How did Janet Van Dyne survive in the Quantum Realm?
I am asking the question that the OP here started to but doesn't quite at the end.
Janet Van Dyne was lost in the Quantum Realm for 30 years. In those years, she gained certain abilities. These abilities, however unclear at the moment, do indicate that she can absorb and release quantum energy. Absorbing such energy could probably have kept her alive and fulfilled her body's energy requirements over the years. But she couldn't have learned to do so on the first day or week itself.
Typically a person can survive 3-4 days, maximum one week without water (according to these sources 1, 2). How did she survive the first few days in the Quantum Realm without food and water?
Some of the comments got me thinking and I developed a theory of sorts. When Hank and Janet embarked on missions, they probably carried food supplies shrunk with them. This would have helped on extended missions. This is however, purely a hypothesis and admittedly there is no in-movie reference to something like this.
Best Answer
According to director Payton Reed, there’s food in the Quantum Realm... possibly from a civilization:
[Janet Van Dyne] has this spear things and these other items that feel like it’s from some sort of culture. There’s something going down. It’s not just some wasteland.
[...] There is definitely a shot as Hank and Janet are blasting out of the Quantum Realm where it appears there might be some sort of civilization down there.
There’s definitely a specific backstory to what Janet Van Dyne has been doing the past thirty years… There’s some great food down there, guys. The food scene in the Quantum Realm is not to be believed (laughs).
I believe the shot they're talking about is this one (which I got from this answer):
In Endgame:
Ant-Man only experienced 5 hours in the Quantum Realm. Everyone else spent even less time there. Therefore, we don't know any more about what's actually in the Quantum Realm except that it can be used for time travel.
Pictures about "How did Janet Van Dyne survive in the Quantum Realm?"
How did Janet Van Dyne survive in the quantum realm Reddit?
Quantum Energy Manipulation: After spending three decades in the Quantum Realm, van Dyne could use the particles around her to shape herself and remain stable. This allowed her to survive in the realm for decades seemingly without sustenance.How did Janet Van Dyne age in the quantum realm?
Maybe Van Dyne spent only 30 (perceived) hours in the quantum realm, but some of the quantum particles sent time through her body thus making her look older. Scott was just too short in there to get his fair share of quantum aging. She didn't perceive only 30 hours. She said "I'm not the same woman I was 30 years ago."How did Janet survive without food?
Taking all that into account, Janet could have found a civilization within the Quantum Realm, which provided her of sustenance, somewhere to live, and anything else she might have needed (though some argue that due to her shrinking to a subatomic level, she wouldn't have needed food or anything to survive).How long did it feel for Janet in the quantum realm?
Janet entered the Quantum Realm in 1987 after going subatomic to stop a missile. Due to her continued shrinking, she was lost to the realm for over thirty years and managed to survive until Hank Pym found a way to rescue her.How Janet Can Survive in the Quantum Realm | Ant-Man and The Wasp
More answers regarding how did Janet Van Dyne survive in the Quantum Realm?
Answer 2
The Quantum Realm is a reality where all concepts of time and space become cease to exist as you shrink for all eternity. The idea that you can't survive 3-4 days without food is irrelevant when you're in a reality where time ceases to exist.
Answer 3
The Quantum Realm's counterparts in comic books are a variety of microverses that actually have life and edible food so the same may apply to it. On the flip side it's definite that Janet acquired superpowers from her lengthy exposure to the environment down there. We can dismiss the idea that time didn't pass down there. She aged.
Answer 4
Completely spit-balling here... There my be something to do with metabolism and sizing... I.e., when Scott gets big, he has to sleep for a long time. Maybe at extremely small sizes, the body metabolizes a lot slower and a subatomic sized person can survive for 30 years on the energy consumed in a single day??? There is something to be said for suspend your disbelief...
If you're wondering how he eats and breathes And other science facts, Just repeat to yourself "It's just a show, I should really just relax
Answer 5
In the Quantum Realm, 1 Hour is equivalent to 1 year so in reality it was just a day, and a half. Which is why Ant-Man also did not starve by Endgame's first Minute.
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Alexey Demidov, Loïc Alejandro, Thirdman, Thirdman