A disappointing start to the fifth phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Marvel’s latest film, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Qiantumania, has seen a rather underwhelming box office.



The third, and potentially final, installment in the Ant-Man series currently sits at $449.2 Million at the worldwide box office after being out for a month. That’s roughly $70 Million less than the first film from 2015 ($519.3 Million) and around $173 Million less than the second film from 2018 ($622.7 Million).

The film was seen by many as a confusing and dull experience with lackluster action and bad special effects. This along with the over-saturation of the Marvel brand throughout phase four has seemingly hurt this film’s box office potential, even with a Chinese box office release. 



The film isn’t expected to make much more than it already has, making it one of the lowest-earning MCU films alongside The Eternals, Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and Black Widow. The age when you could count on almost every MCU movie to make $1 Billion is seemingly over.

While it is safe to assume that the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will likely fare better, the same can’t be said for The Marvels or any of the other television projects set to release this year. With the second half of phase five releasing next year (Captain America: New World Order, Thunderbolts and Blade) their numbers may potentially suffer as well.



The phrase “Marvel fatigue” has been thrown around a lot. But with the large number of shows and movies that were crammed into those two years (seven films and eight shows), audiences may indeed be feeling “Marveled-out”, regardless of quality. 

If Disney wants to keep Marvel fresh they may need to try something a bit different. The only film that seems to be fitting that criteria, Deadpool 3, won’t release until late next year.

What do you think Marvel needs to do to keep audiences interested?

Source: comicbookmovie.com