Unfortunately, Brie Larson has had to deal with a lot of a**holes over her time in the MCU so far, thanks to the endless yammerings of misogynistic morons online, but the most problematic to date may have just shimmied its way into view. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is proving to be far from the grand Phase Five opener we were all hoping for, turning out to be less of a dramatic debut for Jonathan Majors’ Kang and more of a showcase for Marvel’s worst impulses, like the need to show us M.O.D.O.K.’s bare backside.
Quantumania has so thoroughly dropped the ball, what with its franchise-low critical scores and box office descent so steep it’s reaching Morbius levels, that fans are wondering if it’ll end up taking the rest of Marvel’s 2023 slate with it. As begun by Redditor u/myusernamestaken on the r/MarvelStudios sub, it’s being discussed if The Marvels now has no hope of matching 2019’s Captain Marvel due to lingering feelings over the Paul Rudd threequel.
The OP posed the question “Did Ant-Man 3 just kill the Marvels’ chance of success?” before explaining that the fact Larson’s being paired with two characters who aren’t exactly Avengers-equivalent draws (Ms. Marvel and Monica Rambeau) could conspire with the downfall of Quantumania to ensure The Marvels becomes yet another underwhelming entry of the post-Endgame period.
It’s a question worth considering, and the OP’s point that the MCU is in a very different state from when Captain Marvel released is a smart one. That said, other posters in the comments make the equally intelligent counter-argument that we have another Marvel movie to come before The Marvels gets here — namely, May’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 — which has the power to correct the course if it ends up being as good as hoped.
After a recent delay, The Marvels is now set to blast into theaters on Nov. 10, 2023.