Marvel's Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Opening Night Audience Score vs. Critic Reviews

The audience score is in for Marvel Studios' Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and opening night moviegoers are giving the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe movie a better reception than critics. While the third Ant-Man installment currently sits at 49% "rotten" on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer — which represents the percentage of positive reviews from professional critics — Thursday's audience score from more than 500 verified ticket-buyers gave the movie an 84% "fresh," for an average rating of 4.2 out of 5 stars. Although that score will fluctuate as more audiences see the movie over opening weekend, it shows a divide with reviewers, whose critical reaction made Quantumania the second-lowest rated MCU movie behind only 2021's Eternals (also "rotten" at 47%).

Last May, Marvel's Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness outperformed its critical reception (then 79%) to score an 89% from audiences on opening day. DC's Dwayne Johnson vehicle Black Adam also scored better with opening weekend moviegoers, who rated that movie a franchise second-best 90%, more than doubling the 40% "rotten" from critics.

CinemaScore, which polls opening-night moviegoers for their opinions on new movie releases, has yet to reveal Quantumania's grade. Marvel's Black Panther: Wakanda Forever received an "A" grade from audiences, beating Thor: Love and Thunder (B) and Doctor Strange 2 (B+), earning Marvel Studios' best audience score since Spider-Man: No Way Home (A+) in 2021.

Reviewers have praised Jonathan Majors as the time-lord Kang the Conqueror and likened the Peyton Reed-directed Ant-Man threequel to "Marvel's Star Wars," but others criticized the bigger scope and scale coming at the cost of the franchise's signature small-scale charm. Read ComicBook's spoiler-free Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania review. 

In Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which officially kicks off phase 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Super-Hero partners Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) return to continue their adventures as Ant-Man and The Wasp. Together, with Hope's parents Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer), the family finds themselves exploring the Quantum Realm, interacting with strange new creatures and embarking on an adventure that will push them beyond the limits of what they thought was possible.

Marvel Studios' Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is now playing only in theaters.