What is Schrödinger’s box? ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ reference, explained

Warning: this article contains spoilers for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania introduced a ton of new scientific jargon and concepts as our heroes entered the Quantum Realm, a sub-universe in our universe. One concept in particular that might sound familiar that got a mention is the concept of Schrödinger’s box (aka Schrödinger’s cat).

To recap, as Scott Lang attempts to shrink down the multiverse core back to its original size, he was caught in a probability storm. The more he walked, the more copies of him emerged, said to be the Scott who made a different decision or chose a different path. M.O.D.O.K. explained that what’s happening to him in the probability storm is a visual representation of Schrödinger’s box, where the storm is the box, and he is the cat.

So what is Schrödinger’s box? Is it another Marvel-made-up mumbo jumbo or something that was studied in the real world?

What is Schrödinger’s box?

Schrödinger’s box is a quantum mechanics thought experiment made by Austrian Nobel Prize-winner, Erwin Schrödinger. This theory is based on the idea that a cat may be dead or alive if placed in a box filled with poison that will be released at a random time. If this concept sounds very familiar, that’s because it was mentioned in the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory, back in season one.

This concept has had multiple interpretations in quantum physics. But for the sake of Ant-Man and the MCU Multiverse saga, this concept of Schrödinger’s box may be based on the many-worlds interpretation.

According to Britannica, the many-worlds interpretation is a quantum theory about parallel universes and how outcomes can be split into two. So in Ant-Man 3, when Scott Lang multiplies himself in the probability storm, that is a somewhat physical representation of Schrödinger’s box. All those copies of him were different outcomes of his decision. But for some reason, they all have one goal — to save Cassie.

Schrödinger’s box is a really good example of how the multiverse works since it’s based on what ifs and how the world can be different when other choices are made. It’s also worth bearing in mind that based on what we saw in Loki, the original TVA management tried to annihilate the other outcomes since He Who Remains believes it may spark a multiversal war.