Who is Veb in ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania?’ David Dastmalchian’s surprise new MCU character, explained

There might not be much space for Scott’s crew anymore in the Ant-Man series, especially when he’s busy fighting what could be Marvel’s most frightening villain to date, and in the Quantum Realm of all places. Still, Marvel understandably did not want to let David Dastmalchian go, so fans can rest assured he’ll be back for Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, just with an entirely different personality.

Say goodbye to Kurt and hello to Veb. There is not much we know about Veb just yet, but the most recent trailer for the Ant-Man threequel released during the Super Bowl on Sunday finally gave us a first look at Dastmalchian’s brand new character.

Veb comes out of nowhere to greet Scott who is startled into screaming after seeing the strange being’s appearance. We now know Veb is definitely not human, but more like a blob of slimy limbs, with a disproportionately large transparent jar-shaped vessel for his exposed brain and eyeballs.

Veb is an MCU original, with no comic origins, and he’ll probably serve as comic relief in what is otherwise rumored to be a more serious turn for the the insect inspired superhero trilogy. He is part of the Freedom Fighters, a group of rebels trying to depose Kang from his rule over the Quantum Realm, alongside Jentorra and Quaz. Fans have theorized the Freedom Fighters could be a nod to the Micronauts, a team-up inspired in a 1970s toys line which then lead to a series of comics. Given the fact Hasbro owns the rights to the them, Marvel can’t use their name. Veb, Jentorra, and Quaz were displaced by Kang from what we assume is the small city encased in a bubble which appeared in the first Ant-Man movie.

Others have also spotted some resemblance between Veb and Ant-Man from the zombie episode of What If…?, whose head is also stored in a similar looking bell jar. Still, we don’t really see a viable connection there.

Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania also stars Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas, and Michelle Pfeiffer, all reprising their roles as Scott Lang, Hope van Dyne, Hank Pym, and Janet Van Dyne, respectively. Jonathan Majors plays Kang the Conqueror, and Kathryn Newton takes over the role of Cassie Lang.

The first movie of Marvel’s Phase five hits theaters Feb. 17, by which point we will finally understand what kind of fascinating species Veb belongs to.