We get it, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania flopped so hard that audiences collectively feared for the future of superhero movies. And those concerns were 100 percent legitimate at the time, but at long last, a new, brighter era seems to be upon us.
Granted, the problems with Marvel releases started before Quantumania, but the negative impact this film had on the MCU franchise is undeniable, as fans got a hair’s breadth away from reaching a breaking point. With the release of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, though, the pitchforks were finally put down, and it looks like they’ll stay that way — for now, at least.
The last installment of the Guardians trilogy, accompanied by other upcoming superhero releases such as Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and The Flash, is restoring hope in audiences’ hearts. Despite not having premiered in theaters yet, these films are shaping up to become successes in fans’ eyes, and to some, they may even be worth the torment that Quantumania put us all through.
This year, we were promised a lot of much-awaited debuts in the superhero realm, so it was extra disappointing to kick it off with a film that failed spectacularly to meet expectations. Fortunately, Quantumania seems to be the exception in 2023; just a bump in the road to what will hopefully still be a great year of releases. It was honestly time things started looking up, or else, what were superhero fanatics supposed to look forward to?
Let’s just hope this newfound excitement doesn’t end up leading to more disappointment. We’re not even halfway through the year, so there’s still time for another left turn. Fingers crossed.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and The Flash hit theaters on June 2 and June 16, respectively.
