Source: Marvel Studios / Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania / Kang
Due to “Marvel fatigue,” whatever the hell that is, Marvel Studios made a pivot on its once very successful strategy for its films and Disney+ series. A THR article is shedding more light on that shift and claims that the studio was quietly working to burn Kang out of the MCU.
Following the flop of Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, THR reports Marvel Studios began to panic because the film had the immense task of kickstarting the next phase in the MCU and introducing its next Thanos-like villain, Kang The Conqueror, landed with a thud.
But what is most interesting is that behind the scenes, they were taking steps to move away from Kang The Conqueror.
The film’s shockingly poor performance and actor Jonathan Majors’ conviction, leading to his immediate firing by Marvel Studios, set off a series of motions of the Disney-owned studio. They have reportedly taken Kang’s name off the title of the next Avengers movie.
Per THR:
The first of the new Avengers movies, due out in 2026, was initially titled Avengers: The Kang Dynasty but will be getting a new title to remove the character’s name, though sources say that even before Majors’ conviction, the studio was making moves to minimize the character after Quantumania underperformed, grossing $476 million.
Preceding the revelations about Kang The Conqueror, many, including this writer, were calling C A P on that because despite Majors’s legal issues, he was the best part about Quantumania, and even in Loki, and still want him to be recast, and a part of the MCU’s current phase.
Am I the only one that was super invested in the Kang storyline? I can't believe its over
Quantumania didn't fail because of Kang, it failed because it was a bad movie. Meanwhile Loki did an AMAZING job at setting him up. They could've recast w/ a variant that kills the others pic.twitter.com/L5hqsQqf4F
— DriftyFilm (@driftyfilm) February 21, 2024
Don’t Cout Out Marvel Studios Just Yet
There are still a few things Marvel Studios can hang its hat on. The future is still bright for the MCU, and by no stretch of the imagination is the DCU, which is still struggling to find its footing after James Gunn has taken over.
With Marvel Jesus, aka Deadpool, on the way with Deadpool and Wolverine, X-Men 97, Fantastic Four, and other projects still on the way, this writer isn’t counting the Marvel Studios out.
You can peep more reactions to Marvel Studios allegedly trying to blame Kang for its “box office woes” in the gallery below.