Editor's note: The following contains spoilers for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.

Marvel Studios is known for introducing deep comic book cuts in their end-credit scenes to reward longtime fans and tease the storylines they’ll explore further down the line. That couldn’t be different with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, the movie tasked with presenting Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors) as Marvel Studios’ next big villain and kickstarting the MCU’s Phase 5. But while many of us could anticipate Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania would show multiple Variants of Kang, the appearance of Victor Timely will probably leave fans scratching their heads.

In the second end-credits scene of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, we follow Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Mobius (Owen Wilson) while they investigate a science presentation in the early 20th century. On the stage, a man named Victor Timely, played by Majors himself, explains how time is a resource for humanity to bend in their favor. Loki seems scared of Victor, while Mobius struggles to understand why the man is so menacing. As it turns out, Marvel Comics canon has a few answers, as Victor Timely is originally a civilian disguise for Kang the Conqueror.

Who Is Victor Timely in Marvel Comics?

Victor Timely, a Kang variant, in Marvel Comics
Image via Marvel

In Marvel Comics, Victor Timely is a Variant of Kang the Conqueror who decides to go back in time and assume a new identity after being repeatedly defeated by the Avengers. Since Kang has his base destroyed by Marvel heroes, he must find a new secluded place in time and space where he can gather resources and rebuild what he has lost. So, disguising himself as industrialist Victor Timely in the 20th century, Kang uses his genius-mind intellect to create the city of Timely in Wisconsin. The city of Timely quickly becomes a shining beacon of innovation to the entire world, as the source of new miraculous technology that helps to improve humankind.

Since Kang ages more slowly than any human being could possibly dream of, he fakes his aging process by using androids, and when the time is right, he publicly kills his Victor Timely persona and replaces him with a supposed descendent. From great-grandfather to great-grandson, people worldwide think the Timely family is blessed with a genius-level intellect. However, that’s all a facade, as the many generations of the Timely family are actually a single person, Kang the Conqueror.

By using the city of Timely to do some good in the field of engineering, Kang ensures heroes will look the other way. Meanwhile, he uses the city to build Chronopolis, his base of operations that’s displaced from time and located at the crossroads of past, present, and future. From Chronopolis, Kang controls his conquests and expands his attacks on the Multiverse while posing as Victor Timely to trick Earth's inhabitants into seeing him as a good guy.

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What Does 'Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania's Victor Timely Means for the MCU?

Jonathan Majors as He Who Remains in Loki Season 1 finale
Image via Marvel Studios

At the end of Season 1 of Loki, Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) kills He Who Remains (Majors) and frees the Multiverse from the tyrannical rule of the TVA. However, while Sylvie had her heart in a good place, her impulsive actions uproot history and allow a different Variant of Kang to control the TVA. So, when the timelines are rewritten by Sylvie’s attack on He Who Remains, Loki is sent back to the TVA, where Mobius doesn’t seem to recognize him anymore. A huge statue of Kang in the middle of the TVA also underlines how the temporal agency is now under the service of a Variant of Kang who’s much more dangerous than He Who Remains.

The first end-credits scene of Quantumania reveals not only one Kang controlling the flow of time in the Multiverse but three main Variants leading a council with hundreds of Kangs. During their meeting to decide how they’ll deal with Earth-616 Avengers messing with the Multiverse, we see dozens of Kangs uniting in a stadium at the end of time, from where they can watch the multiple timelines sprawling all over them. In this stadium, we see huge stone statues that look a lot like the one at the TVA. So, it’s fair to assume this Council of Kangs has the time agency to do their bidding.

Season 2 of Loki will force the God of Mischief to face the new leader of the TVA as he tries to locate Sylvie and undo the damage they’ve done to the Multiverse. That means convincing Mobius there’s a huge threat out there that must be stopped at all costs. Their visit to Victor Timely is part of this process, and while we cannot know for sure why they are going to the 20th century, we can guess based on the clues we have so far.

If Marvel Studios is drawing inspiration from the comic books, Victor Timely is probably the same Kang the Conquerer Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man and Evangeline Lilly’s Wasp supposedly killed in the Quantum Realm. Since we don’t see Kang’s body, he could be very well alive, hiding as Victor Timely while rebuilding the technology he needs to conquer the Multiverse. That would align with what we know of Kang the Conqueror so far. The Variant of Kang that raises an empire in the Quantum Realm was exiled by the Council of Kangs, and his primary goal is to escape so that he can destroy the other versions of himself. Kang the Conqueror wants to take revenge on the people who betrayed him, but he’s also motivated by his will to fix the Multiverse the other Kang Variants have supposedly broken.

If the Council of Kangs indeed controls the TVA in Season 2 of Loki, the God of Mischief might realize he needs some backup to take them down. It’s not a big leap to imagine Loki would enlist the help of Kang the Conqueror, the only Variant of the character who’s determined to destroy the Council of Kangs. That would explain why Loki takes Mobius to the past in search of Victor Timely. Season 2 of Loki is set to hit Disney+ this year, so it shouldn’t take long to find out what’s happening in the Multiverse.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is currently playing in theaters.

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