Having built up 15 years of audience goodwill, the Marvel Cinematic Universe‘s credit is beginning to run try after Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania came in for an avalanche of criticism, as well as plummeting downwards to rank as the franchise’s joint worst-rated installment on both Rotten Tomatoes and CinemaScore.
In fact, things have gotten so heated that the entirety of Phase Five is now being called into question, with fans turning their backs on the MCU’s merits in their droves after the most recent wave of both film and television projects suffered from an almost identical set of maladies, which in turn creates frustration that Kevin Feige won’t need to learn from his mistakes when every new title is guaranteed to do either a tidy turn at the box office or enjoy a stellar run on Disney Plus.
The post-credits scene of Quantumania in particular highlighted the dedication to niche fan service that’s been creeping in for a while, with those not well-versed in comic book lore being left wondering what the hell is supposed to be happening, and what on earth it means for the future. With that in mind, Multiverse Saga detractors are already bracing for the worst when Avengers: Secret Wars rolls around.
There’s a distinct chance that the hypothetical scenario in question could very well unfold, and while the comments and replies are split on whether it’d be an eye-rolling or awesome situation, the explanation is that Secret Wars is going to lean so heavily into generating audience-baiting moments that the story will suffer as a result. Based on what we’ve seen from the Multiverse Saga so far, it’s an entirely justifiable fear for the fandom to have.