How ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA Connects to a ’70s Toy Line
One of the big reveals from the Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania trailer was the introduction of a civilization within the Quantum Realm, now a full-on microscopic universe with many beings of all stripes that live within it. Some look human, others decidedly not. But for Marvel Comics fans of a certain age, the Quantum Realm might seem a bit like another very similar world from the pages of Marvel Comics — the Microverse. Unfortunately, Marvel Studios can’t use the name “Microverse” in film, or even comics anymore. And it all has to do with a very popular toyline that originated in the 1970s called Micronauts.
From Action Figures to the Marvel Universe
The action figure and toy line called Micronauts has a long and tangled origin story. We won’t deep dive into it too much here. But the short version is this: A series of toys that began in Japan called Microman, came to America via 1970s toy giant Mego and received a new name. The toys comprised tiny cyborg people who disguised themselves in our universe as mere action figures. Micronauts was a huge seller for Mego, and they eventually licensed the concept to Marvel Comics to produce an ongoing series. Micronauts the comic began in 1979, just as the power of the toys faded away (thanks a lot, Star Wars).
Writer Bill Mantlo, who created Rocket Raccoon, swayed Marvel’s editor-in-chief Jim Shooter to pick up the Micronauts license in 1978, after his son got some Micronauts toys for Christmas. Ironically, the Micronauts toy line ended in 1980, once Mego went bankrupt. Yet the comics ran for a full six years after that. A true testament to its popularity on its own merits.
The series focused on a microscopic universe made up of many strange and varied worlds. Among them was the human-inhabited Homeworld. The so-called Micronauts came together in response to the evil Baron Karza, an immortal black-armored dictator, who had taken over Homeworld. They created many new characters for this series, including Bug (who, as the name suggests, looks like an insect).
From”Sub-Atomica,” to “The Microverse,” to the “Quantum Realm.”
Micronauts was so popular for a time, they even had a crossover mini-series with the X-Men. After the last issue of Micronauts in 1986, Marvel Comics lost its license to the property. Although Marvel could retain key characters they had created that were not based on the toys, like Bug (who later became a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy), the terms “Micronauts” and “Microverse” reverted to Hasbro (who bought the license from Mego after its bankruptcy). A similar thing happened with another licensed property based on a toy, ROM: Space Knight.
Luckily for Marvel, the concept of a sub-atomic universe was already in play in the Marvel Universe since 1943. In various comics like Captain America and Fantastic Four, Sub-Atomica became the name of this realm. Not as cool or catchy of a name as the Microverse, but Marvel had no choice but to revert to using it. Ant-Man science advisor Dr. Spyridon Michalakis chose the phrase “Quantum Realm” instead. But for all intents and purposes, it’s really just the old Microverse from the comics with a new name.
No Micronauts in the MCU
While it would have been fun to see the Micronauts appear in Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania, the license to Micronauts comics has traded hands several times since 1986. They landed at Image Comics, then Devil’s Due, and most recently, IDW Comics. A movie with J.J. Abrams producing was announced back in 2015, but we have heard nothing about it since. In an interview, the screenwriters said the movie would look vastly different from the old Marvel Comics. No doubt because a lot of the concepts Marvel invented were now off-limits to the producers.
Nothing has happened surrounding this project for years now, suggesting that it’s dead. But who knows what lies in the future? The way these corporate mergers seem to happen constantly, Disney could buy Hasbro one of these days, and the Micronauts could theoretically “come home” to the MCU at some point. We guarantee that if Marvel Studios got their hands on them, they would not be sitting on the shelf.
