- "And don't get sucked into a time vortex."
- ―Janet van Dyne to Scott Lang[src]
A Time Vortex is a portal in the Quantum Realm where time flows differently. While the time dilation within the vortex allows for simplified forwards time travel, it can also be harnessed to allow one to travel to alternate timelines of differing time periods.
History[]
Scott Lang's Time Dilation[]
- "I got stuck in there."
"Sorry. That must've been a long five years."
"Yeah, but that's just it. It wasn't. For me it was five hours." - ―Scott Lang and Natasha Romanoff[src]
During her time in the Quantum Realm, Janet van Dyne learned about time vortices. After returning to Earth in 2018, she warned Scott Lang about their dangers as he was about to be sent into the Quantum Realm himself. Moments after, the Snap occurred and claimed the lives of the Pym-van Dyne family, which prevented Lang from being extracted from the Quantum Realm.[1] Lang then fell into a time vortex and after experiencing what he believed to be five hours, he was brought back to Earth. However, he discovered that the present year was now 2023 and that he had spent half a decade trapped in the Quantum Realm.[2]
War Against the Chronicoms[]
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To be expanded
Time Heist[]
Used by the Avengers[]
Clint Barton entering a Time Vortex
Learning about the Snap, Lang traveled to the Avengers Compound and informed Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff of his time dilation and how harnessing its temporal properties might allow them to travel backwards through time, thereby allowing them to prevent Thanos' genocide. Bruce Banner notified Lang and the other Avengers that they could not alter their past and that their trips to the past would lead to alternate timelines. Following Tony Stark's creation of a the Time-Space GPS which navigated its user to specific vortices, along with a Quantum Tunnel to enter the Quantum Realm, Clint Barton was briefly sent into a time vortex leading to an alternate 2018 before using another vortex to return back to his home reality. With the test proving to be a success, the Avengers reassembled to initiate the Time Heist, where they used the vortices to travel to alternate past timelines in order to procure the six Infinity Stones as well as to return back to their timeline.[2]
Used by Thanos[]
The Sanctuary II using a Time Vortex to travel across timelines
During the Avengers' trip to an alternate 2014, Thanos learned of their plans and sought to thwart them. The alternate Nebula used the original Nebula's Time-Space GPS to enter the Quantum Realm and use a time vortex to return to the prime reality while Thanos and his forces, including Gamora, boarded the Sanctuary II and waited in the Quantum Realm. The 2014 Nebula then accessed the Quantum Tunnel at the Avengers Compound to direct the Sanctuary II through the same time vortex that she had used, thereby allowing Thanos and his forces to travel from their timeline's present year of 2014 to the prime timeline's present year of 2023.[2]
Returning the Stones[]
Following Thanos' defeat, Steve Rogers returned to the Quantum Realm and used multiple time vortices in order to return the six Infinity Stones to their respective timelines. He then used a time vortex to travel to an alternate 1949, where he chose to reside. Decades later, he used a time vortex to return to his home reality.[2]
Hank Pym's Ants[]
In 2026, Hank Pym's ants were sucked into the Quantum Realm and fell through a time vortex, causing them to experience thousands of years in a day. This allowed them to become very advanced to the point where they could communicate with Pym as well as aid in defeating Kang the Conqueror.[3]
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