Is it fair to call Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania the single most cursed project in the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe? The answer is at the very least a solid maybe, but should the latest reports turn out to be true, then it’s being upgraded to a definitive yes.
The kickoff to Phase Five already holds the unwanted distinction of being the joint lowest-rated of the franchise’s 32 installments on Rotten Tomatoes, while it’s also tied at the bottom of the barrel on CinemaScore, and ended its theatrical run as not just the lowest-grossing of the Ant-Man trilogy, but the MCU’s lowest-grossing sequel of any kind ever.
Then you’ve also got to consider the situation the studio currently finds itself in with Jonathan Majors, who secured a $20 million deal and title character status for Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, for which Quantumania largely existed to start building towards. There’s also the fact every single variant of the Multiverse Saga’s big bad has been canonically established as looking identical to the disgraced actor, which is an indictment of the difficulties he’s placed Kevin Feige’s company in.
Just when you thought the curse of Quantumania couldn’t be lent any more credence, though, along come tales of woe sweeping the internet offering that writer Jeff Loveness is no longer working on the next assemblage of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, something that’s no doubt causing many a sigh of relief to be breathed among the fandom given his lackluster first stab at the sandbox.
Even if it doesn’t turn out to be true, the legacy left behind by Peyton Reed’s threequel is nothing short of disastrous on almost every level anyway, but this would be another nail into a coffin that’s already six feet deep and then some.