The way the world of blockbuster comic book adaptations tends to work – especially those hailing from the Marvel Cinematic Universe – is that once the title in question arrives on streaming, a reappraisal is almost instantly set into motion. Unfortunately, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania doesn’t seem to be benefiting from the bespoke phenomenon.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever received widespread acclaim and even won an Academy Award, but the knives were out as soon as it landed on Disney Plus. Conversely, Thor: Love and Thunder slowly crawled towards some form of redemption once Taika Waititi’s polarizing sequel was added to the platform’s content library, but nobody seems to be budging on Quantumania.
In fact, even those who were won over at first have started to change their tune upon revisiting what unquestionably ranks as one of the MCU’s worst-performing titles ever in terms of both critical response, audience reception, and earning potential, which neatly sums up just how much of a misfire it proved to be in both the short and long-term.
While there’s always a chance Quantumania might make its way back into the good books already – something Thor: The Dark World eventually achieved when nobody thought it was possible for close to a decade – it just goes to show how badly Marvel dropped the ball when even its early backers are changing their tune.
At this rate, don’t be surprised when everyone turns on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, just to return things to some semblance of normality.