- "While you were relaxing at home, we were building this. It's a tunnel. To the Quantum Realm."
- ―Hope van Dyne to Scott Lang[src]
The Quantum Tunnel is an inter-dimensional gateway that is capable of transporting individuals to and from the Quantum Realm. First created in the 1980s by Hank Pym, Bill Foster and Elihas Starr, it was used by the latter in an attempt to harness quantum energy; however, the tunnel exploded, causing the energy to be absorbed by his daughter, Ava.
A second version of the tunnel was created in 2018 by Hank Pym and Hope van Dyne to rescue Janet van Dyne from the Quantum Realm.
A third tunnel, outfitted into Luis' Van, was used to send Scott Lang into the realm in order to acquire quantum energy to heal Ava. After Lang was freed from the Quantum Realm, this tunnel was used by Bruce Banner in an attempt to send Lang through time. This tunnel was destroyed by Thanos during the Battle of Earth.
A fourth tunnel was created by 2023 by Leo Fitz, Jemma Simmons and Enoch so that they could use the Quantum Realm to travel through the Multiverse, thus allowing S.H.I.E.L.D. to travel between an alternate timeline and the main timeline.
A fifth tunnel was also created in 2023 by Tony Stark and Rocket as a way to send the Avengers back in time to acquire the six Infinity Stones, in order to resurrect those killed by the Snap. The tunnel was activated by an alternate 2014 Nebula, who used it to transport the Sanctuary II, carrying Thanos, Gamora and several others into the main timeline, destroying the tunnel in the process.
As a result of the fifth tunnel's destruction, a sixth tunnel was created and was used by Bruce Banner to send Steve Rogers back in time.
History[]
First Tunnel[]
S.H.I.E.L.D. scientists Elihas Starr, Hank Pym and Bill Foster worked together on harnessing the powers of the Quantum Realm, an alternate dimension that Pym discovered. However, Elihas attempted to steal Pym's plans, resulting in Pym firing and discrediting Elihas, forcing him and his family to go into hiding.
Elihas Starr's Quantum Tunnel explodes
Sometime later, Elihas managed to recreate a Quantum Tunnel, planning to regain his reputation. However, the new Tunnel malfunctioned, causing an explosion that killed Elihas and his wife Catherine Starr, also granting his daughter Ava powers.
Once Hank Pym left S.H.I.E.L.D., the Quantum Tunnel never saw completion and the project was shut down, with Foster instead dedicating his life to helping Ava with her new powers.[2]
Second Tunnel[]
Hank Pym's newly built Quantum Tunnel
- "Last night we powered up the tunnel for the first time. It overloaded, and it shut down. But for a split second, the doorway to the Quantum Realm was opened."
- ―Hope van Dyne to Scott Lang[src]
Following Ant-Man's escape from the Quantum Realm in 2015, Hank Pym was inspired to recreate the Quantum Tunnel in order to save his lost wife Janet van Dyne, and brought his daughter Hope van Dyne in on the project. Being forced to go into hiding due to their association with Scott Lang for his involvement in the Battle at Leipzig-Halle Airport, they built the Quantum Tunnel inside the Mobile Laboratory.
When Hank and Hope tested the Quantum Tunnel, it briefly remained stable before overloading. Five minutes after, they received a call from Lang, who claimed to have experienced a dream where he saw himself as Janet. Hypothesizing that Lang had become quantum entangled with Janet when he was last in the Quantum Realm and that she placed a message in his mind as a means of finding her, and opening the Tunnel triggered it, Hank sent Hope to retrieve Lang from his house arrest. Once Lang described his dream, Hank and Hope realized he was living the memory of how Janet and Hope used to play hide-and-seek, which was proof that Janet was indeed alive in the Quantum Realm. They then promptly set off to recover a part from Sonny Burch to keep the Tunnel from overloading.
Despite interference from Burch and Ghost, they were able to get the part. Upon growing the Mobile Laboratory in the forest, they activated the Quantum Tunnel, allowing Janet to take control of Lang's body, who gives them a precise location to find her, but warns that they only have two hours before the unstable nature of the realm separates them for a century.[2]
Third Tunnel[]
The third Tunnel outfitted into Luis' Van
A smaller, more portable Quantum Tunnel was built and housed inside Luis' van. Scott Lang used the Tunnel to go into the Quantum Realm and harvest more quantum particles for Ghost but right before he was brought back the Snap occurred, eradicating Hank Pym, Janet van Dyne, and Hope van Dyne who were operating the Tunnel. This caused Lang to become trapped in the Quantum Realm.[3]
Fourth Tunnel[]
The closed Quantum Tunnel
- "We can travel through something called the Quantum Realm. So we can go in between timelines."
- ―Leo Fitz[src]
Following the Ambush at the Lighthouse, Enoch brought Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons to a distant part of outer space. Having studied the Time Stream for 4 years, Fitz started working a Time Drive as well as a Quantum Tunnel. When Enoch time traveled with the S.H.I.E.L.D. team back to the past and created a branch timeline, he dropped of one piece of the tunnel's activation device as 0-8-4 to S.S.R. and S.H.I.E.L.D. members. In 1983 of an alternate timeline, S.H.I.E.L.D. was destroyed and the remaining agents was gathered at The Krazy Kanoe by the piece they or their family members kept.
The opened Quantum Tunnel
As the future S.H.I.E.L.D. team arrived, they showed them the pieces and Jemma Simmons assembled it. Simmons placed her wedding ring to activate it and Fitz from 2019 arrived with a plan. After the reunion, the team used the electricity of New York City to power their Quantum Tunnel and time drive in order to send all of the Chronicoms to 2019 with them. However, one must stay behind to activate it and Deke Shaw volunteered. As the team left 1983 of the alternate timeline, they arrived in the Quantum Realm and eventually returned to 2019, where they defeated the Chronicoms once and for all.[4]
Time Heist[]
Third Tunnel[]
- "Time travel test number one. Scott, fire up the, uh... the van thing."
- ―Hulk to Ant-Man[src]
For five years, the Quantum Tunnel in Luis' van was left abandoned in a warehouse. One day in 2023, a rat accidentally turned on the Quantum Tunnel again, returning Scott Lang. Lang then transported the Quantum Tunnel in Luis' van to the Avengers Compound, where he pitched the idea of using the Quantum Realm to travel back in time and retrieve the Infinity Stones to resurrect the victims of the Snap. Later, Lang acted as test subject under the supervision of Bruce Banner as he used the Quantum Tunnel to travel back a week. However, upon his return, Lang had physically regressed to a teenager, forcing Hulk to send him back, only to turn Lang into an old man and then a baby before restoring his normal age.[5]
Fifth Tunnel[]
The fifth Tunnel
A fifth Quantum Tunnel, which was newer and more sophisticated, was later built by Tony Stark and Rocket in order to execute the Time Heist in an effort to resurrect the victims of the Snap. However, the Quantum Tunnel was destroyed when the alternate version of the Sanctuary II emerged from it.[5]
Battle of Earth[]
Third Tunnel[]
The third Tunnel is destroyed
The third Quantum Tunnel survived the attack on the Avengers Compound by an alternate version of the Sanctuary II. During the battle, Lang and Hope van Dyne reactivated the Quantum Tunnel in the hopes of returning the Infinity Stones to their proper timelines before alternate Thanos could use them. Unfortunately, before Captain Marvel could reach the Quantum Tunnel with the Nano Gauntlet, alternate Thanos threw his sword at it, destroying it.[5]
Sixth Tunnel[]
The sixth Tunnel
- "You have to return the stones at the exact moment you got them. Or you're gonna open up a bunch of nasty alternative realities."
- ―Hulk to Captain America[src]
A sixth and final Quantum Tunnel was built so that Steve Rogers could return all the Infinity Stones and Mjølnir to their respective alternate timelines in order to prevent catastrophic changes to those timelines' future. Rogers, however, did not return, instead opting to stay in an alternate timeline to live the life with Peggy Carter that he had originally missed out on.[5]
Alternate Reality Versions[]
Rescue of Janet van Dyne[]
To be added
| This section requires expansion |
Alternate Versions[]
| Origin | Status | Creators | Owners | Users |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zombie Outbreak | Inactive | Hank Pym | Hank Pym | Hank Pym |
| Avengers: Endgame | Active | Tony Stark Rocket |
Avengers | Scott Lang Steve Rogers Tony Stark Thor Odinson Bruce Banner Natasha Romanoff Clint Barton Nebula Nebula Rocket Thanos † Ebony Maw † Cull Obsidian † Proxima Midnight † Corvus Glaive † Chitauri Leviathans Chitauri Gorillas |
Appearances[]
In chronological order:
Ant-Man and the Wasp
- Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. | Episode 7.12: The End is at Hand
- Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. | Episode 7.13: What We're Fighting For
- Avengers: Endgame
- Avengers: Endgame (alternate universe)
- The Wakanda Files: A Technological Exploration of the Avengers and Beyond (files)
- Look Out for the Little Guy! (mentioned)
Trivia[]
- The Quantum Tunnel designed for Avengers: Endgame was based on the concept of a closed timelike curve.[6] The CTC is also a real-life theoretical time travel method, which was used in Runaways for Chase Stein's time machine.[7]
