The Marvel Cinematic Universe has enjoyed a dominant streak at the box office with the Infinity Saga and it seemed like the billion-dollar franchise would maintain its momentum with the Multiverse Saga.
While Phase Four has undoubtedly provided us with some good MCU content, it can't be denied that the franchise's shine is slowly starting to wear off, with Marvel Studios' most recent releases — both film and streaming failing to captivate audiences.
One of the biggest letdowns of this year was Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania and what looked to be an Avengers-level film turned out to be a lackluster project.
Apparently, the studio was confident enough that the third Ant-Man film would produce the same critical and box-office results and when it failed, higher-ups were completely stunned.
Marvel Studios Reportedly Shocked by Ant-Man 3's Failure; Thought Quantumania was a Banger
On the latest episode of The Watch podcast, insider and co-author of MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios Joanna Robinson dished out some never-before-heard details about the overall morale at Marvel Studios prior to Quantumania's release.
According to her, studio executives thought they had something good with the Paul Rudd-led film thinking it would be well-received by fans and critics alike.
Robinson claims: "[Marvel Studios] is aware of what's happening to their brand. My understanding, having talked to some people, is that ‘Quantumania’ really shook them, and I'm sure ‘Secret Invasion’ shook them further, but ‘Quantumania’ really shook them because they felt like they had something good. Because they all internally thought, 'Everyone's gonna love this.'"
She added: "And then they put it out and people didn't. And then they were like, 'Oh no, our internal barometer is not attuned to what people want anymore.' With ‘Quantumania,’ they were like, 'We put out a banger.' And then that's not how a lot of people felt."
Also Read: Kevin Feige Confirms Plans to Reboot the MCU with Avengers: Secret Wars
To be fair, Ant-Man 3 had a tremendous plot and could have easily been a precursor to the next Avengers film. Sadly, the execution failed and despite the raised stakes, it didn't feel like an important MCU film at all.
Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania is streaming on Disney+.
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