The existence of a character in Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania could set up some wild ways to bring the Fantastic Four and X-Men to the MCU.
The following contains spoilers for Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania, now playing in theaters.
Going by chronological release dates, Rama-Tut is actually technically the first version of Kang the Conqueror, albeit through retcons. As a result, Rama-Tut has encountered a lot of the Marvel Universe, with plenty of heroes and teams coming into conflict with him over the years. But there are two particular teams who have specific histories with the villain — and whose place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been long awaited.
With the Fantastic Four and the X-Men set to make their MCU debuts, the introduction of a Rama-Tut to the franchise could be a way to further set up characters from those corners of the Marvel Universe. And that’s what makes his presence in the post-credits scene for Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania so interesting, as given their comics connections, Rama-Tut could tease elements of the X-Men and the Fantastic Four.
How Ant-Man 3’s Rama-Tut Could Tease the Fantastic Four
In the original Marvel Comics, Kang is thought to be the descendant of the Earth-616 Nathaniel Richards (making him a possible distant relative of Nathaniel’s descendant Reed Richards, aka Mister Fantastic of the Fantastic Four). Nathaniel brought peace to Kang’s timeline of Earth-6311, setting the stage for Kang’s eventual rise. Eventually becoming curious about history, Kang locates the blueprints for a time machine, which he used to travel back to 2960 BC on Earth-616. Here, he used his amazing technology to become Pharaoh, known throughout the land as Rama-Tut. Rama-Tut was one of the earliest foes the Fantastic Four ever dealt with, debuting in Fantastic Four #19 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.
The MCU Fantastic Four, if sent across time and space, could very easily find themselves flung into the past era of Rama-Tut. It could be a clever way to introduce the kind of sprawling adventure that the Fantastic Four are known for, kicking them throughout the time-stream to face off with bizarre threats like a pharaoh from the future. Rama-Tut’s facing off with the MCU Fantastic Four could even be used to set up the connection between Reed and Kang or tease the introduction of the MCU Doctor Doom — who also encountered Rama-Tut and ended up inspiring Kang to move on to his next identity outside of Egypt.
How Ant-Man 3’s Rama-Tut Could Set Up the X-Men
Before Rama-Tut left Ancient Egypt, the time-displaced version of Kang ended up coming against another corner of the Marvel Universe. One of the oldest mutants in the Marvel Universe is En Sabah Nur, whose abilities make him uniquely invincible to most threats as the nigh-unstoppable Apocalypse. Born in ancient Egypt, he was actually only a baby when Rama-Tut took power. Rama-Tut originally wanted to alter the timeline and turn the mutant into his heir, killing anyone who got in his way. But this ironically only ensured En Sabah Nur developed a deep loathing for the Pharaoh — rebelling against him and eventually gaining access to his technology, which only amplified Apocalypse even further into the massive threat that would live to the modern day.
Any visit to Rama-Tut’s reality could be a means of introducing Apocalypse, similar to how it was used in the backstory of X-Men Evolution, one of the oldest modern mutants. That could be a big step in establishing the longevity and history of mutants in the MCU. Mutants are being steadily introduced in the MCU with characters like Ms. Marvel, while Namor confirms that mutants have existed in the world for centuries. Rama-Tut and his connection to Apocalypse could further push that concept, allowing the MCU to use Kang and his timeline machinations to include more elements of a future X-Men adaptation that could establish the true hidden history of mutants in the MCU.
