Marvel has been in a bind ever since the release of Avengers: Endgame, as their films and TV shows have not been faring well critically or commercially. After delivering one of the biggest hits of all time, the MCU has fizzled out and has been coming under fire from fans.
Among the fears that have been grappling Marvel fans, is the fact that the makers do not know what is going wrong as it was recently reported that Marvel Studios thought they had a winner with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. The Paul Rudd starrer was a box-office bomb and was one of the lowest-rated media to ever come out of the MCU.
Marvel Studios’ Failed Strategy Since Avengers: Endgame
After the ‘Infinity Saga’ ended with Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home, the quality of the films and shows produced by Marvel Studios has been on a steady decline. Despite a promising start with WandaVision, subsequent Disney+ series were not as well received as the cinematic universe’s other entries.
Despite the presence of noted directors such as Chloé Zhao, Sam Raimi, and Taika Waititi, the films and shows just did not capture the magic of the universe’s predecessors. Films such as Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness and Thor: Love and Thunder were heavily criticized for their writing issues.
One of the biggest shocks Marvel received was the failure of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. The film was the first entry in the Phase Five group of Marvel films and was set up for success as it was an IP from the ‘Infinity Saga’ and had fan favorite Paul Rudd in the film.
The film would also introduce Jonathan Majors’ Kang The Conqueror into the films and set up the stage for Avengers: Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars in Phase Six. However, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was a disaster, earning only $400 million against a $200 million budget.
The film received a rotten score of 46% on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, with many criticizing the plot, tonal shift, and bad CGI in the film. While Marvel slightly recouped with Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol.3, the Disney+ series Secret Invasion was again a dud.
Marvel Studios Thought That They Had A ‘Banger’ With Ant-Man 3
With the failure of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Secret Invasion, Marvel fans are concerned about the state of affairs behind the scenes. A recent report which revealed that Kevin Feige had fired the head writers of the upcoming show Daredevil: Born Again as he was not satisfied with the end product has sparked debate on the vision that Marvel Studios has at the moment.
One of the biggest concerns of the fans is that the studio does not know what is good anymore. According to Joanna Robinson, author of the book MCU: The Reign of the Marvel Studios, the studio believed that they had a winner with the third Ant-Man film and were quite shocked by the result. She said in The Watch podcast,
“They are aware of what is happening with their brand…My understanding is that Quantumania really shook them because they felt like they had something good. They all internally thought, ‘Everyone is going to love this’. Then they put it out and people did not. They thought, ‘Our internal barometer is not attuned to what people want anymore’…Quantumania they thought they put out a banger but that is not how anyone else felt.”
This news has started to concern Marvel fans, especially with big releases on the horizon such as Deadpool 3, The Fantastic Four, and the Avengers films. X users have been responding to this news with cynicism.
This is concerning for future films
— 𝗲 (jjk era) 🍄 (@en0va516) October 15, 2023
How about they get ppl who actually watch movies to tell them if they’ll be good before release
— max (@QuiGonMax) October 14, 2023
Have they just lost all sense of what makes a quality movie post endgame? Sure they’ve had a couple of great ones but the fact we’ve had far more bad content than good content post endgame is concerning
— Synth Potato (Ameer) 🥔 (@SynthPotato) October 14, 2023
I fully believe that jeff loveness’ original script was great and that everything is peyton reed’s fault
— Neb | 🏳️🌈 (@NebsGoodTakes) October 14, 2023
Talk about out of touch.
— Victory Reviews (@Vyreviews94) October 14, 2023
How was it a banger? I am worried about the avengers movie now
— DesiFlixNChill (@DesiFlixNChill) October 14, 2023
With the number of criticisms piling up for Marvel, the studio is in need of a massive creative overhaul to make it work as they will soon be incorporating legacy titles such as X-Men and the Fantastic Four.
