Quantumania’ could set up ‘Civil War II’ in the Marvel Cinematic Universe

Images via Marvel Studios

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

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is a whole lot of stuff teasing countless future storylines in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The most obvious are Avengers: The Kang Dynasty And Secret Warsbut there is evidence of possibly establishing a Civil War II Scenario.

The first civil war Comic series from 2006 and is a real weird duck that starts out promising before slowly collapsing inward due to the many storylines, heroes acting outside of their characters and a boring drab dystopia that is slowly being born. Shortly before Captain America: Civil War published in 2016, Marvel Comics published Civil War II – this time you see Iron Man fighting Captain Marvel.

The sequel comic, much like the first, begins with a brilliant premise. The Avengers discover a brute with the ability to see into the future and witness crimes before they happen. This causes a problem between two factions. Tony Stark believes in arresting people based on who they are could doing in the future is wrong, while Carol Danvers believes they should use it to apprehend criminals before a dangerous crime is committed. Friction escalates as it escalates into another superhero civil war.

Free will vs. determinism, but with people in spandex and fists red hot. Simple stuff but highly entertaining and malleable as a premise.

In Quantumania, we’re introduced to a strange character named Quaz, who can read people’s minds with a backstory we’re not entirely sure of. Quaz is said to have escaped the wrath of Kang during the attack at the end of the film, being alive alongside Scott Lang and Hope van Dyne before they are pulled into Earth-616.

The ability to read minds was used primarily for comedic ease Quantumania, but can be used for far more serious subjects, especially given that William Jackson Harper has had a history of successfully playing serious roles. Quaz holds the key to building at this stage Civil War II — especially since Marvel has largely abandoned the Inhumans.

The original story for civil war was changed to fit the MCU’s story (with a much better ending), and Civil War II will also require some fixes to make it work.

While there is no Tony Stark anymore, someone like Doctor Strange feels like a natural substitute for such a conflict. Strange has dabbled in time travel and broken rules of the multiverse before, and Carol Danvers isn’t the type to back down and has a compassionate side.

When Marvel adapts Civil War II, there’s a lot to do to make Danvers likable in the live-action version. In the comics, her point of view becomes increasingly unsavory and ends in character assassination. Maybe she should be against using Quaz’s ability at first, while Strange sees it as a necessary evil after destroying the Time Stone.

Brie Larson and Benedict Cumberbatch are also two very profitable actors and characters within the MCU – their solo films have grossed $2.7 billion in just three films. Cumberbatch probably won’t last forever as Strange, so Civil War II would be a great chance for him to have a death with consequences.

At the moment, there’s no concrete talk of Marvel filming the 2016 storyline. With our hands full sorting through the Multiverse saga, it could still be a while before we get there Civil War II is even close to the discussion.