February is nearly upon us, which means it’s almost time for Marvel Studios’ first film of the year. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is set to kick off Phase Five, and Marvel fans are eager to see Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) go up against Kang (Jonathan Majors). This week, Avatar: The Way of the Water became the fourth-highest-grossing film of all time, but it might finally have some box office competition when the third Ant-Man hits theaters next month. According to a new report from Deadline, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is on track to have a big opening weekend.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is hitting theaters on February 17th, and it’s projected to have a 4-day $120 million opening. If Quantumania does earn what’s projected, it will have one of the best openings for a Presidents Day weekend after the first Black Panther film ($242.1 million) and the first Deadpool ($152.1 million). Deadline predicts that the big draw of Quantumania is Majors’ Kang who made his debut in the Loki finale back in 2021.
Domestically, Quantumania is expected to earn between $100 million and $105 million over the first three days. For comparison, the domestic opening of the first Ant-Man earned $57.2 million in 2015, and Ant-Man and the Wasp made $75.8 million during its first weekend in 2018.
Will Kang Be the Thanos of Phase Five and Phase Six?
During San Diego Comic-Con last year, Marvel Studios revealed that they will officially wrap up the current saga with two new Avengers movies, Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars, and president Kevin Feige believes the multiverse is in good hands with Majors playing Kang.
“It comes down to the cast and with Jonathan Majors, who I think took over the Hall H stage, you know, in the three minutes he was up there,” Feige told ComicBook.com. “It’s amazing, and I said to him there’s nobody’s shoulders I’d rather be putting the multiverse saga on than his. It’s really impressive what Jonathan Majors is able to do and all the different incarnations, variants, if you will, of Kang that we will see him do. It’s really pretty cool.”
“What I love is that he’s totally different from Thanos. That he is completely different. That it’s not just how about there’s a bigger purple guy with a helmet? That’s not what Kang is. Kang is a very different type of villain and the fact that he is many, many different characters is what’s most exciting and most differentiates him.” The Marvel Studios President added.
Ant-Man director Peyton Reed also recently teased big things for Kang.
“We’re starting off Phase 5 in a big, big way,” Reed said during an appearance at CCXP 2022 in Brazil. “This is the biggest adventure that Ant-Man and Wasp have ever gone on. We’re going to strange places and we’re encountering an antagonist that’s unlike anything they’ve ever experienced — and that includes Thanos.”
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is now scheduled to be released on February 17th.
