It was only last week when it was announced that both Paul Rudd and Michael Douglas will be returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe for the third installment of Ant-Man, aptly titled Ant-Man 3. It was also reported that director Peyton Reed will be returning behind the camera to bring audiences more of Scott Lang's sizable antics. Well, it has not taken long for fans to start throwing theories out into the ether, and one of them suggests that this could in fact be the perfect way to bring the Fantastic Four into the MCU fray.

The theory has been crafted by the melodically named Reddit user ak2sup, who submits the idea that the under-explored Quantum Realm is the perfect place to introduce Marvel's first superhero family Fantastic Four.

"The "Quantum city" we saw in Ant Man & the Wasp play key role in introduction of F4 and Kang. The city I believe is Chronopolis, city of Kang the Conqueror. My theory is that Fantastic Four were stuck in Quantum realm during 1960s, when they visited the realm for the fist time - they got superpowers in N zone (a more dangerous part of quantum realm ) and then they had to face Rulers of Negative zone (either Annihilus or Blastaar) but they got stuck there in the process.

I believe it wasn't an accident but a planned act of Kang who wants Reed Richards for his own selfish reason since Reeds is great great grandfather of Nathaniel Richards aka Kang. I think at the end of Ant man 3 , Scott or Janet (who knows quantum city) visits the Chronopolis and free the members of Fantastic Four and bring them to real world."

As well as deftly explain away the Fantastic Four's absence in the MCU for all this time, the theory also introduces time-hopping Marvel villain, Kang the Conqueror into the proceedings. With Thanos long gone, the MCU is in need of a new big bad capable of challenging the MCU's vast roster of superheroes, and Kang could be just the genius supervillain for the job. With the MCU having teased audiences with the idea of the multiverse in Spider-Man: Far From Home and the upcoming Doctor Strange sequel being entitled Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Kang certainly fits in with the cinematic universe's future plans quite seamlessly.

Over the summer at San Diego Comic Con, Marvel's Studio President Kevin Feige was quoted as saying to a panel of screaming fans that he "didn't even have time to talk about the Fantastic Four", so we know that their introduction is imminent, with this theory folding them nicely into the already established Marvel universe.

With Michael Douglas stating last week that Ant-Man 3 is set to begin filming in early 2021 with recent rumors pointing to a summer 2022 release date, this puts the insect-loving threequel into Phase 5, giving the MCU plenty of time to introduce the elements that could lead to their long-awaited introduction. Come Ant-Man 3 it could be clobberin' time. This news comes from Reddit.