How Does The Quantum Realm Work?
The Quantum Realm had some sort of internal consistency in Ant-Man but Ant-Man and the Wasp muddied the waters by expanding what it could do, as Scott Lang joked in the movie by commenting how Hank Pym just kept adding “Quantum” in front of words. Endgame then confuses things further, leaving us scratching our heads at its rules.
For one, Janet Van Dyne was trapped in the micro-universe for 30 years and when she eventually emerged it was clear that time had passed naturally for her. However, Scott was stranded in the Quantum Realm for five years and when he finally escaped he revealed that it felt like just five hours had passed.
Can Anyone Hold The Infinity Stones Now?
Originally, it was a big thing that only rare souls could hold an Infinity Stone in their hands. Red Skull tried it in Captain America: The First Avenger and got whisked away to Vormir for his troubles. The Collector’s servant Carina perished in Guardians of the Galaxy and the Guardians themselves only managed to hold the Power Stone thanks to their combined spirits and Quill’s half-Celestial nature.
Come Endgame, though, this rule doesn’t seem to apply anymore. Hulk’s able to grasp the Time Stone, for one, though this is later explained as the reason why he’s the only choice to use the second Infinity Gauntlet. Still, you’d expect it to at least tickle him when he comes into contact with one of the gems, but it doesn’t seem to phase him.
More noticeably though is the fact that Hawkeye is able to hold the Soul Stone in his bare hands on Vormir. The Guardians’ struggle with the Power Stone proves that mere mortals, no matter their heroic souls, can’t hold an Infinity Stone on their own, but Clint seems just fine here. The Soul Stone does seem to work slightly differently from the rest, sure, but there’s still a feeling that the production team might just have forgotten about this aspect of the lore.
