Hindsight is always 20/20, but even then, imagining where the Marvel Cinematic Universe would find itself only four months on from the release of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania wouldn’t have been on anyone’s radar.
After an altogether underwhelming and largely polarizing Phase Four, the prospect of the Multiverse Saga kicking into high gear at the hands of the universally-beloved Paul Rudd in an epic blockbuster that would introduce the masses to the fearsome Kang the Conqueror drummed up a wave of unstoppable buzz that had everyone crossing their fingers in the hopes the franchise was finally getting back on the right track.
Instead, what we ended up with was the MCU’s second worst-reviewed installment ever, the lowest-grossing of the three Ant-Man movies, the weakest-performing sequel the comic book juggernaut had ever experienced, and an all-round outpouring of apathy that increased the belief Kevin Feige had bitten off a great deal more than he could possibly hope of chewing.
Compounding matters even further are the ongoing allegations against Jonathan Majors, which could potentially tar not just Quantumania but the entirety of the Multiverse Saga with an unsavory brush, and it can’t be ruled out that a recasting is on the cards which would completely upend the plans from now to the release of Avengers: Secret Wars in 2026.
If the seemingly-inevitable happens and Majors’ career is destroyed by the accusations, he’ll still be right there leading the line in Quantumania for all to see, which could end up being pinpointed as the beginning of the MCU’s irreversible decline.
