For comparability, “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” kicked off Part 5 of the MCU earlier this yr with a fairly sizable bang, taking in $106.1 million on its opening weekend, which was by far a file for the “Ant-Man” franchise. Sadly, the movie fell off a cliff within the following weeks, struggling a large drop from which it by no means recovered. Director Peyton Reed’s large, bold sci-fi spectacle completed its run with simply over $475 million worldwide — by far the bottom for an “Ant-Man” film.

Critically talking, it is no contest. “Quantumania” holds a very tough 47% approval score on Rotten Tomatoes, making it one of many worst-reviewed MCU films so far (learn our spoiler-filled evaluate right here). In the meantime, “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” has an 81%. Whereas that is not fairly as excessive as the unique “Guardians,” it is definitely good, and audiences are responding nicely to it. That is what’s essential. Phrase of mouth was abysmal for “Quantumania,” and that led to its demise. This to say, the deck seems to be stacked in Marvel’s favor right here for a very good run. 

This can be a win that Marvel and Disney completely wanted to show the tide of the dialog. There was a lot discuss of the MCU shedding its shine as of late, with films like “Thor: Love and Thunder” additionally failing to stay as much as what got here earlier than. Now, can “Vol. 3” prime “Vol. 2,” which completed with $863 million worldwide? Most likely not, although a lot of that would, in the long run, be chalked as much as declines in Russia and China nicely past Marvel’s management. So, for now no less than, the narrative is an effective one and, relying on how issues shake out, it could possibly be an ideal one. Although that’s the place issues get tough, as there’s a lot of the story but to be instructed.