Ant-Man 3 was the first film of MCU’s Phase 5. After the mixed reception to Phase 4, it was expected that the film would start things off on the right foot for Marvel. But the opposite happened. It failed to cross even $500 million worldwide, a feat its two predecessors had accomplished. Instead, it folded at $463 million. Making matters worse was the critical and audience reception.
It was termed plotless with poor CGI. The film’s Rotten Tomatoes critics and audience scores were 47% and 83% respectively. Amid this debacle, it was revealed that the entire script of the film was leaked on the MCU Leaks subreddit. Now, fans are theorizing that it was the writer of the film, Jeff Loveness, who leaked it.
Did MCU Writer Jeff Loveness Intentionally Leak The Script On Reddit?
After the release and downward descent of Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, Marvel Studios discovered that the script of the film had already been leaked on the Reddit sub called MCU Leaks. Subsequently, the company sent a notice to the mods, and the entire subreddit was shut down almost overnight.
Till now, no major announcements have been made regarding the person who leaked the script. But people suspect that it could be Jeff Loveness who released it. This is because back when the film was getting trashed online, a few interviews of the writer were released, where he wholeheartedly defended his work.
He defended the much disliked hasty ending of the film by saying in an interview with Fandom:
“I kind of love the ending that we landed on… I feel if you just strand Ant-Man in the Quantum Realm again, that is exactly what happened at the end of the second movie, and the way out of it is exactly what happens in ‘Endgame’.”
That’s not all. When faced with criticism of MODOK’s portrayal, he disregarded them all, stating that he would never make MODOK a serious character. His answers weren’t loved by the public at all. When most MCU fans were busy laughing at him, one of the scooper accounts called @thewatcher_2099 defended Loveness.
The account said that Marvel as well as the director, Peyton Reed, had thrown Loveness to the wolves and vanished. This made many think that it was the writer who was operating the account and had leaked the script. But Loveness tweeted, “Nah. That’s not me. Didn’t leak anything. All Bogus.” Here’s the tweet:
Nah. That’s not me. Didn’t leak anything. All Bogus
— Jeff Loveness (@JeffLoveness) May 22, 2023
While the entire sequence of events is humourous, Loveness is probably one of the last people who could have leaked the script of the film.
Why Jeff Loveness Couldn’t Have Leaked The Ant-Man 3 Script
Jeff Loveness being the leaker of the Ant-Man 3 Script is a great joke, but it probably isn’t true. After all, it isn’t in the vested interest of the writer to take such a risk. After all, why will he want to leak the project he worked hard on and potentially tank its box office numbers? Also, doing so would have harmed his future career as a writer.
But that’s not all. In the MCU Leaks subreddit (before it was shut down) it was alleged that the script leak came from an international source. It was speculated that English subtitles were sent to the moderators of the now-closed subreddit, who then published it. Marvel Studios or Disney still haven’t revealed who was behind the Ant-Man 3 leak.
As for Jeff Loveness, he was until recently, busy writing Avengers: Kang Dynasty. But now, it’s rumored that he has been removed from the project. There’s also speculation that the entire film could be shelved due to the alleged abuse case going on against Kang actor Jonathan Majors. It now remains to be seen how things progress.
Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania is streaming on Disney+.
Source: Fandom and Jeff Loveness
