It was only a week or so ago that fever pitch for the Marvel Cinematic Universe‘s Phase Five was threatening to boil over, only for the dismal response to Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania to take the wind right out of the sails of the entire Multiverse Saga.
Since then, things have continued to go from bad to worse, and now we’ve already reached a point where the writer of both the threequel and Avengers: The Kang Dynasty has been forced to go on the defensive. These are uncharted waters for the franchise, and they could be about to get much choppier.
Quantumania falls so hard at the box office it joins the Morbius and Dark Phoenix club
Not content with suffering the biggest box office drop in MCU history after falling by 70 percent in its second weekend, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania also stole the record from Batman v Superman for the steepest decline for any comic book adaptation to debut to over $100 million.
In terms of the genre as a whole regardless of the numbers, Peyton Reed’s third stint behind the camera is occupying the same sort of territory as Morbius and Dark Phoenix, two of the worst Marvel movies to have ever existed, something that seemed unfathomable a week and a half ago.
The Kang Dynasty writer already forced to defend his antagonist
Introducing a character supposed to be the most dangerous and deadly foe the MCU has ever seen before having them fail in their mission at the very first hurdle after being overcome by an army of ants isn’t a great look for Kang the Conqueror, with Quantumania writer Jeff Loveness having already been forced on the defensive.
Responding to the backlash over the newest big bad being so easily foiled, the Rick and Morty alum claimed that he wanted to instantly give him a layer of vulnerability, but the lines between that and weakness are very thin.
With three years still go, Multiverse Saga malaise settles in alarmingly early
Marvel has gone all-in on the Multiverse Saga, but the muted reactions to Quantumania have done a sterling job of whittling away any tangible sense of anticipation and intrigue for what comes next. Many fans are already weary of multiple timelines and incoming variants, but they’ve got no choice but to either like it or lump it.
Of course, a wave of acclaimed incoming projects could help turn the tides of discontent, but it’s never a good look for the target audience to be voicing its dissatisfaction when the storyline won’t conclude until Avengers: Secret Wars lands in May 2026.
That’s it for another all-action week of Marvel news, but be sure to check back tomorrow as it all begins again.
