidal finger snap with the Infinity Gauntlet is occurring at the exact same time! "The Snap" turns the entire Pym family to dust, leaving no one to handle the controls of the Quantum Tunnel, to bring Scott back out. Last we see, Scott is lost in the darkness, still calling out for help.

What's unclear (and very interesting) is whether or not being in the Quantum Realm saved Scott from the Infinity Gauntlet's power, or whether he was simply lucky enough to be the only "New Avenger" to survive erasure. If it's the former, the implications of that are Giant-Man-sized HUGE.

The final post-credits scene picks up some time after "The Snap," and gives us our first real look at what the MCU is like in the immediate aftermath of Thanos' terrible act. The window into the chaos and shock is a small one, as the scene instead opts for a humorous ending, showing that the giant ant trained to mimic Scott Lang's daily routine under house arrest, is still dutifully carrying out its task.

*****

How did you feel about Ant-Man and the Wasp's connections to Avengers: Infinity War? Let us know in the comments!

Ant-Man and the Wasp is now in theaters. Avengers: Infinity War is now playing in theaters. Other upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movies include Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019, the fourth Avengers movie on May 3, 2019, the sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming on July 5th, 2019, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in 2020.