7 MCU movies and TV shows you need to watch before ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’

It took long enough — a record-breaking 89 days since its theatrical release, in fact — but Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is finally available to stream on Disney Plus. As is tragically plain to see from the threequel’s embarrassingly low box office gross, many people skipped out on seeing the movie on the big screen so now is their chance to watch it for the first time from the comfort of their own couch.

If that’s you, then to maximize your viewing experience, you may be looking to revisit a few previous MCU outings before sticking on the film. As the third chapter in a trilogy, featuring one of the Avengers, and the much-hyped opening salvo of Phase Five, Quantumania is certainly an entry in the franchise that has a grander significance, so watching a certain few titles beforehand would help you to appreciate its place in the ongoing narrative better.

Specifically, there are seven Marvel Studios movies and TV series that are most integral to the journey of Paul Rudd’s Scott Lang, the rise of villain Kang the Conqueror, and more, which make them the perfect pre-Ant-Man 3 viewing. First of all…

Ant-Man

The obvious place to start your rewatch is with 2015’s Ant-Man, which marked the MCU debuts of the whole Ant-Man family, from Rudd’s ex-con-turned-superhero to Evangeline Lilly’s Hope Van Dyne and the ever-recast Cassie Lang. What’s more, Corey Stoll served as the film’s main villain, Darren Cross aka Yellowjacket, a character he reprises in Quantumania — albeit in a way we would never had expected back in 2015. Yes, Stoll’s Cross morphs into the one and only M.O.D.O.K.

Captain America: Civil War

Ant-Man’s journey continued in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, in which Scott was recruited by Steve Rogers (via Sam Wilson) to take part in the Sokovia Accords conflict. Scott didn’t have a major role in the film, but it was nevertheless a memorable one thanks to the introduction of his Giant-Man persona during the big airport fight. By the end of the film, Lang is in trouble with the authorities once again after Cap breaks him out of the Raft — a plotline that neatly sets up…

Ant-Man and the Wasp

2018’s Ant-Man and the Wasp might be the most important film to rewatch before Quantumania, as it establishes Hope’s own superhero identity, fleshes out the concept of the Quantum Realm, and brings Michelle Pfeiffer’s Janet Van Dyne into the fold. Not to mention there’s also low-key fan-favorite Jimmy Woo (Randall Park) making his own MCU debut. It also manages to tee up the next movie on our list quite nicely — as the post-credits scene sees most of the characters blipped by Thanos’ snap — with Scott trapped in the Quantum Realm. 

Avengers: Endgame

As the finale to the entirety of the Infinity Saga, 2019’s Avengers: Endgame is a key chapter in whatever strain of the MCU you’re talking about, so naturally it’s a must to rewatch before Ant-Man 3. Scott himself earns the honor of inspiring the whole Time Heist plot that ultimately saves the universe in the first place. Although he emerges from the Quantum Realm in this one, Scott was trapped for five years, so he missed five years of his daughter’s life, a major motivation for his actions in Quantumania. 

Note: To most enjoy Endgame, you need to watch Avengers: Infinity War as well, but something tells me you’re probably already more than familiar with these two blockbuster behemoths.

WandaVision

This might be the most surprising entry on the list, as Ant-Man doesn’t personally make an appearance in WandaVision. That said, the 2021 Disney Plus series does feature Jimmy Woo, who makes direct references to his prior screentime in Ant-Man and the Wasp (thanks to his perfected magic trick). If you’re really not interested in the Maximoff-Vision family’s journey and are just here for Woo, Park appears in episodes 4-9.

Loki

The next Disney Plus series you will want to watch after WandaVision is 2021’s Loki. Again, the show doesn’t follow any of the Ant-Man characters, but the events of Loki’s first season directly set up Kang the Conqueror’s rise to power — and overall MCU prominence — in Quantumania. Specifically, Majors plays He Who Remains, a Kang variant, in the season finale, “For All Time. Always,” so that’s the single episode to watch if you’re strapped for time.

Marvel’s What If…?

The MCU’s only animated effort to date — 2021’s Marvel’s What If…? — is an anthology show that spans the entire multiverse, but there are a couple of episodes that can be labelled as extra-curricular Ant-Man content. Namely, episode 3, “What If… The World Lost Its Mightiest Heroes?” and episode 5, “What If… Zombies?!”, both of which feature variants of members of the Ant-Man family.

Have fun rewatching all these MCU projects before catching up with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. All of the above are streaming on Disney Plus – making it your one destination for all things Ant-Man.