Avengers: endgame was one of the biggest movies in the world and set a high mark for the MCU. It was a movie loved by many, but even a great movie often leaves a few unanswered questions. Time travel is always a tricky plot point, and since the release of Avengers: endgame had fans worried about Pym Particles. Created by Hank Pym, the original Ant-Man, this technology helps the Avengers travel through time.
Update May 8, 2023: This article has been updated with more information in the MCU after the release of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania And Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
The movie makes it very clear without Hank Pym (who was dusted off in the credits of Ant-Man and the Wasp), the Avengers have a small number of Pym Particles to use. Ever since the first Ant man, Pym particles have been a rare material that could supposedly reshape the fabric of reality. The technology fell into the hands of Thanos from the past after capturing a time-jumping nebula. The Mad Titan then used it to take his armies to the future and finish the destructive work his future self had begun. Now the question is, since Nebula didn’t possess enough Pym particles, how did Thanos manage to bring his army forward?
Thanos Advance Technology Pym Particles
While you could say he’s using the Pym particles the future Nebula brought with him, she only has enough for her return journey. Still loyal to Thanos, the 2014 Nebula uses those Pym particles to travel back and go undercover to open the Quantum Gate in 2023 so Thanos’ ship can travel forward. While the movie never makes it explicitly clear, the clues to how Thanos managed it are there when he examines the Pym particles. The full answer to how Thanos used the Pym Particles is on the commentary track that accompanies the digital release of the film. The creative team behind the film has this explanation to offer.
“Now, the obvious assumption is that Thanos, who has a starship that can transport his army across the galaxy and conquer planets, can also figure out how to… get a little more science… Add add some Pym particles… with his magician who can move matter.”
The explanation makes sense. After all, Pym Particles is a breakthrough by human standards. It has been established that Thanos comes from a much more advanced civilization. He also has Ebony Maw at his disposal, a creature that can reform matter. It’s not too hard to say that Thanos would be able to reverse engineer the Pym particles and create more for his own use. Unlike The Avengers, who travel individually, Thanos needs just enough Pym Particles for his ship, the object that shrinks with the particles. Everything in the ship, when shrunk, also shrinks, as seen in the many shrinking vehicles in Ant-Man and the Wasp.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 also introduced the villain, The High Evolutionary. The 2014 Gamora variant currently in the MCU features the High Evolutionary. Thanos and the High Evolutionary may have crossed paths in the past. Perhaps Thanos enlisted his help in cracking the code for Pym Particles. This would certainly make for a great episode of What if…? if Marvel ever wanted to expand the story.
Pym Particles blew open the door to the Multiverse Saga
In the four years since the release of Avengers: endgame, the idea of time travel and multiverse has now only become more important to the MCU. After all, stages 4 through 6 are now called The Multiverse Saga. Once the Pym Particles enabled the Avengers to traverse time and alternate realities, the multiverse has been explored more in projects such as Loki, Spider-Man: No Way HomeAnd Doctor Strange in the multiverse of madness. Those projects have introduced new ways to explore the multiverse without Pym Particles. This includes advanced technology, magic, and even super powers like America Chavez. Yet the Pym particles still offer many possibilities.
In the current Multiverse Saga, we’ve seen governments and terrorist organizations weaponize the long-lost Super Soldier Serum, derived from Captain America in The falcon and the winter soldier, She-Hulk: lawyer, and probably Captain America: New World Order. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever showed how the search for Vibranium has impacted the world and is likely to be expanded in Lightning strikes. Pym particles have incredible power and it’s fair to assume they can be used in projects like Fantastic four And Avengers: The Kang Dynasty.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania showed how rare Pym particles are
Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantum Mania was an important movie in the layout of the Multiverse Saga. It expanded across the world of the Quantum Realm, but also gave a good introduction to the franchise’s new overarching villain, Kang the Conqueror. Kang is a powerful foe and the film’s closing credits showed a council of Kang variants threatening the MCU. However, it also established that as powerful as Kang is, he cannot recreate Pym Particles.
An important part of the Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania rests on the power of Pym Particles. It is revealed that while trapped in the Quantum Realm, Janet Van Dyne used some of the last of her Pym particles to massively magnify the core engine for Kang’s timesphere. This left Kang trapped in the Quantum Realm, unable to shrink the core without Pym Particles. Once Scott Lang showed up in the Quantum Realm, he finally had what he needed.
This bit of information questions Kang’s technical prowess, as he didn’t know how to override Hank Pym’s earthbound technology with his own, and needed Scott’s help to overcome the singularity Janet created years ago . As of this moment, Thanos was the only one who could tap into the power of Pym’s particles. This begs the question of exactly how powerful Kang is compared to Thanos and if he can become the ultimate MCU villain.