Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
THE MARVELS
Starring Brie Larson (Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel), Teyonah Parris (Monica Rambeau), Iman Vellani (Kamala Khan / Ms. Marvel), Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury), and Zawe Ashton (Dar-Benn) with Tessa Thompson (Valkyrie) and Hailee Steinfeld (Kate Bishop), a special appearance by Lashana Lynch (Maria Rambeau) and a mid-credits scene featuring Kelsey Grammer as Hank McCoy / Beast
Directed by Nia DaCosta
Produced by Kevin Feige
Written by Nia DaCosta, Megan McDonnell, and Elissa Karasik
Music By Laura Karpman
Distributed by Walt Disney Pictures
Run Time: 1 hour and 45 minutes
World Premier: November 7, 2023, in Las Vegas, Nevada
Opening Weekend Box Office: $46 million (North America)
Worldwide Box Office: $206 million
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 62%
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
Fun The Marvels Facts
At the 2019 San Diego Comic Con, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige confirmed that a sequel to 2019’s highly successful feature film Captain Marvel was in the works. In the Spring of 2020 and with the COVID-19 Pandemic raging, Marvel Studios announced that The Marvels would release theatrically on July 8, 2022. This date would not stick due to the cataclysmic effects that COVID-19 had on the movie industry. The Pandemic forced numerous production delays and release date changes. At the end of the Summer of 2020, Nia DaCosta was hired to direct the Captain Marvel Sequel. Kevin Feige confirmed this during his “Investor’s Day” presentation on Disney+. A new release date of November 22, 2022, was also announced.
Nia DaCosta, a self-professed “comic book nerd” was the first Black woman to direct a feature film for Marvel Studios. Filming on The Marvels commenced on July 26, 2021. Filming took place in Italy, England, and Los Angeles. In the Fall of 2021, the film’s release date was pushed back yet again to February 17, 2023. Production wrapped in the Spring of 2022 and the release date of The Marvels was pushed back to July 28, 2023, as the film swapped places with Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania.
In the Spring of 2023, the movie industry was crippled once again, this time by the SAG-AFTRA and Writers Guild of America strikes. The Marvels was consequently delayed again, pushed back to November 10, 2023. Due to the strikes, the cast of The Marvels were not able to promote the film in any way ahead of its release.
Brie Larsen reprised her role as Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel in a credits scene in 2021’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, sharing a scene with Simu Liu’s Shang-Chi, Awkwafina’s Katy, Benedict Wong’s Wong, and Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner, expressing interest in the continued evaluation of the mystical relics known as the Ten Rings. This was Larsen’s first MCU appearance since 2019’s Avengers: Endgame and she would also be featured at the end of the Ms. Marvel series on Disney+. The Marvels marks Larsen’s fifth overall appearance within the MCU (Captain Marvel, Avengers: Endgame, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and Ms. Marvel).
The Marvels reveals that Brie Larsen’s Captain Marvel fulfilled her vow to take down the Kree Empire led by The Supreme Intelligence. Danvers became unaffectionately known as “The Annihilator” due to the cataclysmic impact the death of The Supreme Intelligence had on the Planet Hala and its inhabitants.
Teyonah Parris debuted as Monica Rambeau in the 2021 Disney+ series WandaVision. She was introduced as an Agent of S.W.O.R.D. It was revealed that she had been erased from existence by Thanos and that during her absence, her ill mother Maria passed away. Monica was a character in mourning and a woman who harbored a great deal of resentment for her “Aunt” Carol due to Captain Marvel’s extended absence after leaving Earth in the mid-1990’s. During WandaVision, Monica Rambeau mingled with Wanda Maximoff and received superpowers after being repeatedly exposed to Wanda’s Hex. At the end of the series, she is greeted by a Skrull, who informs her that Nick Fury wants to meet with her.
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
Iman Vellani debuted as Kamala Khan in the 2022 Disney+ series Ms. Marvel. She was introduced as a young super-fan of The Avengers and more specifically, a fan of Carol Danvers. Kamala’s life of high school, boys, and hero worship got turned upside down when she received superpowers after being exposed to a mystical Bangle and she becomes a beloved hero to her New Jersey neighborhood. The Marvels reveals that Kamala’s Bangle is one of a pair that are renowned as the “Quantum Bands.”
In The Marvels, Samuel L. Jackson makes his thirteenth live action appearance as Nick Fury within the MCU over the course of 15-years. Beginning in 2008, Fury has appeared in Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, The Avengers, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Avengers: Infinity War, Captain Marvel, Avengers: Endgame, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Secret Invasion, and The Marvels. Jackson has furthermore voiced Fury in two Seasons of the Marvel Studios animated series What If …? Chronologically, The Marvels takes place after Secret Invasion, which starred Jackson as Fury, exploring his complicated life following the Battle of Earth as well as his strained relationship with The Skrulls. That series sees Ben Mendelsohn’s Talos (introduced in Captain Marvel) die at the hands of a fellow Skrull (Gravik) while saving the life of the President of the United States (Ritson).
The villainous Dar-Been was gender-swapped in The Marvels, portrayed by Zawe Ashton. Zawe is married in real life to the MCU’s primary Loki: Tom Hiddleston!
The Marvels is an MCU production that was negatively affected by both the Coronavirus Pandemic and two Hollywood strikes. These are just two factors that led to the film’s poor reception. The Marvels was in development throughout Bob Chapek’s tenure as Disney CEO. This was a time in which the Marvel Studios team were directed to produce as many projects as possible in order to fuel the upstart Disney+ streaming service with content. In the Fall of 2022, longtime Disney CEO Bob Iger returned to that position and promised to put a renewed focus on “quality” over “quantity.” 2023 nonetheless saw the Marvel Studios team at the beginning of the year, produce their worst-reviewed MCU film ever, critically speaking. That film was Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania (46% on Rotten Tomatoes). The end of the year saw the release of The Marvels, which emerged as Marvel Studios’ worst-performing film of all-time at the Box Office, sinking below the longtime holder of that dubious record: 2008’s The Incredible Hulk.
At the end The Marvels, Iman Vellani’s Kamala Khan meets with Hailee Steinfeld’s Kate Bishop in order to invite her to form a team comprised of young superheroes. Vellani’s speech is worded in such a way to reflect the speech that Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury gave Robert Downey Jr’s Tony Stark in the revolutionary post-credits sequence of 2008’s Iron Man. Steinfeld debuted as Kate Bishop in Marvel Studios’ 2021 Disney+ series Hawkeye.
The mid-credits scene of The Marvels reveals that Monica Rambeau has crossed over from the MCU 616-Universe into a yet-to-be-designated Alternate Universe where Maria Rambeau is still alive and works with The X-Men. This revolutionary scene was made possible due to The Walt Disney company’s acquisition of the film and television divisions of Fox, a deal that closed in the Spring of 2019. This acquisition allowed characters such as The X-Men and The Fantastic Four to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe after years of existing in separate Cinematic Universes. Kelsey Grammer appears in this scene as Hank McCoy / Beast. Grammer first portrayed McCoy in 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand and appeared as the character in 2014’s X-Men: Days of Future Past as well. Grammer is the second former member of Fox’s X-Men cast to reprise the (Variant) role within the MCU, following Patrick Stewart, who appeared as Earth-838’s Charles Xavier / Professor X in 2022’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse.
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
My The Marvels Review
From the ashes of the once prosperous Kree Empire that was decimated by Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel of Earth, the bitter Dar-Been comes to possess one of the mystical Quantum Bands that allow for rapid interstellar travel. Activating an interstellar network comprised of Jump Points, Dar-Been interferes with the stability of the network and this is tracked by former Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Nick Fury aboard the S.A.B.E.R. space station near Earth. On opposite sides of Space, both Carol Danvers and Monica Rambeau investigate the damage to the network and consequently become entangled with one another, as well as the young Muslim superhero Kamala Khan back on Earth. The Quantum Entanglement causes all three of the women to switch physical places as Rambeau arrives where Carol was, Danvers arrives in Kamala’s bedroom, and Kamala arrives where Monca was, meeting Nick Fury for the first time.
The swapping continues whenever either of the three women use their powers simultaneously, and this leads to as much destruction as it does confusion. Once things settle down, Fury and Rambeau visit Kamala in New Jersey to assess the situation. It is determined that the three women are entangled due to the similarities in their superpowers as each are light-based.
Carol, Monica, and Kamala align, venturing to the Skrull refugee planet Tarnax IV where a peace treaty between the Skrulls and The Kree is actively being negotiated. The mere presence of the Destroyer of Hala causes the talks to break-down and when Dar-Been begins wreaking havoc on the planet, cataclysm occurs. Carol, Monica, and Kamala save everyone that they can, but many people perish. In the fallout of the destruction, Carol arranges for King Valkyrie of New Asgard to take the surviving Skrull refugees in on Earth.
Realizing that Dar-Been is targeting planets that are significant to Captain Marvel, Carol, Monica, and Kamala (dubbed “The Marvels” by Kamala) venture to the planet Aladna. As it turns out, Carol is actually a Princess here, as she wed Prince Yan of Aladna. This is a civilization that communicates through song, which makes for a unique sequence! Dar-Been soon arrives as Carol had feared and after draining the atmosphere of Tarnax IV of its air for Hala previously, Dar-Been now drains the water of Aladna for Hala.
Deducing that Earth’s sun will be Dar-Been’s next target, The Marvels regroup and rush out to cut her off, uniting with Fury and using a group of Flerkens to evacuate the S.A.B.E.R. crew. From there, the showdown is fierce and takes a significant turn once Dar-Been is stabbed during a collapse of rubble. With Dar-Been badly wounded, Carol offers to use her powers to create a new sun for Hala, but Dar-Been is too blood thirsty to be satisfied by such a thing and resumes her physical assault against The Marvels. When Da-Been comes to possess both Bangles, and attempts to use them, a Multiversal Rupture is opened, and Dar-Been is destroyed by its energy.
Monica volunteers to resolve the anomaly but ends up getting trapped on the other side of it, landing in a Universe in which her mother Maria is still alive and that is inhabited by a mutant superhero team known as The X-Men.
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
Back in the 616-Universe, Carol uses her power to restore Hala’s sun before returning to Earth and spending some bonding time with her biggest fan: Kamala Khan. Inspired by the Cosmic exploits of her three-woman team, Kamala decides to try and put together a new Earthbound team comprised of young heroes in the spirit of her beloved Avengers. The first person that she reaches out to is expert archer Kate Bishop!
Addressing the proverbial elephant in the room, I’m simply going to say that this movie is nowhere near as bad as it has been made out to be. In fact, it’s not bad at all … it’s actually quite good and I had a lot of fun with it! I guess if you’re a person that gets annoyed with women in power in general, or Black woman in power specifically, or of a female Muslim superhero, then this movie is not for you. I don’t share nor do I understand those viewpoints, but I’m well aware of how the world works and I know that all of the Girl Power is a big turn-off for a lot of people. Championing diversity and inclusion and equality just doesn’t appeal to a lot of people, but I am not one of those people. While it should absolutely be everyone’s individual right to watch what they want and to not watch what they don’t want, I also think it sucks to lash out at a movie that you haven’t even watched, just because you don’t agree with its cast or its premise. If you watched The Marvels and you hated it, fine! But if you insult and berate a movie that you never bothered to watch, I just think that’s unfair and stupid.
Personally, I really hate how much hate that young Iman Vellani has been the subject of. It is completely unwarranted, and it is quite frankly, disgusting! Iman Vellani was the BEST PART of this movie for me! Her frequent fan-girling, youthful exuberance, and natural charm made her funny, captivating, and entertaining, and just as easy to cheer for as her Ms. Marvel series (which a lot of people neglected to watch because it wasn’t “their thing”) was on Disney+. Look, Iman Vellani is one of US! An MCU geek, and she is living her dream and hers is such an amazingly wonderful story! I adore her and appreciate everything that she has brought to the MCU! This is a character that my little girl and so many other little girls can live vicariously through, and I cannot get enough of Kamala and her MCU family!
Coming off Secret Invasion, I especially enjoyed Samuel L. Jackson in this film as well. Secret Invasion felt like such a downer for the character, and while The Marvels doesn’t feel as organically connected to Secret Invasion as it probably should have, I’m fine with it, because I liked having the jovial Nick Fury back! He had some of the funniest lines in this film, and his interactions with Kamala herself, Kamala’s family, and of course, those adorably horrifying Flerkens were a lot of fun!
Brie Laersen gets a lot of flak because, well, agendas, but I really like her as Captain Marvel, and I thought she did a great job throughout this film. Being able to interact with Iman and Teyonah really bolstered her performance and I liked the mercy and the companionship that she boasted in this movie!
Beyond the cast, The Marvels had a lot of humor and a little drama and a lot of stunning cinematography! Maybe it was because I finished a lengthy binge of The Defenders Saga before I watched The Marvels for the first time (didn’t see it in theaters due to budgetary reasons), but I felt like I needed what was a fun, light-hearted, and easy-to-understand MCU film! And that’s what The Marvels was. It was bright, vivd, and charming and we need these kinds of MCU projects from time-to-time!
Of course, I have to express my love for the film’s two cameos! Ms. Marvel proposing a team-up with Kate Bishop? Yes, please! And The X-Men? Well, duh! Who isn’t excited to see more of that!?! Here in The Multiverse Saga, I do wonder if Monica’s presence in Beast’s Universe will spawn the threat of an Incursion, and I’m looking forward to seeing more traditional Fox X-Men characters get the Marvel Studios treatment!
Oh yeah, and all of the Flerkens were awesome! I sure do want one!
If you’re not a racist, a misogynist, or a bigot, and you haven’t given The Marvels a watch, I implore you to give it a chance, as I’m pretty sure you’ll end up having a blast. I sure did!
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
Highlights of The Marvels:
Iman Vellani is Kamala Khan / Ms. Marvel
Flerkens Galore!
Brie Larson is Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel
Girl Power!
Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury
Humor
Chemistry Between Brie Larsen and Iman Vellani
Cinematography
Kate Bishiop Cameo
Hank McCoy / Beast makes the credits Memorable!
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
Notable MCU Concepts and Characters Introduced:
Dar-Been and Beast
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