‘Quantumania’ And ‘Loki’ Writers Reportedly Removed From ‘Avengers: Kang Dynasty’ And ‘Avengers: Secret Wars’ Movies
John F. Trent
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A new rumor claims that both Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania writer Jeff Loveness and Loki writer Michael Waldron have been removed from working on the upcoming Avengers: Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars films.
Jonathan Majors as Kang The Conqueror in Marvel Studios’ ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA. Photo by Jay Maidment. © 2022 MARVEL.
Back in October, it was revealed by Deadline that Loki and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness writer Michael Waldron had been tapped by Marvel Studios to write Avengers: Secret Wars. In fact, Deadline noted in March 2023 that Waldron even renewed his deal with Disney and Marvel Studios despite CEO Bob Iger noting the poor quality of Marvel Studios’ recent outings.
The outlet had previously reported that Loveness would write Kang Dynasty in September 2022.
Benedict Cumberbatch as Dr. Stephen Strange in Marvel Studios’ DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2022. All Rights Reserved.
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It appears both of them might be out of their duties if the latest rumor is to be believed. This latest rumor comes from scooper MyTimeToShineH on X. The user posted, “No screenwriters will be hired for Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars until the strikes are over but it should be Phil Lord and Christopher Miller.”
MyTimeToShineH X
When questioned if both Loveness and Waldron are off Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars, MyTimeToShineH responded, “Yes.”
MyTimeToShineH X
MyTimeToShineH would not be the only scooper to make this claim. KC Walsh was also questioned whether or not Loveness and Waldron were out and the scooper responded, “Yea from what I’ve heard.”
KC Walsh X
This is not the first time that a rumor circulated around Loveness being removed from Kang Dynasty. Scooper Jeff Sneider reported back in May during an appearance on John Rocha’s The Hot Mic Show, “This is unconfirmed. My source is saying Jeff Loveness is off of the Kang Dynasty and that he fell off before the strike.”
When asked what this meant, Sneider responded, “Jeff Loveness, deserved or not, got a lot of criticism for his scripts. And, yes, it sounds like they are going in another direction from what my source says.”
This rumor comes as nearly all of Marvel Studios and The Walt Disney Company’s theatrical offerings have floundered at the box office. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania only grossed $463.6 million worldwide.
The film had an estimated production budget of $200 million meaning it needed at least $500 million to break even. It’s likely Marvel Studios lost around $21.8 million on the film.
(L-R): Jonathan Majors as Kang The Conqueror in Marvel Studios’ ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2022 MARVEL.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 likely made money for Marvel Studios with a worldwide gross of $844.5 million and a production budget of $250 million. It’s break even was $625 million. With the theatrical split Marvel Studios likely earned $131.7 million.
However, the film failed to outperform Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 without even adjusting for inflation. The second film grossed $869 million back in 2017. It also failed to best the first Guardians of the Galaxy film when you adjust for inflation. The film grossed $770.8 million in 2014 which is now around $995.4 million.
Pom Klementieff as Mantis, Dave Bautista as Drax, and Chris Pratt as Peter Quill/Star-Lord, and Karen Gillan as Nebula in Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2023 MARVEL.
While there do appear to be a lot of changes happening at Marvel Studios when it comes to who is writing the scripts, it’s unlikely to affect the final projects given Disney CEO Bob Iger still made it apparent they will no longer be telling stories about the iconic characters.
During a Morgan Stanley Conference in March, Iger stated, “What we have to look at at Marvel is not necessarily the volume of Marvel storytelling, but how many times we go back to the well on certain characters.”
He elaborated, “Sequels typically work well for us, but do you need a third or a fourth, for instance? Or is it time to turn to other characters? There’s nothing in any way inherently off in terms of the Marvel brand. I think we just have to look at what characters and stories we are mining.”
Reed Richards (John Krasinski) leads fellow Illuminati members Black Bolt (Anson Mount), Captain Carter (Hayley Atwell) and Captain Marvel (Lashana Lynch) against the Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022), Marvel Entertainment via Blu-ray
Iger then declared, “And if you look at the trajectory of Marvel over the next five years, you’ll see a lot of newness.”
He added, “Now, we’re going to turn back to the Avengers franchise, but with a whole set of different Avengers, as an example.”
The Avengers assemble in The Avengers (2012), Marvel Entertainment
What do you make of this new rumor that both Waldron and Loveness have been removed from Secret Wars and Kang Dynasty?
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