Credit: Marvel StudiosDespite being met with less-than-favorable reviews, Marvel’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023) is proving to be triumphant in at least one category: streaming viewership.
After premiering to mixed reviews in January, the first installation in the MCU’s Phase Five—Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania—continued to stay in theaters for several weeks before it was confirmed in April that it would be arriving on Disney+ on May 17.
Once again starring Paul Rudd as the titular hero, the third installment in the Ant-Man franchise sees Hank, Cassie (Kathryn Newton), Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly), Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer), and Hank Pym (Michael Douglass) fighting to survive after being sucked into the mysterious Quantum Realm. There, they must face off against a particularly dangerous villain: Jonathan Majors’ Kang.
The Ant-Man threequel surprisingly had the longest time gap between its theatrical release date and its streaming date of any MCU flick, with Disney tending to add movies to its streaming platform at least 45 days after their release.
However, the studio has made exceptions for projects like Thor: Love and Thunder (2022), Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), and other hit MCU releases, wanting to keep them in theaters as long as they continue to be profitable.
Initially, the movie was met with fairy harsh criticism, though it still proved successful at the box office. However, now that Quantumania is on Disney+, it seems like fans can’t get enough.
According to Whip Media’s streaming report, shared via The Wrap, Quantumania was the most-viewed film on any streaming service during the weekend of Friday, May 19 through Sunday, May 21.
Shockingly enough, the movie beat out other big blockbusters including Paramount+’s Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023), Prime Video’s Air (2023), and A Man Called Otto (2022) on Netflix, making it the most successful weekend that Disney+ had in months.
There’s plenty of reasons as to why Quantumania is proving to be such a hit for the streaming service. For one, the wild success of James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023) could be drawing audiences’ eyes back to Marvel, which undeniably took a hit from its underwhelming slate of Phase Four releases.
Hype for the Ant-Man threequel likely also helped its streaming success, as MCU fans had to wait longer than usual for it to arrive on Disney+.
Even if Quantumania wasn’t the biggest hit with a lot of fans, its success on streaming just goes to show that Marvel still reigns supreme when it comes to capturing unprecedented levels of viewership.
Did you enjoy Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania? Let us know in the comments below.