The Marvels (2023) | REVIEW

Directed by Nia DaCosta (Candyman) — Screenplay by Nia DaCosta, Megan McDonnell, and Elissa Karasik.

Something feels off about retitling the sequel to a billion-dollar hit like Captain Marvel into ’The Marvels.’ While I get that part of the idea is that two characters in this film are both called ‘Marvel’ — Ms. Marvel and Captain Marvel — had it been almost any other major character like, say, Iron Man who teamed up with someone of a similar name like, say, Ironheart, then it almost definitely would’ve stuck by the Iron Man title because of how popular his films are and because of how relatively unknown the secondary character is (even if, like with The Marvels, it were team-up film). After all, you’ll want to stick to the title of the character making you a lot of money. So, why has Marvel Studios abandoned its principal character in the title? Perhaps it’s because a toxic vocal minority of the fanbase had been review-bombing the first film and because said vocal minority has insisted on making the internet a tough place to be a fan of the character. Once upon a time, fandoms were largely regarded as good and uplifting groups of people, but now toxic vocal minorities have ruined it for everyone. Now, I’m not saying that not calling it Captain Marvel 2 is the main reason for this sequel wildly underperforming at the box office (there are a bunch of reasons such as genre fatigue, sexism, and unfortunate release timing as it falls in the middle of industry strikes), but ever since that title was announced I have been disappointed that they didn’t stick to the name of their principal character in the film. I desperately wanted them to underscore their support of the character and, especially, the actress portraying the character. 

Alas, here we are, and director Nia DaCosta’s superhero flick is indeed called The Marvels. It serves as the continuation of both the 2019 hit film Captain Marvel and the Disney+ series Ms. Marvel (and, frankly, even two other Disney+ series — WandaVision and Secret Invasion — albeit to a lesser extent). Thus, I believe, it is the first Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film to prominently feature a character whose first appearance was in their own Disney+ series. In the film, we follow Carol Danvers (played by Brie Larson), i.e. Captain Marvel, as she is forced to team up with her no. 1 fangirl in the entire universe — the superpowered Pakistani-American teenager Kamala Khan (played by Iman Vellani) who was first seen in Ms. Marvel — and her adult niece who she hasn’t seen in decades — Monica Rambeau (played by Teyonah Parris) who became superpowered in the Disney+ series WandaVision. Forced, I say, because when a Kree leader known as Dar-Benn (played by Zawe Ashton) finds and makes use of a so-called Quantum Band — identical to the magical bangle that Ms. Marvel wields — on an alien planet, she inadvertently sets in motion a series of events that lead to a so-called quantum entanglement through which Rambeau, Danvers, and Khan’s powers are intertwined. Because of this entanglement, each and every time one of them uses their powers the trio switches places. To stop Dar-Benn from draining alien planets of their natural resources, Danvers thus must bring Rambeau and Khan along to be able to actually fight the Kree villain and save the universe.

As you can surmise from my description of the film’s premise above, this isn’t exactly a standalone film. To fully grasp everything that’s going on here you’ll have to be fully caught up on the ongoings of the ever-expanding MCU, including its least-watched entries. This level of interconnectivity trips up this film both narratively and as a barrier to entry. There is an overabundance of exposition, shots and scenes from the MCU ‘homework’ are inserted here and there to sort of remind you of everything that’s been going on (or at least clue you in on the gist), and in this film — the shortest film in the MCU at only 105 minutes — the characters barely have any time to connect and develop because the characters themselves also don’t know what’s happened since the end of their respective narrative jumping off-points. The increasingly difficult barrier to entry into the cinematic universe is getting to be a significant problem for Marvel Studios, which still hasn’t found its footing in the post-Avengers: Endgame era. In The Marvels, too many elements are juggled at the same time, including setting up new universes and films, so that it eventually feels like a mess. This is, without a shadow of a doubt, the biggest problem facing this cinematic universe going forward.

It also doesn’t help that the film is unevenly paced or that much of this film feels bland and generic. The antagonist — though played with an admirable wild-eyed attitude from Zawe Ashton — feels like a rehash of previous Marvel villains, even though her motivation feels more understandable than most Marvel foes. It is obvious from the film that it is interested in the ‘Don’t Meet Your Heroes’ theme, as we see Kamala Khan express disappointment with her idol, but that plot strand is never resolved or followed up on satisfyingly. Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury is devoid of the seriousness that once defined the MCU’s linchpin and is, instead, just there to be jokey. Brie Larson, who I thought was very entertaining in the first film, is relatively unconvincing in the scenes depending on eliciting an emotional response in the target audience. It doesn’t manage to take its themes of hero-worship and hero-fallibility and do anything interesting with them, even though there are times in DaCosta’s film that show an interest in interrogating Carol Danvers for her past failures and crimes. This would’ve been so interesting to fully investigate, but this is also the kind of film that basically just reverses the world-ending consequences like it’s the easiest thing in the world, which makes the entire story feel insignificant. 

All of that holds the film back, but, at the same time, I also think there are quite a few entertaining elements that will be enough to hold the film together for some. First and foremost, let me be clear that if this film didn’t have Iman Vellani, then it would probably rank as the poorest entry in the MCU. Vellani is the film’s saving grace, as she gives the film a giddiness that is, at times, quite infectious. When all else fails, she and the charming returning supporting cast from Ms. Marvel earn plenty of chuckles. Vellani has enough energy for the entire lead trio, which makes their scenes together work relatively well, even though the subplots are never resolved in satisfying ways. There is a sequence early on in the film in which we get to see Kamala Khan’s wish-fulfillment sketches come to life through animation, and this was undoubtedly my favorite part of the film, as it brought back the charm of the series that debuted the character in live-action. Like with the first Captain Marvel, The Marvels mines a lot of comedy out of its feline character ‘Goose,’ and while it does get a little bit extreme in its goofy use of its feline alien race, it is an inventive and playful element in the film that is easy to enjoy. To be clear, sometimes DaCosta’s film taps into the same kind of silly irreverence that Taika Waititi’s Marvel films toy with, which is also seen in the use of a musical planet (although that, too, is underutilized). Once or twice, we get these split-screen comic book-esque panels to separate and connect our trio of heroes, which I thought was a really nice touch. I’ll also say that the action, as well as the music that it is paired with, is always decent — seeing the characters switch positions during fights works really well. 

Whether all of that will ultimately be enough to convince viewers to excuse all of the film’s issues will vary from person to person, but I genuinely enjoyed all of these goofier elements, even when the film didn’t go as far with the stronger ideas as it needed to. That said, the final concoction is not enough to ultimately call this a ‘good’ entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, since this effort is far too bland, rushed, hacked to bits, and undeveloped to justify its overwhelming barrier to entry. It is, at best, a breezy guilty pleasure, and, at worst, it is just a mess.

5.7 out of 10

– Review Written by Jeffrey Rex Bertelsen.