MCU: Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

[Cheesebeef]

Shang Chi was awesome

1st half was awesome for me. The bus fight was the best Marvel action scene since the elevator ass kicking in Winter Soldier.

2nd half was okay, but a big drop off from the 1st half when I thought they were making their way towards a classic.

 

[Cheesebeef]

I think I'm done with the MCU except for Guardians 3 after this. The movies just don't work for me anymore. Spiderman was the only thing in phase 4 that I cared for and most of phase 3 was average with 3 really good movies and a huge dud. The rest of phase 5 doesn't excite either. I can't get worked up for Captain Marvel 2 later in the year, assuming it doesn't get pushed back for the 5th time. They're just not giving me the feelings that the movies in phase 1 and 2 did. So I'm thinking that it's best for me to move on and just cherry pick the film here or there.

So, I was listening to a podcast today that talked about how bad this phase was… and are we looking back with rosey glasses at the past.

Phase 1 was Iron Man. A classic. But then Incredible Hulk. Really meh. Iron Man 2… big letdown. Thor… decent at best. Captain America, solid. Ends with whatever thought was a massive bang at the time with the Avengers, but hasn’t aged quite as well.

So, Phase 1 had one certifiable classic. One movie beloved at the time and still really good. The rest pretty mixed. 2 great, 1 okay, 3 really mixed.

Phase 2 was Iron Man 3 (incredibly divisive). Thor 2 (awful). Winter Soldier (awesome). Guardians (awesome). Age Of Ultron (meh). Ant-Man (solid).

So Phase 2 had 2 classics, 1 rock solid, 3 really mixed.

Phase 3 had Civil War (awesome), Doctor Strange (meh), Guardians 2 (good), Spider-Man Homecoming (good to great), Ragnarok (good to great), Black Panther (awesome), Infinity War (awesome), AntMan 2 (solid fun), Captain Marvel (bad), Endgame (classic), Spider-Man 2 (really good)

These were the glory years… 11 movies in 4 years with 4 bonafide classics, 4 more that are floor level good and lots of people rate great, 2 okay and 1 bad.

Then Phase 4… Eh… they definitely diluted the brand here with all the mediocre TV shows. Wandavision and Loki were good to great. The rest were pretty disposable. Movies… Black Widow… meh. Shang Chi was good. I loved Wakanda Forever and Spidey 3 is an all-timer. Eternals was awful. Thor was mixed at best. Strange was fine. Which leaves Guardians. So, that’s 7 movies, where I thought 2 were great, 1 was good, the rest were mixed.

This phase was also just missing comic star power. MASSIVE Characters died on and off screen. And this next phase will suffer from lack of Star power too. I don’t see Marvel truly returning to anything close to its heyday (if at all) until the Fantastic 4 and the X-Men are brought back into the fold.

But the first two phases were bumpy rides and yet Marvel kept chugging along until it hit its 3rd phase prime. We just went through a new beginning phase and another that looks kinda bumpy.

But phase 6 has a Deadpool/Wolverine movie that everyone is salivating for, Fantastic 4 and big team up movies with a couple yet to be announced.

All of which is to say… This entire post is pretty pointless.

 

[Stout]

I think I'm done with the MCU except for Guardians 3 after this. The movies just don't work for me anymore. Spiderman was the only thing in phase 4 that I cared for and most of phase 3 was average with 3 really good movies and a huge dud. The rest of phase 5 doesn't excite either. I can't get worked up for Captain Marvel 2 later in the year, assuming it doesn't get pushed back for the 5th time. They're just not giving me the feelings that the movies in phase 1 and 2 did. So I'm thinking that it's best for me to move on and just cherry pick the film here or there.

Right there with you.

 

[Stout]

Shang Chi was awesome

Also right there with you.

 

[Chaplin]

Effects were spectacular, but the movie felt... empty. I didn't understand what the stakes really are. It's not in space, it's not on earth, it's in some made up fantasy world that is hard to care about. And they tried to portray how awful Kang is, but I thought it really fell short. I didn't think he was very intimidating until maybe the very end where he went nuts.

As someone that doesn't know the comics, that 1st end credit scene was just weird.

And is it a coincidence that they made the Quantum Realm similar to another movie Disney put out late in 2022? And it was a bomb? Ouch. Strange world indeed.

 

[Devilmaycare]

So, I was listening to a podcast today that talked about how bad this phase was… and are we looking back with rosey glasses at the past.

Phase 1 was Iron Man. A classic. But then Incredible Hulk. Really meh. Iron Man 2… big letdown. Thor… decent at best. Captain America, solid. Ends with whatever thought was a massive bang at the time with the Avengers, but hasn’t aged quite as well.

So, Phase 1 had one certifiable classic. One movie beloved at the time and still really good. The rest pretty mixed. 2 great, 1 okay, 3 really mixed.

Phase 2 was Iron Man 3 (incredibly divisive). Thor 2 (awful). Winter Soldier (awesome). Guardians (awesome). Age Of Ultron (meh). Ant-Man (solid).

So Phase 2 had 2 classics, 1 rock solid, 3 really mixed.

Phase 3 had Civil War (awesome), Doctor Strange (meh), Guardians 2 (good), Spider-Man Homecoming (good to great), Ragnarok (good to great), Black Panther (awesome), Infinity War (awesome), AntMan 2 (solid fun), Captain Marvel (bad), Endgame (classic), Spider-Man 2 (really good)

These were the glory years… 11 movies in 4 years with 4 bonafide classics, 4 more that are floor level good and lots of people rate great, 2 okay and 1 bad.

Then Phase 4… Eh… they definitely diluted the brand here with all the mediocre TV shows. Wandavision and Loki were good to great. The rest were pretty disposable. Movies… Black Widow… meh. Shang Chi was good. I loved Wakanda Forever and Spidey 3 is an all-timer. Eternals was awful. Thor was mixed at best. Strange was fine. Which leaves Guardians. So, that’s 7 movies, where I thought 2 were great, 1 was good, the rest were mixed.

This phase was also just missing comic star power. MASSIVE Characters died on and off screen. And this next phase will suffer from lack of Star power too. I don’t see Marvel truly returning to anything close to its heyday (if at all) until the Fantastic 4 and the X-Men are brought back into the fold.

But the first two phases were bumpy rides and yet Marvel kept chugging along until it hit its 3rd phase prime. We just went through a new beginning phase and another that looks kinda bumpy.

But phase 6 has a Deadpool/Wolverine movie that everyone is salivating for, Fantastic 4 and big team up movies with a couple yet to be announced.

All of which is to say… This entire post is pretty pointless.

I mostly agree with you on phase 1 and 2. I'd put the first Thor and The Avengers just a hair higher, at least when compared to phase 4 and 5. I'd rewatch either of them before anything in those phases. My willingness to rewatch is one of my bigger measuring sticks.

We diverge a bit in phase 3 though. Civil War average, Doctor Strange I loved, Guardians 2 really good. Then things go down from their. Neither of the Spider-mans did much for me, average. Ragnarok bad, the humor didn't work for me, Black Panther average, the CGI and other elements were a mess, Infinity War awesome it was the peak of the phase, Ant-man 2 meh, Captain Marvel horrible, Endgame was average with muddy CGI.

In Phase 4, Spidy is the only one I liked. The rest of them I'd have trouble even naming a character outside of the title chars. They were that forgettable. Phase 5 is starting out the same. I'll give Guardians a try but that's it. Everything else is uninspiring.

I agree with you about the loss of star power. I think they screwed up big time with Endgame by killing off people and they painted themselves into a corner with the blip. Going multiverse already was weak and a cheap trick. The way they're glossing over blip issues bugs me too. Like they touched on people being in homes that were abandoned by the snapped people but then dropped it. Ramifications like that I'm interested in seeing. Or how about something dealing with the mass deaths from people that were in planes or other dangerous situations when they blipped out and then reappears in the middle of the air? The fallout from the blip would be massive and they're mostly sweeping it under the rug.

Phase 6 is a long way off. We'll see how things look then for Deadpool, Xmen, and Fantastic 4. I'm concerned about all of them now that they're under Disney. The mouse usually doesn't like Deadpool-like material so do they neuter him? Blade has the same concern.

 

[oaken1]

So, I was listening to a podcast today that talked about how bad this phase was… and are we looking back with rosey glasses at the past.

Phase 1 was Iron Man. A classic. But then Incredible Hulk. Really meh. Iron Man 2… big letdown. Thor… decent at best. Captain America, solid. Ends with whatever thought was a massive bang at the time with the Avengers, but hasn’t aged quite as well.

So, Phase 1 had one certifiable classic. One movie beloved at the time and still really good. The rest pretty mixed. 2 great, 1 okay, 3 really mixed.

Phase 2 was Iron Man 3 (incredibly divisive). Thor 2 (awful). Winter Soldier (awesome). Guardians (awesome). Age Of Ultron (meh). Ant-Man (solid).

So Phase 2 had 2 classics, 1 rock solid, 3 really mixed.

Phase 3 had Civil War (awesome), Doctor Strange (meh), Guardians 2 (good), Spider-Man Homecoming (good to great), Ragnarok (good to great), Black Panther (awesome), Infinity War (awesome), AntMan 2 (solid fun), Captain Marvel (bad), Endgame (classic), Spider-Man 2 (really good)

These were the glory years… 11 movies in 4 years with 4 bonafide classics, 4 more that are floor level good and lots of people rate great, 2 okay and 1 bad.

Then Phase 4… Eh… they definitely diluted the brand here with all the mediocre TV shows. Wandavision and Loki were good to great. The rest were pretty disposable. Movies… Black Widow… meh. Shang Chi was good. I loved Wakanda Forever and Spidey 3 is an all-timer. Eternals was awful. Thor was mixed at best. Strange was fine. Which leaves Guardians. So, that’s 7 movies, where I thought 2 were great, 1 was good, the rest were mixed.

This phase was also just missing comic star power. MASSIVE Characters died on and off screen. And this next phase will suffer from lack of Star power too. I don’t see Marvel truly returning to anything close to its heyday (if at all) until the Fantastic 4 and the X-Men are brought back into the fold.

But the first two phases were bumpy rides and yet Marvel kept chugging along until it hit its 3rd phase prime. We just went through a new beginning phase and another that looks kinda bumpy.

But phase 6 has a Deadpool/Wolverine movie that everyone is salivating for, Fantastic 4 and big team up movies with a couple yet to be announced.

All of which is to say… This entire post is pretty pointless.

shang chi was awesome... but you thought wakanda forever was great?? I cant even force myself to think of it as good. The only reason I even watched it all was because I was at work. it was eternals level poor.
definitely looking forward to a F4 reboot, and Xmen

 

[Cheesebeef]

shang chi was awesome... but you thought wakanda forever was great?? I cant even force myself to think of it as good. The only reason I even watched it all was because I was at work. it was eternals level poor.
definitely looking forward to a F4 reboot, and Xmen

Yup. Hot Take alert… the Women of Wakanda were the strongest part of Black Panther, with Killmonger coming in a close second. Both of them much more interesting than T’Challa, who was heroic and full of valor… to the point of being a little boring.

I thought they handled a movie about overcoming grief incredibly well, while also introducing the Submariner who’s already one of the entire Marvel franchises’ most interesting villains/anti-heroes.

Only thing that sucked about that movie was the pointless side-story setting up a Thunderbolts movies that absolutely no one is clamoring for.

 

[oaken1]

Yup. Hot Take alert… the Women of Wakanda were the strongest part of Black Panther. Much more interesting than T’Challa, who was heroic and full of valor… to the point of being a little boring.

I thought they handled a movie about overcoming grief as well as possible while also introducing the Submariner who’s already one of the series most interesting villains/anti-heroes.

Only thing that sucked about that movie was the pointless side-story setting up a Thunderbolts movies that absolutely no one is clamoring for.

Im kinda stoked to see Namor show up. Submariner comics were some of my favorite. But I would have cast him taller, thinner....

 

[Stout]

shang chi was awesome... but you thought wakanda forever was great?? I cant even force myself to think of it as good. The only reason I even watched it all was because I was at work. it was eternals level poor.
definitely looking forward to a F4 reboot, and Xmen

Right there with you. Wakanda Forever was Eternals bad.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Right there with you. Wakanda Forever was Eternals bad.

Lol… wow.

 

[Devilmaycare]

Right there with you. Wakanda Forever was Eternals bad.

I wouldn't put it Eternals bad but I'd put in the the bottom 1/3 of the MCU.

 

[Stout]

Lol… wow.

 

[Cheesebeef]

This thing plummeted like a f’n rock:

‘Quantumania’ Still Worst Drop For MCU Title, ‘Cocaine Bear’ Real High With $23M & ‘Jesus Revolution’ Raising $15M+ – Sunday Box Office

Box Office: 'Ant-Man & Wasp: Quantumania' Worst Drop For Marvel Movie, 'Cocaine Bear' Opens to $21M

deadline.com

 

[Stout]

This thing plummeted like a f’n rock:

‘Quantumania’ Still Worst Drop For MCU Title, ‘Cocaine Bear’ Real High With $23M & ‘Jesus Revolution’ Raising $15M+ – Sunday Box Office

Box Office: 'Ant-Man & Wasp: Quantumania' Worst Drop For Marvel Movie, 'Cocaine Bear' Opens to $21M

deadline.com

Holy ish! Expected a drop, not a drop off a cliff! All those Marvel fanboys/girls are done now, and the rest of the people are all "meh."

 

[Devilmaycare]

This thing plummeted like a f’n rock:

‘Quantumania’ Still Worst Drop For MCU Title, ‘Cocaine Bear’ Real High With $23M & ‘Jesus Revolution’ Raising $15M+ – Sunday Box Office

Box Office: 'Ant-Man & Wasp: Quantumania' Worst Drop For Marvel Movie, 'Cocaine Bear' Opens to $21M

deadline.com

I thought it was going to drop but not this much. I was thinking about 60% but 71% is next level. I might have trouble hitting $200m domestic. There's a good chance this loses money since it had a $200m budget. Black Widow and Eternals are the only other ones that I think are in that boat with Shang-Chi being around even.

 

[Covert Rain]

This thing plummeted like a f’n rock:

‘Quantumania’ Still Worst Drop For MCU Title, ‘Cocaine Bear’ Real High With $23M & ‘Jesus Revolution’ Raising $15M+ – Sunday Box Office

Box Office: 'Ant-Man & Wasp: Quantumania' Worst Drop For Marvel Movie, 'Cocaine Bear' Opens to $21M

deadline.com

We are going to try and see it this weekend. The wife had the flu, daughter had strep so we couldn’t see it last week until everybody starting feeling better. Sounds like we will get great seats. LOL.

 

[Cheesebeef]

I thought it was going to drop but not this much. I was thinking about 60% but 71% is next level. I might have trouble hitting $200m domestic. There's a good chance this loses money since it had a $200m budget. Black Widow and Eternals are the only other ones that I think are in that boat with Shang-Chi being around even.

It’s still making good money international so it probably won’t lose money. But it’s a continuing sign of Marvel’s slide in quality. Although Love and Thunder crashed pretty hard but ended up with solid legs.

That said, this month has Creed 3, Scream 6, Shazam 2 and John Wick 4 coming in consecutive weeks about to squash AntMan like a bug.

That sentence is so depressing. At least Cocaine Bear made 20 million this weekend. I don’t care if that movie’s good or bad… it’s at least something WEIRD that Universal took a shot on and paid off. Between that, Megan, The Lost City and Violent Night performing, maybe the mid-budget comedy is finally making a comeback.

 

[Covert Rain]

It’s still making good money international so it probably won’t lose money. But it’s a continuing sign of Marvel’s slide in quality. Although Love and Thunder crashed pretty hard but ended up with solid legs.

That said, this month has Creed 3, Scream 6, Shazam 2 and John Wick 4 coming in consecutive weeks about to squash AntMan like a bug.

That sentence is so depressing. At least Cocaine Bear made 20 million this weekend. I don’t care if that movie’s good or bad… it’s at least something WEIRD that Universal took a shot on and paid off. Between that, Megan, The Lost City and Violent Night performing, maybe the mid-budget comedy is finally making a comeback.

Marvel needs a Feige intervention. Thor God and Thunder sucked. Wakanda Forever was OK and now this movie.

Marvel is at a turning point with their franchise IMO.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Marvel needs a Feige intervention. Thor God and Thunder sucked. Wakanda Forever was OK and now this movie.

Marvel is at a turning point with their franchise IMO.

Their shows outside of Loki and Wandavision ranged from meh to suck a golf ball through a garden hose too.

 

[Chaplin]

Their shows outside of Loki and Wandavision ranged from meh to suck a golf ball through a garden hose too.

I thought ms Marvel and she hulk were fine for what they were.

What this is is a major opportunity for Gunn and DC.

 

[Cheesebeef]

I thought ms Marvel and she hulk were fine for what they were.

What this is is a major opportunity for Gunn and DC.

I put them both in the lower meh category.

 

[Chris_Sanders]

Their shows outside of Loki and Wandavision ranged from meh to suck a golf ball through a garden hose too.

What if will not stand for this slander

 

[Chris_Sanders]

But Animation may not be your thing

 

[Chaplin]

I put them both in the lower meh category.

You’re entitled to your opinion of course.