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What is Chronopolis in the Marvel universe? Kang’s Quantum Realm city, explained

The fortress city exists everywhen.

ant man and the wasp quantumania
Image via Marvel Studios

The MCU is no stranger to impressive locations. From the technological grandeur of Wakanda and the mystical city of Kamar-Taj, to the jaw-dropping cosmic mining colony of Knowhere, the MCU has taken its fans to the extremes of the Earth and far beyond, but the latest addition to the MCU map may end up being one of the most important cities we’ve seen yet. Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania will give us our first look at a city unlike any before seen in the MCU.

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Chonopolis is the fortress city of the 30th-century warlord, Kang the Conqueror – played by Jonathan Majors in Quantumania. Although it hasn’t been officially confirmed, the futuristic city visited by Scott Lang in the film is almost certainly the MMCU version of Kang’s base of operations and, like its ruler, is jam-packed with technological advances that make Metropolis look like a stone-age village. But is it technology that Kang found in the Quantum Realm? Or did it come — along with Kang — from some war-torn future timeline?

In the comic books, Chronopolis is a circular city with a layout inspired by the supposed design of ancient Atlantis, covered with a transparent dome. The city contained multiple portals to different timelines with areas around each portal that corresponded to the point in time accessible there. More important is the crystal Heart of Forever that lay in the center of the fortress. The mechanism was a trans-chronal engine that allowed the city to exist in every timestream simultaneously — which would allow Kang to change events in the past without creating alternative time branches.

It’s fairly likely that the Heart of Forever (also known as the Forever Crystal) may be what Kang is seeking in the Quantum Realm and why he is intent on recruiting the help of Ant-Man. The technology would allow The conqueror the ability to permanently alter the past (and give Scott Lang a new past with his daughter). It may also grant Kang enough power to make Thanos seem like a second-class threat.

Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania hits theaters this Friday.