Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania is still tied with Eternals as Marvel Studios' lowest-rated movie on Rotten Tomatoes. While the response from fans has been a little kinder, word of mouth hasn't really done the threequel many favours based on its box office performance this weekend.
With an expected 69% drop, the latest Ant-Man movie made a disappointing $32.2 million in North America. Cocaine Bear overperformed with a $23.09 million debut, meaning the blockbuster only narrowly kept the #1 spot ahead of facing stiff competition from the likes of Creed III, Scream VI, and Shazam! Fury of the Gods.
While far from a box office flop (it's already closing in on $400 million worldwide), Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania is close to being deemed a disappointment, especially as Phase 5's opening chapter.
However, Marvel Studios isn't too concerned!
One insider close to the project tells the trade, "Marvel takes something away from movie including Black Panther, including Avengers. I can say we’re incredibly proud of the film, Jonathan Majors does a fantastic job as Kang. It’s the movie we wanted to make. Box office is what it is. But it’s not going to stop people from going back to the theaters."
The MCU is essentially critic-proof, but Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania's performance needs to serve as something of a wake-up call to Marvel Studios, particularly after the lukewarm response to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Thor: Love and Thunder last year.
There are already reports Marvel Studios is limiting the number of movies and TV shows released each year, so that should help.
In our review of the movie, we concluded by saying: "Despite being an example of why a movie shouldn’t be shot almost entirely in The Volume, every time Jonathan Majors steps on screen as Kang, Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania is an epic tale to astonish and a monumental chapter in the Multiverse Saga."
Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania is currently playing in theaters.