Captain Marvel has to stop an intergalactic threat while having her powers entwined with two others in The Marvels. After acquiring one-half of the Quantum Bands, the new leader of the Kree, Dar-Benn (Zawe Ashton), has been using it to tear apart jump points in space. While investigating one such jump point, Carol Danvers (Bree Larson) and Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) find themselves swapping places along with teenage superhero Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani), who happens to own the other half of the Quantum Bands. With Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) monitoring the situation from the S.A.B.E.R. space station, Carol, Monica, and Kamala form a team to try and stop Dar-Benn before it is too late.
The Marvels Synopsis
The Marvels is the latest film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, co-written and directed by Nia DaCosta (Candyman). The film acts as a sequel to 2019's Captain Marvel while incorporating the characters of Monica Rambeau and Kamala Khan from the Disney+ series WandaVision and Ms Marvel, respectively. The light-based powers of the three heroes end up becoming intertwined, requiring them to team up to put a stop to the Kree leader of Dar-Benn, who is creating jump-points to steal resources from the planets of Captain Marvel's allies, in an attempt to restore the Kree homeworld of Hala.
My Thoughts on The Marvels
In the weeks leading to the release of The Marvels, Variety released a cover story suggesting that the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which has been releasing films for fifteen years, is currently in crisis mode from a combination of franchise fatigue and inconvenient legal troubles. This is on top of the often misogynistic fanboy response that female-lead MCU films, such as Captain Marvel, Black Widow, and the She-Hulk Disney+ series, have already been receiving.
For better or worse, the MCU film that compares best with The Marvels is Thor: The Dark World, in how it is a relatively inconsequential film in the extensive scope of things, with a rather unmemorable villain in Dar-Benn. It says a lot that the mid-credits scene of The Marvels features a development much more interesting than the rest of the movie. However, that's not to say that I didn't find The Marvels a perfectly fine watch.
The shining light of The Marvels is Toronto-born fangirl-turn-actress Iman Vellani as the very happy-go-lucky teenage hero Kamala Khan. The Marvels picks up right where the stinger of last year's Ms. Marvel series left off, and the film also features Zenobia Shroff, Mohan Kapur, and Saagar Shaikh returning from the series as Kamala Khan's family, even though they spend much of the film in a comedic subplot onboard the S.A.B.E.R. space station and a litter of cat-like aliens called Flerkens.
Even though I think The Marvels is a lesser MCU film, I should emphasize that it is NOT due to the film being led by females. That said, the MCU is at a crossroads right now, and we have to wait and see if they can course correct.
Trailer for The Marvels
