Originally set to debut in July 2022. The Marvels was delayed numerous times to July 2023 where it was then delayed once more due to negative fan reception in test audiences. This led to extensive cutting and reshoots in an extended post-production period to ensure fans of quality assurance after multiple years of mixed releases following the decade-long Infinity Saga. Four months later in November 2023, Marvel Studios premiered the film in Las Vegas to a wave of mixed to average reviews from critics and fans alike. The film also became the worst-performing entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe only grossing $46.1 million in its opening weekend domestically. Lower than 2008’s The Incredible Hulk at $55 million, which was the previous holder of this disappointing record nearly since the MCU’s inception, with Iron Man (2008) being the first and only film before it. However, the film was by no means bad. It is just an average small-scale film that unfortunately failed to live up to Infinity Saga’s expectations.

The Marvels features a star-studded cast with Brie Larson as Captain Marvel, Teyonah Paris as Monica Rambeau, newcomer Iman Vellani as Ms. Marvel, and the legendary Samuel L. Jackson returning as Nick Fury. This time around Larson portrays Carol with a more relatable tone, she has emotions, faults, and genuine morals. She no longer feels like a flat drawing in a three-dimensional world. She seems so excited to reunite with Monica after decades but becomes absolutely gutted when she learns Monica wants nothing to do with her. She takes this as a motive to do better and get her friend back. She understands using the battle against the Kree is no excuse as to why she left Monica’s mom’s side. She learns her actions have consequences here and no matter how good her intentions are they can negatively affect someone else. This is most predominantly seen when she discovers how she led the Kree to near extinction after killing their Supreme Intelligence A.I. between the events of Captain Marvel and Avengers: Endgame. She did this because she thought they wanted to be free of the A.I., but as it turns out they were lost without it and she was not there to give them the support they needed to be ok without it. This led to a massive butterfly effect causing entire planets to be erased in order for the Kree to stay alive. This theme of learning actions have consequences is the perfect note for the next generation of people growing up in a world where it feels like many people forget they share this world with other human beings. The real standout of the cast however is Vellani who continues her character story from Ms. Marvel. She is joyful and a fun addition to the cast who adds humor and relatability for the target audience, who are young adults finding their place in the world. Her likeability and drive to make a difference in the world is what ultimately links Carol and Monica back together. She feels like your best friend that bridges the gaps between differences. Without her, this film would lose its sense of playfulness and relatability. 

The themes, relatability, and playfulness of this film are what lead to its positive reception A comedy that retains its serious nature and connects relatable themes to the current world through superheroes, the true Marvel formula which has recently felt lost. The best part of this film is easily Act One where the three primary heroes get entangled with one another through quantum bands forcing them to switch places as they use their powers. The pure chaos of the beginning is perfect for forcing these three heroes to work together in a situation where they need each other but are unable to realize it. This leads to emotional moments between Carol and Monica in addition to Kamala (Ms. Marvel) finally showing her parents she needs to grow up which was the primary story of Ms. Marvel. This direct continuation is what makes this universe begin to feel somewhat connected again. The Multiverse Saga has struggled to join heroes together across multiple projects and entire phases. This by no means has been solved in The Marvels but its connections to both Ms. Marvel and WandaVision are a good step in the right direction. With that being said it was disappointing to see the WandaVision connection limited to a singular quote on how Monica gained her powers from a witch hex, the thought was there at least. The real disappointment (or blessing in disguise) was the complete disconnect between Secret Invasion (2023) and the film when it comes to Nick Fury. He just lost his best friends Maria Hill and Talos but seems like it had no effect on how he thinks. Earth also seems fine even though dozens of world officials were assassinated and discovered to be aliens who shapeshift. But no worries, the normal day-to-day life moves on almost like both of these projects were made at the same time and because of that, they were unable to give each other their stories in time to make decent universe connections. Even though both feature Nick Fury and the Scrulls. At the end of the day Secret Invasion was arguably the worst project ever put out in the MCU’s history so it’s actually a positive point of the film when we learn it’s not required watching to understand the wider story.

At the end of the day, this film is nothing special. It is mediocre thanks to some faults in the core of the film. The biggest issue is the villain Dar-Benn. No matter how compelling Zawe Ashton makes her performance, she falls flat in almost every scene. She is set on destroying Carol and has no sense of reality. It’s fair she wants to get revenge for her people, but she also couldn’t see where Carol came from. Her screen time was also minimal and it was easy to forget she existed at certain moments which in turn lowered the stakes to nothing. She also allegedly was continuing the mission of both Ronan from Guardians of the Galaxy and Thanos from Avengers: Endgame. But other than misleading marketing and Ronan’s staff she was completely unrelated. The marketing was the film’s biggest fumble. Its first trailer advertised the film as a fun comedy full of chaos that wasn’t looking to top anything but simply tell a good compelling story. This was exactly what the film did and that would’ve been fine if the rest of the marketing wasn’t altered to fit a new narrative. The comments section across multiple platforms was quick to tell Marvel they didn’t like their story and where the film was headed. Marvel did damage control by making the next trailer serious, with comedy injections in places that make sense showing the fans they have nothing to worry about. But by the pre-show sales, it was clear this change of narrative was not fixing the damage that was initially caused in its marketing. This led to Marvel pulling out Thanos and scenes of fallen heroes from Avengers: Endgame in a last-minute final trailer as one final attempt to draw people in. This then of course caused an outrage as the movie released and lacked not only any connection to the fallen Avengers, but Thanos and his mission which was falsely advertised. In terms of the movie itself, it did feature a cheesy moment that should’ve been cut or altered after promising a more serious movie in both delays and marketing. The moment was the hero’s arrival on Alanda, where all the people communicate through singing, which although not a hindrance to the film, still managed to feel out of place as the moment it precedes leads to the destruction of their planet. The film is also strangely short clocking in at only 1 hour and 45 minutes, the MCU’s shortest entry to date. This likely was due to the long cuts and reshoots done in an extended post-production process which also led to some questionable visuals which is expected of modern Marvel movies these days.

All in all, The Marvels is a fun addition to the MCU through its comedy, theming, and strong characterization from its leads. It is unfortunately not a memorable addition as it fails to tell a strong compelling story that changes the future of the MCU. The biggest part of the movie is actually its end credit scene revealing Monica is stuck in the Twentieth Century Fox X-Men universe. The film is nothing special when it’s outshined by its post-credits, not that Marvel will ever capitalize on this excitement soon anyway as almost every end credit scene since The Falcon and the Winter Soldier from 2021 has still been unresolved. With that being said, the film is not only watchable but enjoyable for those who are looking for a smaller self-contained story that’s just a bit of fun. But if you are looking for a movie on par with those in The Infinity Saga, I would recommend waiting for it to stream on Disney+ as it is still theatre-exclusive as of writing this in December 2023.