Warning: This article contains spoilers for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is the MCU’s first feature introduction to the threat of Kang. We’ve known for some time that it would reveal at least one variant of Marvel’s fabled Conqueror, but the super-franchise has also signaled that the villain will be the main threat of the Multiverse Saga up until its resolution in Phase Six. It’s just as well that there’s a lot more of Jonathan Major’s to come, as Quantumania is as devoted to creating odd comedy scenes and overstated character arcs as it is to establishing the Nexus supervillain as a threat that shouldn’t be taken lightly. But at the center of it all is the rather curious history of Janet van Dyne and Quantum Realm’s shady resident Krylar.
Spoilers ahead.
Janet’s unexplored past in the Quantum Realm
Little did we know that when Janet van Dyne returned after being trapped in the Quantum Realm for 30 years, she’d be our primary introduction to Kang and well, Krylar.
With half her life spent in the dangerous and unpredictable microscopic universe beneath our own, it’s understandable Janet established a life and had “needs,” as she reluctantly explained to her husband Hank and daughter Hope after they get to meet Krylar in a scene that just screams awkward.
Krylar is the first person Janet thinks of on her return to the Quantum Realm and he immediately responds to the request, and over a dubious dinner scene reflecting his opulent lifestyle, some startling revelations emerge.
Janet reveals that Krylar was her ex-Freedom Fighter comrade, part of an elite rebel group that evaded Kang and opposed his conquering of the Quantum realm for many years.
After meeting Hank and Hope for the first time, Krylar doesn’t waste much time insinuating how close he and Janet were during that time. Yes, it’s safe to say they got it on, and one look from her daughter Hope says it all. It’s not much consolation that Krylar isn’t the man he used to be, which is critical to the final revelation.
Pleased with his new title, Lord Krylar has no regrets when he reveals he has switched sides and become a loyal lieutenant of Kang in return for getting to rule the Axia region. So, what happened? Well, as he says, the Conqueror is “persuasive.”
Significance of this particular relationship in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
In Quantumania, Krylar’s deceit is sign-posted, and Murray’s casting doesn’t help the additional odd tone that veers between unsavory and awkward. It’s a cameo that can be archived alongside his appearance in 2016’s Ghostbusters: Answer the Call. His presence in the film does nothing to further the plot but it does serve to establish the ruthlessness of MCU’s latest villain.
Kang’s manipulation relies on a solid understanding of the meaning of families and connection, a fascinating insight for someone spectacularly self-obsessed. In Quantumania, he uses Janet and Scott Lang’s connection to their children to compel them to do his bidding.
His turning of Krylar is more evidence of the villain’s skill at turning people’s relationships against them. Even though he keeps his distance from forming such fickle bonds, he knows how he can use those established by others to his advantage. That alone paint him in a light that is far more villainous than Thanos or any other past MCU villain ever was.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is currently in theaters.
