The Marvels is a continuation of Captain Marvel (2019) and the television series Ms. Marvel (2022); hence explaining the title that it has gained from its predecessors. The Marvels is also the 33rd film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), entering Phase Five alongside its peers like Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, just to name a few. This film was directed by Nia Dacosta and starred notable regulars such as Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, Iman Vellani, Samuel L. Jackson, as well as Zawe Ashton, Gary Lewis, Park Seo-joon, Zenobia Shroff, Mohan Kapur, and Saagar Shaikh. So, can this film maintain the quality of its predecessors all the while keeping up with the trend of its cinematic universe?
We start the film by seeing a group of Kree people led by Dar-Benn (Ashton) that has found an ancient artifact in the form of a bracelet that has tremendous power. Benn wants revenge on Captain Marvel for destroying the planet Hala, following the events of the first film. For some reason, after Benn activated the bracelet, Carol Danvers (Larson), Monica Rambeau (Parris), and Kamala Khan (Vellani) swap places every time they use their powers. The three of them, assisted by Nick Fury, then work together to prevent Benn’s intention to destroy every location where the Skrulls are, including Earth.
Like most MCU films, the ground rule to prevent getting lost in the story’s direction is to watch the predecessor films. The Marvels cannot be separated from Captain Marvel, WandaVision, and Ms. Marvel. The film wouldn’t be easy to digest if you haven’t watched the first movie and the other two series. Although if you have watched it, this film would still seem complicated; one of the major causes being how quick the information comes. Since the start of the film, the tempo of the plot moves very quickly, taking turns presenting the three main characters moving and being moved to different locations. But these cross-cut segments are actually the best bits from the story, easily intertwining dynamic variations of action, entertainment, and comedy. This method has never been seen before in MCU films.
After that, unfortunately, the tone of the story starts to decline with the loss of tension. Many things went on without the explanation that it so desperately needs; how could the sudden switch phenomenon between the three work? And what is the relationship between the three figures? Not even technical explanations coated in scientific terms would make us care. There is no ground motive to which unites the three characters that leads us to think that this is all just a coincidence. There are also things coerced into the viewers, for example the scene Planet Aladna with its musical-esque communication style. For me, this looks ridiculous and blatantly unserious. There are plenty of supposedly heartfelt moments in the end of the film that didn’t quite reach me. The comedy is excessive, impacting greatly to the loss of mood and menacing threat that the story originally has.
As an avid MCU fan, many things that I’ve seen in the story raises questions. Does The Marvels take place after the series Secret Invasion? This is a problem in this film because if so, then Nick Fury looks far too relaxed for a guy who has lost his two closest friends, Maria Hill and Talos. Talos, in the first series, is a crucial figure in the everlasting conflict between the Kree and the Skrulls. It feels odd to take out Talos from the equation. It was told in Secret Invasion that the Skrulls hadn’t been able to find a decent home planet so they’ve been piling on earth. If so, which Skrulls did The Marvels save again? Not to mention the multiverse concept that was nudged at the end of the film, which is clearly just a way to push the new characters agenda. I couldn’t even bring myself to cheer like the audience did, instead I face-palmed.
The Marvels truly has an exciting premise to explore; unfortunately, it is not followed by a compelling nor kept-up intense plotlines, tragically trapped in the complexity of its own cinematic universe. The three main characters had a lengthy exposition, but The Marvels lacked solid motivation to unite the three. Kamala and her family undeniably attract lots of attention through naivety and Muslim background. When else would we find a hero chanting “Bismillah” before committing their deeds? And although the plot is entertaining in some moments, there is no denying that The Marvels is one of the worst MCU films after the recently released Ant-Man 3. I feel as though the multiverse concept will be a bad idea as it goes through with the absurd storylines in the future. Hopefully my intuition is wrong.
