The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has kicked off Phase 5 with the release of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, but it seems that the film is receiving mixed reviews. While it has managed to rake in significant box office sales, its critical reception has been less than stellar.

The film has become one of the most poorly reviewed Marvel Studios movies, earning a 47% “rotten” rating from critics and fans on Rotten Tomatoes. Despite this, the movie has claimed the title of the largest opening of the year and the highest for any Ant-Man film, with an impressive $104 million in domestic ticket sales.

Quantumania attempts to get things back on track for the MCU, advancing the overarching narrative of the Multiverse Saga. However, it does so at the cost of sacrificing much of the whimsical appeal that made the previous Ant-Man movies stand out. The movie has made a valiant effort to course-correct, but it remains to be seen if it will fully satisfy Marvel fans.

Regardless of its mixed reviews, only time will tell whether Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania can sustain the momentum of the MCU and stand out as a worthy installment in the iconic superhero franchise.

Hence, Real Research, an online survey app, launched a survey on the new Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania to gather public perceptions of the movie.

Highlights:

  • 56.99% have watched both the first Ant-Man movies
  • 62.33% have seen Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
  • In the future, 46.88% of people want to see another Ant-Man film

The first question in the survey asks participants if they have seen the most recent Ant-Man and the Wasp movie, Quantumania. The results show that 62.33% of respondents have watched it, compared to 31.96% who haven’t but plan to, and 5.71% who haven’t and aren’t interested.

Following that, a survey asked participants if they had seen the Ant-Man prequel. 56.99% of people have seen both Ant-Man films from 2015 and 2018. In the same way that 24.47% have only seen the 2015 Ant-Man film, 10.61% have only seen the 2018 Ant-Man film, and 7.93% haven’t seen either.

Possible Reasons for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’s Low Rating Among MCU Films

Based on the survey data, there is no clear consensus on what element of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania led to its low rating on Rotten Tomatoes and lower CinemaScore compared to its predecessors. However, a few areas stand out as being cited by many respondents.

The largest percentage of respondents, 7.9%, identified the plot as the reason for the low rating. This could suggest that the storyline was weak or convoluted and did not resonate with audiences as strongly as the previous Ant-Man movies.

Other areas that were mentioned by a notable percentage of respondents include setting (6.87%), characters (7.6%), and screenplay (7.83%). These elements are all integral to a movie’s success, and any weaknesses in them could have contributed to the film’s underperformance.

Dialogues and themes were cited by a smaller percentage of respondents, at 4.77% and 6.38%, respectively. It’s possible that these elements were not as prominent in the film or that other aspects overshadowed them. Finally, cinematography (7.27%) and soundtrack (5.58%) were also identified as possible reasons for the low rating. While these elements are important to a movie’s overall quality, they may not have been significant enough factors to impact the movie’s reception in a major way.

Reasons-for-Ant-Man-and-the-Wasp-Quantumania-flop
Figure 1: Reasons for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania flop

Would It Affect Other Marvel Films’ Revenues?

The survey results suggest that most respondents, 71.14%, believe that the negative reception to Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will positively impact the revenues of other upcoming Marvel movies. Specifically, 39.86% of respondents believe this will result in much higher revenue for other Marvel films, while 31.28% think it will result in higher revenue.

Only a small minority, 17.24%, believe that the negative reception to Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will have a negative impact on the revenues of other Marvel movies. Of those respondents, 14.1% believe it will result in lower revenue, and only 3.24% believe it will result in much lower revenue.

Finally, 4.93% of respondents believe that the negative reception to Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will not affect the revenues of other Marvel movies. Furthermore, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania box office collection were estimated to be $200-$300 million, according to 55.02%. Followed by 28.91% who said $400-$500 million, 10.11% said $600-$700 million, and 5.96% said more than $700 million.

Total-revenue-Quantumania-would-generate
Figure 2: Total revenue Quantumania would generate

Lastly, the survey results indicated that 46.88% of respondents would like to see another Ant-Man movie in the future. This suggests that despite the hostile reception to Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, some fans are still interested in the franchise.

However, a significant minority, 53.12%, expressed disinterest in another standalone Ant-Man movie. Of those respondents, 29.2% said they would prefer to see Ant-Man in other Marvel movies, indicating that they still enjoy the character but perhaps not enough to sustain an entire movie. The remaining 23.92% said they would not want another Ant-Man movie.

Overall, while there is still a desire among some fans for another Ant-Man movie, the survey results suggest that Marvel may need to consider other options for the character if they want to continue to feature him in their films.

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Figure 3: The majority prefer to see another Ant-Man movie

Methodology

Survey TitleSurvey on the New Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
DurationFebruary 24, 2023 to March 03, 2023
Number of Participants10,000
DemographicsMales and females, aged 21 to 99
Participating Countries Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Benin, Bolivia, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, China, China (Hong Kong) China (Macao), China (Taiwan), Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Greanada, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Libya, Lithuania, Malaysia, Maldives, Maluritania, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar [Burma], Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zimbabwe.