The bones of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania are already being picked apart and sifted through, and it’s beginning to look as though the Marvel Cinematic Universe has an uphill battle on its hands to win over the doubters who think the end is nigh.
While there’s absolutely no chance that the most lucrative film and television franchise the industry has ever seen is anywhere near close to imploding, the peg continues to get shakier. Unprecedented success often goes hand-in-hand with hubris, and one simple tweak to the formula could have prevented the wheels from coming so close to falling off.
As the slate continues to load up with new movies and Disney Plus exclusives, as well as countless character introductions, those who haven’t been religiously following the ins and outs of the MCU are becoming increasingly cast adrift by what goes on each time a new feature or episodic series arrives.
Kevin Feige admitted that you’ll need a Disney Plus subscription to keep up to date with the latest events, but why does that have to be non-negotiable? There’s a lot of people who don’t want to pay for any more monthly services, and there are plenty of folks who don’t watch anything except the big screen blockbusters, without mentioning the viewers who aren’t interested in checking out every single episode of every single show.
Marvel Studios has taken it for granted every paying customer without fail will know exactly what’s going on, with Quantumania exacerbating the reasons why that shouldn’t be the case. The mid-credits scene in particular is nonsense to the uninitiated, as is much of the narrative, so Feige and the rest of the team should stop looking inward and remember that it isn’t a guarantee that the entire world is a devoted follower of every drop of content.
You could show Iron Man, Captain America: The First Avenger, Guardians of the Galaxy, Black Panther, and many more besides to first-time MCU viewers and they’d have a blast, but the same can’t be said of Quantumania.