Warning! This article discusses potential spoilers for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.The impending release of Iron Man 3. While Marvel Studios occasionally has a tendency to ignore storylines for several years, it's relatively uncommon that the studio continues a story that was seemingly finished several years prior. Given the fact that Marvel usually plans their projects well in advance and Quantumania will begin Phase 5, it's possible a smaller story arc could grow bigger in the sequel.
Ant-Man 3 is expected to be one of the biggest superhero movies of 2023, and it will be separate tonally from the previous films. With the trailer putting an emphasis on the exploration of the Quantum Realm, the amount of world-building could find a way to feature callbacks to previous Marvel content, similar to how Loki did in the Void. The rumors of older characters returning for the sequel also call for speculation that there could be additional tie-ins to some of the earliest MCU movies and set up major films like Avengers: The Kang Dynasty.
Aldrich Killian's AIM May Appear In Ant-Man 3
First introduced in Iron Man 3, Aldrich Killian acts as the head of AIM (Advanced Idea Mechanics), an organization that specializes in scientific research and development. In the comics, AIM is a major villain group, but it hasn't played a significant role in the MCU over the last decade. Should Marvel Studios decide to expand more with AIM, the group could tie into the MCU's Thunderbolts movie since that team is made up of anti-heroes, but Quantumania may introduce one of the group's most dangerous scientists: MODOK.
San Diego Comic-Con footage and Funko POP! merchandise reveals have confirmed that MODOK will be in Ant-Man 3. The comic version of the villain is the son of AIM's founder and has a disfigured appearance resulting in a bizarre huge-headed feature. Knowing that MODOK will finally be ing the MCU could confirm a larger role in the franchise by maybe revitalizing AIM since Aldrich Killian is no longer in the picture. But Marvel could also take a different approach with MODOK by reworking his story to fit more into the Ant-Man movies.
Ant-Man May Separate MODOK From AIM
Plot leaks have suggested that Darren Cross will return to the Ant-Man franchise as MODOK in Quantumania instead of the traditional comics version, George Tarleton. Ant-Man 3 set up the MCU's future by bringing this character back since he was never confirmed dead and was last seen going subatomic in the Quantum Realm. Given Ant-Man's ending, it's likely that Cross's mutations could be an effect of having gone subatomic for years as opposed to being experimented on by AIM. While Marvel hasn't established what connections Yellowjacket could have to AIM, further exploration could tie the two together.
One of the best explanations that could connect Darren Cross to AIM would be his affiliations with Pym Technologies or HYDRA. The former leader of Pym Tech stated in Ant-Man that HYDRA wasn't "what they were," but that very easily could have been Cross trying to deceive Hank Pym. Nevertheless, managing to reference Iron Man 3 a decade later in Quantumania with MODOK would be a great way to introduce Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania's real villain and continue a long-standing MCU storyline.
