The second weekend of ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ is done and it certainly doesn’t bode well for the MCU’s longevity. The start to phase 5 isn’t looking good, and in fact might be off to a worse start than phase 4, which in itself is nothing to write home about. The second weekend of ‘Quantumania’ at the box office, had a record breaking worst second weekend drop off than any other Marvel movie to date at 69.6%. Not a good start to an MCU that is going the way of Star Wars with fans, and quickly becoming irrelevant. What’s more concerning is Jeff Loveness who wrote ‘Quantumania’, seems pretty unconcerned and directionless about where phase 5 and the Kang Dynasty are going. I mean after all, he is writing the 5th Avengers movie in which Kang is supposedly a Thanos level threat. But it’s okay, at least to Loveness, because he has “40 movies”…or “something like” that before that happens to flesh out Kang’s role. Oh boy…. ‘Quantumania’, along with everything else the MCU have been force feeding fans in the last few years, has been nothing short of abysmal. Everything from writing and direction, to budgets and CGI, have been a seminar on how to fail at the craft of film making. That’s just pathetic considering the box office giant the MCU once was just several years ago. Jeff Loveness’ attitude toward ‘Qunatumania’, and the MCU as a whole, as well as ‘Quantumania’s’ incredibly poor performance at the box office, is just one example among many in the last few years, that have shown fans how uncaring, unserious, and directionless Kevin Feige and Disney are about producing quality content.
Don’t Worry…They are in the Process of Figuring it all Out
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter by Brian Davids, Loveness sounded all over the place when he was talking about’Quantumania’ as well as what’s in store for the next Avenger’s movie he will be writing, as well as unsure of Kang’s character as a whole. This of course coming from a self described comic book geek.
“What probably helped me get the job was drawing the connection between Scott Lang and Kang the Conqueror. I’m a die-hard comics fan, but I don’t think they’ve ever had a conversation together in the comics. So, in the room, when I found out about Ant-Man 3 and that they were considering Kang as a villain, an idea just popped into my head of like, “Oh yeah, Kang the Conqueror is a time god. He’s this time pharaoh who’s lost more time than Scott Lang in the MCU.” And so that helped me put a very personal touch on it.”
THR then asked Loveness if the new big villain for the MCU would be a revolving door of Kang variants. Ant-Man and team did kill Kang in ‘Quantumania’ with an army of ants, so why not right? Makes perfect sense. The big baddie for phases 4,5, and 6 can be defeated by an army of ants on his first roe with a second rate super hero, and that’s the MCU’s answer to who they can have as a villain that rivals Thanos?
“I think I’ve already been killed by Feige for even taking this interview. (Laughs.) But we are in the process of figuring that out. I am so far behind on my Avengers script, but I’ll tell you when we’ve got it figured out. We’ve got a plan and we’ve got a story, but the goal right now, without giving too much away, is to show the true versatility and passion that Jonathan Majors has. I truly feel like I’m the luckiest guy in the world because I get to write for the most exciting young actor that I’ve seen in a long, long time. And so the short answer is that I can’t say anything, but the big answer is that Kang is a legion. So let’s see what that legion is like, and let’s get great character performances from the best actor around right now.”
THR asked Loveness about the Avengers Kang Dynasty script that he was behind on. The 5th Avengers movie is slated to come out May 2nd 2025, so I would think that Loveness is really behind.
“It’s hard to even say. I think I’m in the jet-lag stage of a press tour, but we’re working on it. Destin [Daniel Cretton] is incredible. I’ve had conversations with Jonathan about where he wants to take the character, so it’s still very early days. We’ve got like 40 more movies to go before I get there, but we’ve certainly got a plan. We’re all very excited for the story that we’re laying down, so now it’s just on me and my ADHD and my procrastination and all that. So, hopefully, Kevin doesn’t read this. If he is, hey, Kevin. I’m doing great. The pages are just flowing, man. (Laughs.) It’ll be there next week.”
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Disney and Marvel are Turning a Blind Eye to the Lack of Storytelling
‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’, in two weeks, has proven the peril Marvel and the MCU finds itself in. With terrible box office results for a phase 5 opener, ‘Quantumania’ has once again, given the fans a subpar movie wrought with inexperience. Jeff Loveness’ inexperience for writing a big 200 million dollar budget MCU movie is evidenced by ‘Quantumania’s results. Most of his career has been writing for ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ and ‘Rick and Morty’. Why would Kevin Feige think hiring someone with this amount of inexperience was a good idea for a big budget movie? Because that’s been Disney’s and Marvel’s mot-us operandi, and the last few years of absolute trash has been the result. And now fans will have that inexperience in charge of the first Avengers movie since 2019. I don’t think fans will be waiting with bated breath for ‘Avengers: The Kang Dynasty’ if “Quantumania’s’ failure is any indication.
The MCU Used to be a Good Time at the Movies
Marvel Studios has been infected with a political ideology that has choked their content of all creativity. All one has to do is look at the quality of the first 3 phases of the MCU, and compare that with phase 4, and now the beginning of phase 5 to see the stark differences. There was care, thought, and great storytelling in the first 3 phases. Whereas now, the fans are subjected to an MCU that is unrecognizable and unwatchable from the once former glory it enjoyed. Disney, who touts storytelling as one of the main reasons for their success, is apparently turning a blind eye to the vacuous storytelling that has made them abject failures the last 3 years, and the audience is becoming wise to their shenanigans and rightly turning away. The legacy media will cover for the MCU as they do with all of Disney’s properties and blame it on superhero fatigue, misogynistic white males, or racism, but the truth is that fans will pay to see something if it’s great and doesn’t preach to them. ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ comes to mind, as well as two new releases that came out this past week, ‘Cocaine Bear’ and ‘Jesus Revolution’. Two movies on very opposite ends of the spectrum that have obviously pulled fans in because they aren’t being preached or lectured to and just want to have a good time. The MCU used to be that good time.
