There was a moment during “The Marvels” when I joyously thought, “I’ve found my people,” and my scientist husband (who probably cringed at this scripts usage “quantum”) also thought there were moments of geeky delight, but as a cohesive whole, the film fails and that’s unfortunate on many levels.
“The Marvels” is the follow-up to the 2019 “Captain Marvel,” and Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers also appeared in the 2019 “Avengers: Endgame” and the 2021 “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.” “Captain Marvel” was not one of my favorite films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, although I want there to be female heroes, and this film, “The Marvels,” features three female heroes: Captain Marvel, Danver’s adult niece Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Harris) and Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani).
The Pakistani American Captain Marvel fangirl Ms. Marvel/Kamala Khan was introduced to Disney+ audiences in the TV miniseries, “Ms. Marvel,” in the summer of 2022. The Canadian actress Vellani was born in Pakistan but moved to Canada when she was one. Vellani was still a teen when first cast in the role of the high school girl living in Jersey City. Ms. Marvel has a bangle that has been passed down in her family and gives her the ability to make hard light objects by using cosmic energy.
Monica Rambeau (younger Monica was portrayed by Akira Akbar) was the daughter of Maria Rambeau (Lashana Lynch), a US Air Force pilot and Carol Danvers’ best friend. Maria died of cancer in 2020, although her Earth-838 counterpart appears in the 2022 “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.” Monica was a vicim of the Blip and restored to life in 2023. After she became an agent of SWORD, an organization founded by her mother, while working on a missing persons case, the travels to Westview, New Jersey and becomes part of Wanda Maximoff’s alternate reality (or the Hex) as seen in the Disney+ series, “WandaVision.” Having re-entered the Hex, she gains superpowers that include the ability to absorb bullets and energy blasts and now works for SABOR. Although Monica idolized Danvers and Danvers promised she would return, Monica was left to grow up alone as Captain Marvel stayed away from Earth for reasons that are explained in this film.
In her isolated space station with the Flerken, Goose, Captain Marvel is in contact with Nick Fury, but doesn’t always pay attention to his orders. Flerken, who resembles a ginger tabby cat, is the cause of Nick Fury’s blinding and scarring of his left eye. Flerken will be an important part of this plot although I await memes about Captain Marvel (or Nick Fury) becoming a cat lady.
The basic plot is this: In her previous adventure, Captain Marvel destroyed the Supreme Intelligence, an artificial intelligence that was worshiped by the Kree, ruling them, but also keeping their environment conducive to Kree survival. . Yet without it, the Kree sun is dying, which is the first image we see. The Kree planet, Hala, has lost its air and water. Its people have to wear masks in order to breathe. What could free them from the tyranny of masks?
The Kree call Captain Marvel the Annihilator. Dar-Benn, (part Ugandan British actress Zawe Ashton), the current leader of the Kree, discovers a bangle identical to Ms. Marvel’s, encased in a curious statue, once buried in a mysterious site on a barren planet. This might make archeologists cringe and Dar-Benn isn’t Indiana Jones, but she means to do well for her people. Unfortunately, that means stealing from others in a way that Robin Hood would not approve. Dar-Benn decides to use her new powers to steal the atmosphere from one planet, the water from another and the sun from Earth’s solar system. Yet Dar-Benn declares, “There’s only one here; they were forged as a pair.” We know where the other one is. And the script takes us to the bedroom, sketchbook and finally into the imagination of Ms. Marvel (for an animated segment about Ms. Marvel meeting her idol, Captain Marvel). As many artists find, Kamala in exasperation asks, “They are hands so hard to draw!”
There are other things that are hard–quick and painless exposition for those who don’t watch these Disney+ series. This is almost painful to hear and I haven’t watched the full “WandaVision” or “Ms. Marvel” series.
Dar-Benn has opened up a “jump point” that is seen by both Danvers and, in another part of the universe, Monica. When one touches it, the three switch places. In this case, Kamala is transported to where Monica was (in her spacesuit), Captain Marvel ends up in Kamala’s Captain Marvel hero worship shrine of a bedroom and Monica is transported to where Captain Marvel was. When one activates their light-energy based superpowers, they switch places. While this threesome are trying to figure out this “switch-entanglement situation,” Dar-Benn has visited a Skrull Refugee Colony on Tarnax (spelling?), where she warns them to flee because she’s taking their atmosphere back to her world because “the civil war has polluted our skies” and “I would hate for your people to suffocate when I strip the atmosphere.”
Dar-Benn will also visit Aladna, where Carol Danvers has connections, notably Prince Ya (Korean actor Seo-Jun Park), and we meet the people I would call my people because of their colorful clothes, singing and dancing. This is a world full of water and you can guess what Dar-Benn wants.
Eventually Captain Marvel reveals to Monica that she was “the reason why the civil war started” and “I thought if I fixed it, then I could come home.” That’s a bad reason not to see your friends and Monica tells her, “Carol, that’s not how family works.”
Things will be tied up by the end of this film and the loose ends will suggest the future direction of the MCU, so stay for the mid-credit scene.
Director Nia DaCosta (“Candyman” and “Little Woods”) is also credited as a writer (DaCosta also wrote the screenplay for “Candyman” and “Little Woods”) along with Megan McDonnell (“WandaVision”) and Elissa Karasik (“Loki” and “Lessons in Chemistry”). The excessive exposition is one problem, but another is matching the tones established by other Marvel series, particularly the humor of “Ms. Marvel.” As director, DaCosta doesn’t manage the tonal shifts well and the comedic timing is off even though the triple “switch-entanglement situation” would lends to funny situations. There are other production value problems (lighting, staging and costuming) as well. While I love the too brief visit to Aladna, I don’t believe all the possibilities of a singing society fighting were well-thought out.
My husband who has seen all of “WandaVision” felt the plot was weak and voted two stars or a weak three stars. For both of us, there were fun moments, but this film isn’t good enough to recommend as a night out at the theater although in someways it is better than “Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania.” This is a win for female directors, female minority directors/writers and a win for MCU diversity, but as a film, it just isn’t that good.
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