An official release date has been announced for the Disney+ premiere of Ant-Man 3: Quantumania.
With the arrival of the latest superhero blockbuster on the streaming device, Disney+ has made more MCU material available in the home than ever before. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever had a disappointing record on this front.
The third installment of the MCU, Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, has confirmed when it will be available for digital and print purchase, with a Disney+ release seemingly set after the film struggled to find the kind of audience it was hoping for in the ticket office.
With a post-credits sequence tied to Loki season 2 that promises a new variation on Jonathan Majors’ Kang, Ant-Man 3 has already made MCU Disney+ history.
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Ant-Man 3 Announces Disney+ Release Date
According to Marvel Studios, Ant-Man, and the Wasp: Quantumania will debut on Disney+ on May 17.
A recent announcement said that the film would be available for digital purchase on April 18, then released on Blu-ray and 4K on May 16.
Ant-Man 3 was officially announced in a tweet from Marvel Studios as “Digital ONLY” on April 18. However, the home release marketing forgot to say when Ant-Man 3 will be available on Disney+.
Since the launch of Disney+ in 2019, no Marvel Studios movie has been announced as “Digital ONLY”; As a result, some people were concerned that it would be a while before the film was released on Disney’s streaming service.
Now that Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania is available so soon after the film’s physical release, audiences can relax.
A new poster for the Ant-Man sequel was also revealed to celebrate the Disney+ release date:
However, this signals a major change in Disney’s launch tactics. Fans have gotten used to Marvel Studios announcing their digital and streaming releases side by side, with both coming out on the same day for the past year.
As Avatar: The Way of Water recently used a similar principle by delaying the marketing and release of Disney+ until after the digital and Blu-ray crash, Disney appears to be considering changing its current streaming release strategy.
Although the service recently updated its spec information, Avatar 2 has yet to announce any Blu-ray or Disney+ release dates. It finally went digital on March 28.
Will Ant-Man 3 Home’s release strategy affect upcoming MCU movies?
Avatar 2 and Ant-Man 3 are the last two major Disney movies to drop the roadshow airdate for their first home release. This comes after Disney+ has been prominently featured in-home delivery ads and marketing for nearly every Disney movie since the service’s inception.
While movies like Avatar 2 and Black Panther 2 have above-average theatrical-to-digital release windows, Ant-Man 3’s 60-day window is more or less average for recent MCU movies. So it doesn’t seem like Disney is trying to increase the length of its theatrical offerings to increase its box office potential.
This may be a decision by Disney CEO Bob Iger, who replaced his fired predecessor, Bob Chapek, in November. Disney+ has been integral to Chapek’s content strategy, going as far as denying most animated films a theatrical release in favor of a direct-streaming model.
Movies debuting for digital purchase and streaming on Disney+ the same day will likely boost PVOD sales for House of Mouse. Perhaps with Iger now aiming to fix whatever damage Chapek has caused, part of that effort comes from the return of having to wait for pitches to flow.
With the amount of box office excitement surrounding Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, it’s highly likely that Disney will use a similar strategy for its release in order to maintain as many ticket sales as possible ahead of home releases and Disney+.
Fortunately, the wait won’t be long for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which will premiere on Disney+ on May 17.
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