Ant-Man and the Wasp is the first film we see that ties into the events of Infinity War, and while I previously assumed this movie occurred concurrently to that one, new evidence suggests we’ve been at least partially mistaken. This is part 20 of a 20 part video series discussing when each film in the MCU takes place. We’ll add future parts on to this series, as more home releases are available for us to dig through. So when exactly does Ant-Man and the Wasp take place?

“URGH URAARLGHAOU… ULAAGH-AWHH!” “How’d you do that?”

First things first, if we’re going to correctly place this film, and in turn Infinity War, we need to take a line from that film to help us with the timeline. “After the whole Accords situation he and Scott took a deal. It was too tough on their families; they’re on house arrest.” We determined that Captain America: Civil War ended in early April 2016, in part 13 of this series. So how long has Scott been under House Arrest? “…Provided he serve 2 years under house arrest, followed by 3 years of probation.” “Come on Woo, I’ve got 3 days left!” So directly after the signing of the Accords, or after Civil War, Scott took a plea deal which put him under House Arrest for 2 years, and considering he has 3 days left on house arrest, this should place this film in the second week of April, 2018. And on that very day we see Scott attend an online magic course where the date is none other than April 10th, 2018. Infinity War also firmly places itself in 2018, as we mentioned in part 19 of this series, and we also discuss that the main events in that film occur over a 3 day period as well. Does that mean this occurs the same day that Thanos’ Black Order attack New York? There’s no evidence of that being the case.

In fact, while the main events of this film occur within the last 3 days of his house arrest, he still cannot aid the Avengers for 3 years afterwards anyway, considering his probation period. So let’s backtrack a bit and try to explain this further.

We begin the film in 1987 (as we discussed in part 12), and there’s also a pseudo-flashback we received shortly thereafter. We also get a brief glimpse back at 2015, as we can see Hope’s hair appears as it does in Ant-Man. There’s also some time dedicated to flashback’s for Ghost in some indeterminate year. On Day 1 of his remaining house arrest, we see him going through his daily routine. On Day 2 he wakes up in Hope’s car, is introduced to the Quantum Tunnel, meets Bill Foster, and finds Ghost later that night. The third day is the climax of the film, and we know he is released from his house arrest period later that day. “Be back later for the official end of your sentence.” A number of days pass after Scott is released from house arrest and is now in his probation, so he still can’t communicate with the Avengers. He spent some time with his family, he spends some time at work, Hank and Janet go on vacation, and Hope and Scott go on a date. A week, at least, must pass between the day he’s released from house arrest and when Hope, Janet, and Hank get snapped at the end of the film. The snap must occur on or after April 19th.

To throw another wrench in the mix, we get this date while Scott and Hope are on their date reading June 2nd 2017, which I’ll assume is the date this shot was filmed, because this cannot take place in 2017. For what it’s worth, I’ll say that the snap must occur between April 19th, 2018, and June 3rd. 2.7% of the film’s runtime took place in 1987, 1.1% in 2015, 1.2% in some indeterminate year, and the majority, 95% took place in 2018. I sincerely hope you’ve enjoyed this series.