Ant-Man 3’s (Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania) run in cinema is close to an end, and it seems that it could be the lowest-grossing Ant-Man movie in the Marvel franchise. There were high expectations for Ant-Man’s latest film.
It is the first film for Marvel Studios Phase 5, and it also introduced the new big bad of the MCU who is Kang the Conqueror.
While Jonathan Majors has already taken the role of Kang before in the Loki series, that was a very different and comparatively peaceful variant. In Ant-Man 3, it showed another side of Kang which was more aggressive, manipulative and power-hungry. This is something we could expect more of in the upcoming films, especially with Avengers: The Kang Dynasty.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is struggling to meet expectations
READ MORE: Marvel Trying To Hunt Down Ant-Man 3 Reddit Leakers
The Numbers has posted the comparative data from the three Ant-Man movies. As of writing this article, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania has grossed over $466.93 million worldwide.
Meanwhile, Box Office Mojo reports that the film has grossed $471.83 million as of the same date. While it’s not the worst underperforming film under the MCU, it is the weakest one for the Ant-Man franchise.
Even critics and audiences have differences in reception regarding the movie. Rotten Tomatoes display its Critics’ rating at 47% on the Tomatometer complete with the green splatter indicator, yet it also shows quite a favourable rating of 83% audience score coming from more than 10,000 verified sources.
Looking at the financial performance by comparing it to its predecessors, Quantumania will genuinely look to be the franchise’s weak link. The first movie ended up bring in $518.86 million at the worldwide box office, and the second film went on to top that with its worldwide box office record of $623.14 million. Right now, Quantumania is expectedly slowing its box office pace.
Likely because Quantumania has such a mammoth mission of launching Phase 5 right after the critically acclaimed Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, expectations went exponentially high.
On the bright side, comparing it to all movies released from all other studios since the beginning of the year, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania holds the top place for 2023 Movies at the Domestic Box Office to date.
Credit: Marvel Studios
As of this date, the movie has surpassed titles such as 2019 It: Chapter Two, 2007 300, and 2017 Coco. It also bested franchise sequels such as 2011 Fast Five, 2011 Mission: Impossible—Ghost Protocol, and 2014 Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Not to mention fellow Marvel movie 2013 Thor: The Dark World, as well as DC films 2005 Batman Begins and 2006 Superman Returns.
Still, because Quantumania is the Ant-Man movie that had the biggest budget among the three, with a $200 million price tag, it likely had a target of no less than $600 million. This would have been considered to be a highly attainable target since the second movie was able to breach that box office record. But it did not reach that mark… yet.
It is evident that Quantumania is what can be considered a ‘casualty’ in the efforts of Marvel Studios to produce as much content in a shorter span of time. There were even reports that the quality of the movie suffered because post-production staff had to prioritize Black Panther 2.
Some reports say that the production was aware that the effects or CGI of Quantumania got affected because of it. They simply didn’t have enough time. This was what some have speculated might have brought about the firing of Marvel producer Victoria Alonso.
There was even an audience review that compared the effects to those they have seen with Sharkboy and Lavagirl or Spykids. However, they also say that once one gets past that, it is an enjoyable watch.
The Future of Ant-Man is in question
Credit: Marvel Studios
READ MORE: Ant-Man 3 Writer ‘Sad’ About The Movie’s Poor Reception
Ant-Man 3’s performance has put the future of the franchise starring Paul Rudd in question. Disney has been conducting a reassessment of their projects, encompassing not only Marvel but also other franchises under its conglomerate, such as Star Wars and the Disney Theme parks.
Some Marvel projects are already announced to be delayed, like Agatha: Coven of Chaos, Ironheart, Echo, X-men ‘97 and What If? Season 2. Even the films are also going through the same thing with The Marvels and even Blade.
For the better part, perhaps at least from now on, Marvel Studios will be able to deliver better feature presentations. Because they will be spacing releases out and pacing their production schedules better, they’ll be able to accomplish more polished writing and more crisp post-production effects. It is high time they get back to what they’ve once been.
What do you think about Ant-Man 3 being the lowest-grossing Ant-Man movie ever made? Let us know in the comments below.
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