Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania

  • Disney Plus Reveals Where ‘Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania’ Falls on the MCU Timeline

    Disney Plus Reveals Where ‘Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania’ Falls on the MCU Timeline

    After becoming available for purchase as physical media on May 16th, Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania was added to Disney Plus on May 17th. The third film in the Ant-Man series kicked off Marvel Studios Phase 5 by introducing Jonathan Majors‘ Kang the Conqueror and taking the Ant-Family into the Quantum Realm for a mind-bending B-movie adventure. But with all the time wimey shenanigans that come with spending time in the sub-atomic universe, where exactly do the adventures of Scott, Hope, Cassie, Janet and Hank take place on the MCU timeline?

    Thankfully, for fans who enjoy trying to watch the Marvel Cinematic Universe chronologically, Disney Plus continues to have you covered. As expected, the events of Quantumania take place AFTER Thor: Love and Thunder, Werewolf By Night and The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special meaning the threequel is set farther into the future than any MCU project to date.

    Thanks to Scott Lang Easter eggs planted in Ms. Marvel and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, it can be deduced that Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania is set in 2025. That idea is something backed up by Marvel Studios Parliament member Nate Moore, who indicated that Quantumania takes place “potentially concurrent” with Thor: Love and Thunder.

    Yeah I mean, look if you think about… This movie clearly happens after No Way Home and Eternals. I think it probably happens potentially concurrent with [Thor: Love and Thunder]. New Asgard does exist in our universe, for instance, or in our film. And almost concurrent with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which is coming out in February.

    Nate Moore on where the events of Quantumania fall on the MCU timeline

    Truly, with an unknown amount of time passing between the beginning and end of Quantumania, it’s hard to nail down exactly what MCU events transpired during the time the Ant-Family was in the Quantum Realm. Fortunately, Marvel Studios The Marvel Cinematic Universe An Official Timeline, “the definitive, filmmaker-endorsed guide to the lore, timelines, and characters of the Marvel Cinematic Universe”, will be released in December 2023 and, hopefully, clear up some of the muddied waters of the official timeline.

    Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania is now streaming on Disney Plus.

  • ‘Quantumania’ Writer Jeff Loveness Confirms One of the Film’s Major Rewrites

    ‘Quantumania’ Writer Jeff Loveness Confirms One of the Film’s Major Rewrites

    Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania‘s theatrical run had a less than stellar theatrical run as it ran out of steam pretty quickly after a big opening weekend in mid-February. Much of the dropoff has been attributed to the generally poor word of mouth around the film, which was essentially an offbeat sci-fi B movie dressed up as an MCU flick. Writer Jeff Loveness has been the target of significant ire from fans who have consistently criticized some odd edits and lack of stakes in the film’s third act. Interestingly enough, in an exclusive interview with Murphy’s Multiverse, Loveness confirmed that one part of the film’s ending was significantly altered from his original drafts; now, in a new interview, he’s revealed further changes to the film.

    In an interview with Backstory Magazine, Loveness confirmed that he had written the death of a member of the Ant-Family into an early draft of Quantumania. “We were going to kill Hank at one point,” said Loveness, “and I was going to have him be, like, reanimated.” Loveness is a huge comic book fans and has written books for Marvel Comics. When he was hired for Quantumania, I was told that his understanding of the source material was key to Marvel Studios being brought on board, so it’s not too surprising that he was going to “reanimate” Hank Pym in a very comic book-y way. “His consciousness was going to live on through the ants, and he was going to be like mentally controlling them,” he explained before adding, “yeah, he was going to be almost like this hive mind of the ants, and I like that… that didn’t go too far.“

    Given Loveness‘ admission that he liked his own idea, it’s hard to believe he was the one who cut the idea from the script and that it was likely done by the studio somewhere during the editing process. The revelation by Loveness continues to call into question just what went on between early drafts and even early screenings of the film and the final product. Reliable plot leaks suggest a much different cut of Quantumania existed at one point and set photos confirm that the final scenes of the movie were reshot roughly 6 weeks before release. While this news won’t stop the “bad writing” bandwagon from rolling, it’ll hopefully at least give some fans a reason to stop and think about who’s responsible for what when they see a film. Writers write. Editors edit. And someone else makes all the final decisions.

  • BTS Photos from the Times Square Set of ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ May Confirm Rumored Plot Point

    BTS Photos from the Times Square Set of ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ May Confirm Rumored Plot Point

    As Daredevil: Born Again continues filming in and around New York City, set photos from the production continue to find their way online, treating fans with plenty of tidbits around which they can speculate. Nothing that’s made its way into the wild thus far has been incredibly spoilery but the latest behind-the-scenes look at the streaming project might be the most interesting yet. The new photos, captured at the Times Square set of the show, seem to confirm one of the longest-standing rumors about the plot of the show, so spoiler-sensitive fans should check out these great pictures of Charlie Cox walking instead.

    In what appears to be a scene ripped right from the pages of 2017’s Daredevil #595, a New Year’s Eve celebration, sponsored by the Pym van Dyne Foundation, seems to be doubling as either a rally or celebration of Wilson Fisk’s mayoral campaign.

    While the majority of the paraphernalia seen at the event bears the Pym van Dyne Foundation logo, a foam fist with “FISK” printed across it can clearly be seen. The Mayor Fisk arc, written by Charles Soule over the course of Daredevil #595-600, see Fisk become Mayor of New York City and launch a crusade against the city’s vigilantes.

    Though no shots have been shared online yet, it’s possible that Vincent D’Onofrio made his way on set last night. While the presence of the Pym van Dyne Foundation merch in the photos may seem like innocuous shared universe minutia, it’s worth pointing out that one of the most interesting fan theories about Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania posit that when the Ant-Family emerges from their adventure in the Quantum Realm, they do so into an alternate universe. That theory may be pretty spot on (Quantumania writer Jeff Loveness indicated it’s “not too far off”) and could open a whole world of possibilities for any project set within that alternate universe, such as explaining how a character like Fisk, who was incarcerated in the Netflix Daredevil series, could end up as Mayor of New York City.

    A previous batch of photos from the Harlem set of Daredevil: Born Again indicated that the series will be visiting a young Wilson Fisk in the 1970s. The Netflix Daredevil series established the childhood trauma of Fisk incredibly well; so well, in fact, one would be excused for wondering why they’d need to revisit it again. However, if it were to establish that this Fisk is one who lives in the same alternate universe the Ant-Family may have entered into. Star Charlie Cox has stated that the new project will offer the opportunity for portions of the characters’ stories told on Netflix to be revisited and retold and perhaps this alternate universe theory could help explain why.

  • ‘Ant-Man 3’ Passes $400M Globally and Beats ‘Ant-Man’s Domestic Run

    ‘Ant-Man 3’ Passes $400M Globally and Beats ‘Ant-Man’s Domestic Run

    All eyes are on Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania‘s box office run, some with shock and others with glee. The film faced a record second-weekend drop that is slightly above Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice‘s back in 2016. With a B CinemaScore and rather mild word-of-mouth, the film was the focus of many deliberations over the end of Marvel Studios’ reign at the box office. Still, the film is performing and isn’t as big as it could’ve been.

    As of now, the film saw a smaller international drop in its third weekend compared to the domestic performance as it pulled in $22M in 52 markets. That is a 53% drop and a bit of a better hold than the 61% we saw domestically at $12M+. As such, the film stands domestically at $186.7M and internationally at $232.7M. Worldwide the film is now at $419.5M and is still expected to pass $500M worldwide going by Deadline’s current expectations while others believe it might barely miss that benchmark.

    That would align with our early predictions after the second-week drop, which was expecting the film to land somewhere between $500M to $550M, though it is now leaning towards the former. That would put it below the international box office of Ant-Man and the Wasp, which pulled in $632M and it’s even more uncertain if it’ll beat Ant-Man‘s $519M worldwide.

    We also can’t forget how different the comparisons are if you take China’s overall slump as a factor in how the film is performing. Ant-Man‘s 518M run consisted of 105M in China. So, the film technically made around 413M without that specific market. Ant-Man and the Wasp similarly pulled in 120M in China, which would set it at 503M. If the film wraps up at around 40M in China and plays around the 500M mark, it’ll still have made quite a bit more than the first entry, though that 200M budget is just what is hurting the film at this point.

    It’s the “risk” that they took by going big and bold with this Ant-Man film, which may simply just have had some take a step back in this rather different direction for the franchise. As such, it’s uncertain just how much money they invested in the marketing, as if they went 100M, they’d have to at least hit 600M to technically break even as they make around half from box office tickets. It’s something only expected with high-budget investments. Though, they made enough last year to balance it out somewhat.

    What is definite though is that domestically the threequel has passed the first Ant-Man‘s $180M entire domestic run by its third weekend. It’s definitely not as far as it could’ve gone if the film’s domestic hold was stronger, but it’s not a complete loss due to the film still performing decently. It’s a similar discussion point that we saw with the first Ant-Man film when it opened to a tepid $57M and was called a flop after releasing in the wake of Avengers: Age of Ultron.

    Ironically, Age of Ultron was also the focus of a similar discussion point when it opened below the first Avengers film. Even though it “only” managed to pull in $1.4B compared to The Avengers‘ still impressive $1.5B back in 2012. While it’s different circumstances overall, especially with the higher investment in Quantumania outshining previous entries, it’s always been a discussion point on the staying power of Marvel studios at the box office if a slight drop happens.

    The main point still remains that the fatigue discussion and “end of Marvel” existed ever since 2015 and likely won’t ever end. 2021 releases still performed incredibly well even with B+ scores, and Marvel Studios may have taken too big of a step with the usual smaller Ant-Man franchise. No matter where one stands on its quality, it’s definitely a bigger jump for one of Marvel Studios’ various franchises that just didn’t quite pay off.

    The long-forgotten aspect of Marvel movies is also that not everyone watches every single entry. So, if this truly will echo for future entries remains to be seen as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 seems like a sure-fire release this summer and The Marvels‘ could still pull in quite an audience if it manages to reverse the current “B” CinemaScore trend. It may be fatigue, it may not be but Eternals‘ dominance on Disney+ after a soft (and another risky release) during the pandemic may hint at the overall “heard it’s alright, let’s wait for it to hit Disney+” mentality echoing out of the 45-day release window.

    If this film has strong Disney+ numbers once it releases on the platform, we are definitely looking at a trend. Marvel Studios films will open big but require a much stronger reception to stick around in theaters due to the certainty of a free streaming release. We might be seeing an aftermath of the pandemic that is easily overshadowed but not forgotten when looking at Strange Worlds and Lightyear. If Disney was smart, they’d pull another Wakanda Forever and just refuse to release it anytime soon; something Bog Iger and Kevin Feige might be pushing as a back to the old norm with Bob Chapek out of the picture.

    Source: Deadline, The Numbers (Ant-Man), The Numbers (Avengers), The Numbers (Ant-Man 2), Twitter

  • Marvel Studios Is Far Less Worried about ‘Quantumania’ Than You Are

    Marvel Studios Is Far Less Worried about ‘Quantumania’ Than You Are

    The second lowest-rated Marvel Studios film on Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer. The second lowest Cinemascore of any Marvel Studios film. The largest second-weekend drop of any Marvel Studios film. An endless onslaught of complaints on social media. Things seem pretty bleak for Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania everywhere you look. But Marvel Studios isn’t anywhere near as worried about things as you are.

    According to Deadline, a Marvel Studios insider who was described as being “close to the film“, isn’t worried at all about the critical reception or box office receipts. In fact, while the insider knows there’s something to be learned from Quantumania, they suggest Marvel is “proud of the film.”

    Marvel takes something away from movie including Black Panther, including Avengers. I can say we’re incredibly proud of the film, Jonathan Majors does a fantastic job as Kang. It’s the movie we wanted to make. Box office is what it is. But it’s not going to stop people from going back to the theaters.

    Anonymous Marvel Studios Insider

    The reality of the whole situation is that in another week, Quantumania won’t even be a talking point as March comes loaded with major films. However, the last statement from the insider will be one to watch as Marvel Studios next project, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, starts its big marketing push ahead of its May 5th release. Should that project somehow fall short of expectations at the box office and be equally poorly received by critics, it’s possible Marvel may take a step back for deeper reflection on the performance of its Multiverse Saga.

    Source: Deadline

  • ‘Ant-Man 3′ Faces Marvel Studios’ Biggest Second Weekend Drop at 70%

    ‘Ant-Man 3′ Faces Marvel Studios’ Biggest Second Weekend Drop at 70%

    The numbers are finally in and it looks like Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was able to make up some momentum over the weekend, as while many feared it’ll be the first superhero film to drop above 70% in its second weekend, it held on stronger than expected and entered its second weekend at $32.2M, which is still a sharp 69.7% decline. As of now, it makes it the biggest second-weekend drop for any Marvel Studios offering, which was previously held by Black Widow at 67.8%. It also is above that of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice which held the record for the highest superhero drop in its second weekend at 69.1%. Though it could still go up or down depending on adjustments once Sunday’s final numbers are here.

    It had similar critical reception and CinemaScore to Eternals, which managed to hold at 62% during COVID. Even as people want to call this the end of Marvel Studios, the opening does paint a very specific picture of how Marvel films currently operate. They will draw in quite a crowd early on (with varying success depending on the marquee character) but depending on its rewatchability will leg out better or worse. Perhaps Quantumania‘s weirdness and comic book-inspired direction just was too much for audiences, just as much as it wasn’t jelling with critics.

    The film also had a harsher drop internationally with around 70% and currently is on its path to gross anywhere between $470M to $540M according to some estimates. Though it depends on its third weekend potentially inching it back up that could give us a better clue at where it is heading at the moment. Currently, it might make around 215M to 245M domestically. Quantumania currently stands at a still-strong 363.7M worldwide, and an insider seems to paint a different picture than the overreacting internet tends to:

    Marvel takes something away from movie including Black Panther, including Avengers. I can say we’re incredibly proud of the film, Jonathan Majors does a fantastic job as Kang. It’s the movie we wanted to make. Box office is what it is, but it’s not going to stop people from going back to the theaters.

    Quantumania still had a stronger second weekend than the previous two entries as Ant-Man stood at $24M and its sequel at 29M. So, it starts to paint the picture that this film is performing more like a regular Ant-Man threequel after a Captain America: Civil War-like opening. If word-of-mouth was better, the film would’ve had the potential to go much stronger but we’ll see if Marvel Studios has a reaction to it. Still, if it hits the higher parts of its current estimates, the film could still manage to outgross the first entry. The only issue is its much higher budget that probably leaves a bit of a stomach ache for Marvel; though it’s not the “end of Marvel” or “Marvel fatigue” going by its opening alone.

    The lower Chinese market makes all the difference considering both previous entries pulled around $100M+ from that market which hasn’t had a Marvel opening since 2019 and generally saw far weaker performances from most Hollywood productions in that market. As stated earlier, the film is likely to break even at this rate, which is still better than most high-budget releases that we saw last year that faced far worse odds. Also Deadline pointed out that science-fiction shows struggle more in specific markets which we’re also seeing reflected here, as this was the most “out-there” direction the franchise took besides simple space travel to other planets.

    Something worth noting though is that the second weekend may have seen an overall harsher drop, but its Friday-to-Saturday numbers paint a very curious picture. Thor: Love and Thunder dropped around 68% in its second weekend but saw a much softer jump from Friday to Saturday at around 34%. It’s Thursday to Friday was also at around 65%, which could be due to the stronger weekly performance during the summer. Quantumania had a stronger jump than Multiverse of Madness going into its Friday (+119% vs. +111%) and from there going into Saturday (+76% vs. 54%). The Saturday-to-Sunday drop is slightly harsher (-36% vs. -31%) but could be an indicator for its third weekend. The big question is the drop going into Monday and how it carries into the next week.

    The weekend had a surprise opening for Cocaine Bear at $23M, which likely had its male audience take a bigger bite out of Ant-Man than expected. Though the film might also face a harsher drop next weekend, as unlike M3GAN or Violent Night, it got a softer B- CinemaScore with more mixed reactions from audiences. Still, it’s a good opening for the out-there black comedy and likely got its CinemaScore from the amount of gore that was included; something horror films generally struggle with when it comes to audience reception.

    Source: Variety, Twitter, Deadline, The Numbers, The Numbers (Love and Thunder),

  • ‘Quantumania’ Director Confirms the Identity of the Triumvirate of Mid-Credit Kangs

    ‘Quantumania’ Director Confirms the Identity of the Triumvirate of Mid-Credit Kangs

    To date, Marvel Studios’ most off-the-wall mid-credit scene came attached to Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania. The scene introduced a thousand or so Kang Variants, most of which were shown so quickly that they were fairly hard to identify; however, three of the Variants had a little more screentime, making it clear they were the first among equals of this Council of Kangs. Two of the three seemed to be pretty one-to-one and obvious adaptations of different Kangs from the comics, but the third one caused some confusion even among comic book fans.

    Thankfully, director Peyton Reed took the time to identify the key Variants in an interview with ET. Though he looked a bit Robocop, fans easily identified the Variant known as Rama-Tut, about who Reed said “we sort of bent [him] up a little bit and made him this very strange sort of bionic variant of Rama-Tut.” Like Rama-Tut, Immortus, too, was pretty easily recognizable; however, the third member of the group didn’t really have much in common, at least aesthetically, with any of Kang’s comic book selves. And so while fans assumed he was probably a version of the Scarlet Centurion, the next most prominent version of Kang from the comics, uncertainty lingered until Reed came to the rescue.

    We knew we wanted to sort of just give a tiny taste of the potential of what some of these Kang variants are and brief nods to [Pharaoh] Rama-Tut, [Scarlet] Centurion, Immortus.

    Peyton Reed

    Scarlet Centurion it is! Of course, while they are all Variants of the Prime Kang (have we met him yet?), each of these Variants has different experiences and often different goals in the comics. Despite all that, they seem to be working together, at least to some extent and are very concerned about the fact that more and more heroes are discovering the Multiverse. While there will certainly be more time spent with these Variants soon, they are shaping up to be quite a force to be reckoned with in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty.

    Source: ET

  • ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ Passes $300M Worldwide

    ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ Passes $300M Worldwide

    All eyes are currently on that second-weekend drop for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, as it’s expected to potentially end up as the biggest drop for any Marvel Studios or even superhero film. There’s, of course, the chance that it’s weaker than expected Thursday may have ended up pulling expectations far back, as originally most expected something around 35M to 40M. Now, it’s uncertain where it’ll land above $30M.

    Naturally, the usual big superhero drop in its second weekend has the Internet going: “Marvel is dead” and the usual gloating about one singular film’s performance. It’s even happened with films that have performed quite well throughout the last year. So, there are also some positive things to report on that may get overshadowed in the usual discourse online.

    As of now, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania has already passed the $300M box office benchmark worldwide. It currently stands at $143M domestically and $160M internationally, which means it pulled in a total of $303M as of this Friday. With the film likely set to wrap around 30M over the weekend there’s still a chance it’ll end its second weekend with $350M worldwide.

    Some might still be scratching their heads though on what exactly is going on. Even Eternals with a B rating had a stronger hold going into its second weekend. So, what exactly is the cause for Ant-Man 3‘s current drop in its second weekend? The film did perform quite well with younger audiences that only make up around 16% of its viewing basis. Cocaine Bear is likely to pull in young adults and especially male audiences that took a bigger chunk than expected, as that film is currently performing quite well on its Friday (doing even better than the Marvel entry).

    So, the audience just wasn’t as strong on a Friday as it could’ve been and the counter-programming had a bigger overlap than initially expected. February also hasn’t seen any major releases in quite some time since before the pandemic. So, the market is much harder to predict and this weekend is quite a bit softer than the previous one. There’s a massive blockbuster summer ahead and there’s a chance that “okay” or “just good” isn’t enough to keep viewers in theaters while they’re saving for what’s coming.

    Plus, the US saw quite a few strong storms, which may also have not really tempted people to leave for the theater as fast as possible, especially families. If these are a potential factor going into the weekend, they may potentially balance out in the third weekend but that depends on how this weekend generally goes.

    So, word-of-mouth not being as strong as it could’ve been is just holding the film back quite a bit more in a non-summer market. There’s also the question if Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania took too big of a step from what the general audience is used to. The first two films are very grounded and light-hearted offerings. So, the big major addition of Kang the Conqueror combined with a full-on weird sci-fi epic direction just was “too different” to really get people coming back.

    Thor: Love and Thunder had a similar drop in development when compared to just a better weekly performance due to its July release. Yet, it also was far more in the comedy direction when even compared to Thor: Ragnarok and previous films, which may have just left audiences having an issue connecting with what they expected to be another Thor film.

    Science fiction also has generally struggled at times, especially internationally in Eastern markets as highlighted by Deadline. Eternals had the luck that it had one of South Korea’s biggest actors as part of its main cast, which created a surprising boost even with its high sci-fi concept mixed with a more indie film approach. And it’s too early to even describe a $300M movie as a flop, as we’re only in its second weekend.

    Still, as pointed out by The Wrap, the film’s international box office in China hasn’t really left an impression with its $19.2M opening either. It’s also set for a harsher drop in that market but there’s generally a lot of momentum lost in that market for Hollywood productions over the pandemic. So, the film is only going to get a little boost out of it and likely won’t get anywhere near the other Ant-Man films in that market.

    As of now, we don’t know where the second weekend will end up and have no idea if the film might have a softer third weekend. If people rushed to the theaters to see Kang and the future of the MCU, they drop might be easier to explain as tepid word-of-mouth just didn’t add the “must watch now” replay value. Disney+’s 45-day strategy also hurt the industry and some might think it’s just worth waiting it out until it releases there.

    Marvel Studios might be smart and extend theatrical windows publicly to ensure audiences know the wait is going to be much longer, but they also may be reactionary to get it to the streaming service and it may even rival Eternals as one of the most viewed offerings on the service. So, if the film isn’t a seller on the first view, word-of-mouth is just harsher as post-Endgame expectations still remain at an all-time high; so let’s please not bring in Marvel fatigue to the discussion as the opening still hints at interest.

    If we try to predict with the data we have now, the film might likely have similar legs to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which would be a multiplier of 2.2. The Friday-to-Friday drop would match the 81%, as it currently stands at 82% unadjusted. So, if it manages to stay below the feared 70% drop, it could still somewhat leg out in its third weekend. With a similar projection, it could end up at around 230M domestically.

    It should be noted that its Thursday to Friday drop is better than Doctor Strange‘s at 119% vs. 111% but that was also during the summer. Thor: Love and Thunder had a 80% drop in its Friday-to-Friday but ended up with a much worse 68% drop in its second weekend. Quantumania still has some potential depending on Saturday to dodge that number. So, it could have surprisingly better legs with a multiplier of 2.35 like Love and Thunder. That would put it at around 250M. Worst case, it’s another Batman v Superman and we have a soft 2x multiplier and we end up slightly above 200M.

    So, there is potential that the film could end up between $500M and $550M with China included. The first Ant-Man made $518M but if you take out China actually only stands at 413M. Its sequel, Ant-Man and the Wasp was slightly above $623M but without China is actually at 503M. So, if with Chinese box office likely ends up at around 40M, the film could end up making more than its previous entry with 510M. The budget is much higher at around a predicted $200M but it would still technically break even and make most of its profits through digital and physical sales.

    Source: The Numbers, The Wrap, The Numbers (Multiverse of Madness), The Numbers (Love and Thunder), The Numbers (Ant-Man), The Numbers (A&TW), The Guardian

  • ‘Ant-Man 3’ May End its 2nd Weekend With Superhero Genre’s Biggest Drop Ever

    ‘Ant-Man 3’ May End its 2nd Weekend With Superhero Genre’s Biggest Drop Ever

    Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania still had some momentum leaving its first week with a strong Monday holiday, but quickly slipped throughout the week to Marvel’s second-worst Thursday at 3.7M only beating Thor: The Dark World. Now, the second weekend has finally started and while most expected it to move around 60% to 65%, we’re about to face a much harsher weekend for the Marvel Studios latest than expected.

    The film has been overshadowed by Cocaine Bear going into its Friday, which pulled in a strong $8.65M including Thursday previews against Ant-Man 3 that pulled in $8.3M (a harsh 82% drop which is higher than that of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness). Of course, it technically is behind Quantumania but gets that premiere Thursday boost. Still, the film is expected to open above $20M at this rate and is looking to showcase the staying power for some bloody good action in theaters.

    Right behind it is Jesus Revolution which has a very strong audience performance and is also expected to open strongly thanks to its faith-based core audience. Both are still not expected to dethrone Ant-Man this weekend but the film is set to potentially drop between 67% to 72%. Right now, everyone is losing a bit of faith and believes the drop might be on the harsher end, which would make it the biggest drop for any Marvel Studios film and potentially even superhero films in general.

    So, what exactly is going on? The Friday drop was a harsh 82% and now has the third lowest second Friday, as it still is holding better than Eternals and Black Widow, but it also had a bigger opening than both. Right now, the question is if it’ll still manage 30M or surprise with 35M after all after that sharp drop. The lowest holder of the second-weekend drop is Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice at 69.1%, which adds to the weight if this film will even stick around below 70%. So far, the only blockbuster that had this high of a drop was the last Harry Potter film at 72%.

    It’s hard to say but word-of-mouth isn’t really pushing it as strongly as it could. There’s a chance that most that weren’t fully sold on the film are just going to wait for the Disney+ release and that is why there’s no rush to see it in theaters, as with 3 1/2 PostTrack rating it wasn’t deemed terrible just didn’t sell audiences on it being a must-watch (mixed word-of-mouth doesn’t always translate to terrible film). We’ll have to see where it truly lands this weekend as it’s expected to have a better Saturday but at best it might rival Thor: Love and Thunder‘s weekend drop which was 67.7%.

    Source: Twitter, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, The Numbers

  • ‘Ant-Man 3’s [SPOILER] Is Open for a MODOK Prequel

    ‘Ant-Man 3’s [SPOILER] Is Open for a MODOK Prequel

    The following article includes spoilers for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. So, only read it at your own risk.

    One of Marvel Studios’ worst-kept secrets was the return of Corey Stoll in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. We got the return of Darren Cross but in quite a different way than some may have hoped. No longer was he wearing the Yellowjacket suit but rather has become the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s take on the iconic Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing, or MODOK for short.

    In an interview with ComicBook.com, Stoll got a chance to share his thoughts on the role and it seems he’s definitely down to return. He’d be open to potentially exploring a prequel story on his time as MODOK before the events of Quantumania, though he’s not sure if audiences would be able to “take him seriously after” Quantumania.

    I think having gone so comedic with this, it would be fun to maybe go back before the events of this movie and see him as this really scary, mechanized organism designed only for killing. But I don’t know if the audience could take him seriously after the events of this movie. So it could be fun to see him actually try to be an Avenger.

    Corey Stoll

    Given the ending of the Ant-Man threequel, there’s some uncertainty if they made MODOK a one-and-done villain but with the multiverse at large, they could bring him back in creative ways. Nothing is impossible in the multiverse but there’s a chance the character might become a fan-favcorite given enough time. Quantumania has been fighting its way through critical reception and a more mellowed-out WOM but given time it still has a lot of potentials to become the jumping-off point for some exciting stories.

    Source: ComicBook.com