What has poor CGI, a weak script, lackluster action, no real stakes, and still managed to turn a profit? Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. The third entry in the Ant-Man trilogy, and the 31st film in the MCU, was lambasted by audiences and fans when it was released in 2023. The movie boasts an abysmal 46% score on Rotten Tomatoes, ranking it as the worst movie in the entire MCU — just one percent behind Eternals (which wasn’t that bad in hindsight).

Despite its poor standing among fans, a new report from Forbes has revealed that Marvel Studios is still raking in the cash, even when it’s phoning in its movies. While Quantumania’s box office take was a far cry from the $1.7 billion Avengers: Endgame managed to rake in, the movie was still profitable. With a worldwide box office take of $476 million, and thanks to a large UK tax credit, Quantumania made a tidy profit of $88,236.

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While the profit is measly compared to other MCU films, it is still incredibly surprising that Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania managed to turn a profit at all. The movie’s success likely comes from Kang’s (formerly played by Jonathan Majors) role as the main villain. After the character finally debuted in Loki Season 1, Kang’s appearance in Quantumania was intended to set up Avengers: Kang Dynasty, with the titular villain supposedly a Thanos-level threat.

Marvel Studios Was Right to Drop Kang From the MCU

When Kang was revealed in Loki, fans lost their minds about the new big bad of the MCU. Following Avengers: Endgame, audiences had been speculating which comic-book villain would step in as the next galaxy ending threat for the MCU. But Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania simultaneously put the franchise on rocky footing and killed a lot of the hype surrounding Kang’s power.

Kang is one of Marvel Comics’ greatest villains, equal to Galactus, Thanos, and Dr. Doom. So how did the MCU get it so wrong? Well, it mainly comes down to a lack of patience. Thanos was first teased at the end of Avengers in 2012. It then took Marvel Studios six years and countless movies to establish his true threat level before letting him loose in Avengers: Infinity War, in which he beat the Avengers. Loki was an incredibly tough villain for the Avengers to beat in their first team-up. But the reveal that he was just a puppet, with Thanos pulling the strings, established the purple alien as an immensely powerful villain.

However, Marvel Studios rushed to push Kang into the spotlight. The character played a minor role in Loki’s Season 1 finale, which featured a set-up similar to the one for Thanos. However, making him the main villain in Quantumania meant he would inevitably be beaten by one of the Avengers’ more comedic characters. If Kang could be taken down by some literal giant ants, how would he pose any threat to the entire Avengers line-up? Not to mention, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’s light-hearted and sarcastic tone also dampened a lot of Kang’s threatening aura — almost anything is scarier than a villain who talks to alternate versions of himself like Sylvester Stallone in Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over.

Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania Release Date February 17, 2023 Runtime 135 minutes