You can always count on the Marvel Cinematic Universe fandom’s consistent inconsistency, with tides turning virtually every time a new project is released, and it’s been the critical pounding endured by Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania that’s forced the latest shifting of the sands into motion.
Not too long after the Disney Plus debut of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever led to a barrage of criticism taking everything from the CGI and Namor’s motivations to the plot points and character development to task, the underwhelming arrival of Paul Rudd’s visually dazzling trip to the deepest recesses of the Quantum Realm has placed Thor: Love and Thunder back under the microscope.
Previously lambasted for being the worst of an altogether lackluster Phase Four, apologies are beginning to pour in from all sides after the much-vaunted debut of Jonathan Majors’ Kang the Conqueror has attempted to light the touch paper of the Multiverse Saga and failed spectacularly in doing so.
Anybody with half a brain could have seen this one coming, but there’s no shame in being predictable every now and again. Having already turned on Wakanda Forever from the second it became available on streaming, there was no other outcome than the widely-panned Quantumania shuffling Love and Thunder back into the spotlight for a light dusting of reappraisal and renewed praise.
Regardless of whether you agree or disagree, Phase Five is already seeming as though it’s got an awful lot of making up to do in an effort to get the increasing volume of naysayers back on board.