The Marvels (2023)

The Marvels (2023)

 6/10

Starring

Brie Larson

Teyonah Parris

Iman Vellani

Zawe Ashton

 

Directed by Nia DaCosta

 

The Marvels is a sequel to the 2019 film Captain Marvel, and a continuation of the television miniseries Ms. Marvel. It serves as the 33rd film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), and I hope it marks the end of the mediocre Disney/Marvel movies we've been served lately, ushering in a new era when their films dominated the box office and made everyone queue up to see them.

One thing that stands out in this film is Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan / Ms. Marvel. She was 10/10 in this film and the only thing that mattered. When she wasn't on screen, I missed her. The film also features Monica Rambeau. We know Monica from the first Captain Marvel film as the daughter of Carol's late friend Maria. Monica always looked up to Carol and can manipulate the electromagnetic spectrum—powers she gained during the events of WandaVision. There is an abandonment dynamic between Monica and Carol, which I felt was unnecessary and forced. Why can't Disney characters actually keep in touch? It’s something they should focus on.

The plot revolves around an incident that occurred decades ago when Carol Danvers destroyed the Supreme Intelligence, which led the Kree Empire. This destruction led to a civil war on the Kree planet Hala, which caused the destruction of the planet's natural resources, including its sun, water, and air.

Dar-Benn, a new leader of the Kree, discovers one of the Quantum Bands and intends to use it to take away these natural resources from other planets to Hala to save her people still living there. Her actions cause the powers of Captain Marvel, Monica, and Ms. Marvel (who wears the other Quantum Band) to become entangled. Now the three must work together to stop Dar-Benn. The film ends with an after-credit scene introducing a new reality about other characters in the Marvel-acquired universe.

This film missed so many opportunities to be great. I cannot understand why they decided to even attempt some of the character developments and their subsequent actions. Here was an opportunity to have three women with powers from diverse backgrounds try to save the world, and Disney blew it. Instead, they turned it into a film with too many dialogues about connecting and working together, which shouldn’t have been necessary if they had made Carol a better person from the onset.

The character of Carol Danvers was turned into an asshole who doesn’t seem to understand the importance of listening at times. She was made so annoying that it was hard to look away, leaving you wanting less of her persona on screen.

The film failed at the box office and, even story-wise, it didn’t have the desired impact they hoped for. It just made the film seem like something that should’ve been handled by more professional writers who would focus on better power development and authentic stories, rather than trying to prove a point with diversity and women empowerment.