The Marvels

The Marvels is an American superhero film based on Marvel Comics featuring the characters Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel, Monica Rambeau, and Kamala Khan / Ms. Marvel. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is intended to be the sequel to Captain Marvel (2019), a continuation of the Disney+ series Ms. Marvel (2022), and the 33rd film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film is directed by Nia DaCosta from a screenplay by Megan McDonnell, and stars Brie Larson as Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel, Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan / Ms. Marvel, and Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau, alongside Samuel L. Jackson and Zawe Ashton. In this film, Danvers, Rambeau, and Kamala team up as "the Marvels" after they begin swapping places with each other every time they use their powers.
Marvel Studios confirmed plans to make a sequel to Captain Marvel in July 2019, and development began in January 2020 with McDonnell joining and Larson set to return. DaCosta was hired that August, with Vellani and Parris revealed to be cast in December. Second unit filming began in mid-April 2021 in New Jersey, with The Marvels revealed as the title in early May. Principal photography had begun by early August 2021 and concluded by mid-May 2022, taking place at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire and Longcross Studios in Surrey, England, as well as in Los Angeles and Tropea, Italy. The other screenwriters were revealed during post-production.
The Marvels had been scheduled to be released in the United States on November 11, 2022, as part of Phase Four of the MCU. On October 18, 2021, Marvel announced a new release date of February 17, 2023 to accommodate changes in production on several movies."Marvel Movie Shifts: ‘Doctor Strange 2’ To Kick Off Summer 2022, ‘Thor: Love And Thunder’ Heads To July & More", Deadline, October 18, 2021. In April 2022, Marvel announced it would swap release dates with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, now releasing on July 28, 2023."‘The Marvels’ and ‘Ant-Man 3’ Swap Release Dates in 2023", Variety, April 29, 2022 The film was released on November 10, 2023, as part of Phase Five of the MCU. Although it received mixed reviews from film critics, it was one of the biggest Box Bombs of all time costing Disney a minimum of $235 million, grossing $206.1 million and making it a second MCU film being box office bomb with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and one of the fewest MCU film not to break even during its theatrical run.
==Plot==
Carol Danvers destroys the Supreme Intelligence, the artificial intelligence that leads the Kree empire. This leads to a civil war on planet Hala, the Kree home world, rendering the planet barren as it loses its air, water, and sunlight over the next 30 years.
The Kree's new leader Dar-Benn discovers one of the two legendary Quantum Bands, which were previously used to create a network that allows fast travel across space. She uses the Band to forcibly open a new jump point that connects to the network. The resulting anomaly impacts the entire network, including a jump point near Earth's S.A.B.E.R. space station run by Nick Fury. Captain Monica Rambeau investigates the jump point near S.A.B.E.R. while Danvers investigates the new one that Dar-Benn opened. When they touch their respective jump points, Rambeau is transported to Danvers' location, Kamala Khan—who has the other Quantum Band on Earth—is transported to Rambeau's location, and Danvers is transported to Kamala's house. The three use their different light-based powers to fight off Kree enemies, leaving the Khan family home destroyed.
After the trio return to their original places, Fury and Rambeau visit Kamala on Earth. Rambeau surmises that their light-based powers are linked through quantum entanglement and that they switch places when any of the three use their powers simultaneously. They join up at a Skrullrefugee colony on planet Tarnax, which Danvers helped found and where a peace treaty is being negotiated with the Kree. When talks break down, Dar-Benn rips open another jump point which siphons the atmosphere from Tarnax to restore breathable air to Hala. After a hasty effort to evacuate the colony, Danvers, Rambeau, and Kamala form a team that Kamala names "the Marvels". Danvers explains that Dar-Benn's repeated rupturing of jump points is causing instability in the network and endangering the entire universe. They deduce that Dar-Benn is targeting planets that are meaningful to Danvers, whom Dar-Benn blames for the desolation of Hala.
The Marvels reach the water planet Aladna and warn the locals before Dar-Benn arrives and tears open a jump point, drawing the planet's water to Hala. Her final plan is to seize the energy from Earth's sun to restore that of Hala's sun. Dar-Benn steals Kamala's Band and attempts to use both Bands, but this destroys Dar-Benn, ends the Marvels' entanglement, and leaves behind a rupture between realities. Kamala reclaims the Bands and joins Danvers to energize Rambeau, allowing her to close the hole from the other side, but stranding her in the process. Kamala returns to Earth and Danvers flies into Hala's sun, using her power to restore it.
The short-lived team-up inspires Kamala to seek out other young heroes and form a new group, starting with Kate Bishop. In a mid-credits scene, Rambeau awakes in a parallel universe where she is greeted by Binary—an alternate version of her mother Maria—and the mutant scientist Hank McCoy.
==Cast==
*Brie Larson as Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel
*Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau / Photon
**Kenedy McCallam-Martin as Young Monica Rambeau
*Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan / Ms. Marvel
*Zawe Ashton as Dar-Benn
*Gary Lewis as Emperor Dro'ge
*Park Seo-joon as Prince Yan
*Saagar Shaikh as Aamir Khan
*Zenobia Schroff as Muneeba Khan
*Mohan Kapur as Yusuf Khan
*Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury
*Lashana Lynch as Maria Rambeau
*Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie
*Daniel Ings as Ty-Rone
*Colin Stoneley as Papp-Tonn
*Abraham Popoola as Dag
*Leila Farzad as Taila
*Ffion Jolly as Skrull Woman
*Alex Hughes as Kree Announcer
*Hailee Steinfeld as Kate Bishop 
*Kelsey Grammer as Dr. Hank McCoy / Beast (in mid-credit scene)
Shamier Anderson, Caroline Simonnet, and Jessica Zhou are cast in an undisclosed role in this film, but the scenes was cut during the theatrical release.
==Production==
===Development===
Ahead of the release of Captain Marvel (2019), star Brie Larson expressed interest in a sequel featuring the character Kamala Khan / Ms. Marvel. Producer Kevin Feige previously said there were plans to introduce Khan in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), and this would follow the release of Captain Marvel since Khan is inspired by Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel; Iman Vellani was later cast as Khan for the Disney+ television series Ms. Marvel (2021). In March 2019, Feige said Marvel Studios had some "pretty amazing" ideas for a sequel, which could either be set in the 1990s time period of the first film or move to the present day. Lashana Lynch expressed interest in reprising her role of Maria Rambeau in a sequel, even if it was set in the present. At the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con in July, Feige confirmed plans to make a sequel to Captain Marvel.
Official development on the film began in January 2020 when Megan McDonnell entering negotiations to write the script, after previously serving as a staff writer on Marvel Studios' Disney+ series WandaVision (2021). Larson was confirmed to return as Danvers, though Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck were not expected to return after directing and co-writing the first film, with the studio hoping to hire a female director to replace them. The film was expected to be set in the present day, and was aiming for a 2022 release. In April 2020, Disney scheduled the film to be released on July 8, 2022, filling the July 2022 date the studio had previously reserved for an untitled Marvel film. That August, Nia DaCosta was hired to direct the film. Deadline Hollywood's Justin Kroll called this another sign of Marvel Studios adding diversity to its films due to DaCosta being the first Black woman hired as a director by the studio, adding that the film would likely break the record for the biggest-budgeted film directed by a Black woman. The studio had also considered Olivia Wilde and Jamie Babbit as directors for the film, but DaCosta was said to have been the frontrunner for some time. Richard Newby of The Hollywood Reporterfelt DaCosta's hiring could bring new energy to the MCU and Captain Marvel franchise, saying DaCosta "enjoys challenging preconceived notions about the relationship between characters and the lore behind stories". Newby also felt the film could explore Danvers' story from the perspective of Maria Rambeau's daughter Monica, a Black woman in present-day America.
Feige announced the film as Captain Marvel 2 in December 2020, with a new release date of November 11, 2022. He officially confirmed DaCosta's involvement, and announced that Vellani would reprise her role as Khan in the film, alongside Teyonah Parris reprising her role as Monica Rambeau from WandaVision. Parris was excited to work with DaCosta again after Candyman (2021), to star alongside Larson and Vellani, and to further explore Monica's relationship with Danvers that was first teased in WandaVision.
===Pre-production===
Pre-production work on the film was starting by February 2021, when Zawe Ashton was cast as Dar-Benn, the film's villain. By that time, all of the scripts for Ms. Marvel had been written, so The Marvels creative team was able to read those to know what happened to Khan in that series, with Larson also having a cameo appearance in that series. Principal photography was expected to begin at the end of May, though some second unit filming began on April 9 in Jersey City, New Jersey, under the working title Goat Rodeo, to capture aerial footage, establishing shots, and green screen plates. In May, Marvel Studios revealed that the sequel would be titled The Marvels. Ethan Anderton of /Film noted that this title refers to both Captain Marvel and Ms. Marvel, since the film's logo includes the same stylized "S" from the Ms. Marvel series' logo. Graeme McMillian at The Hollywood Reporter acknowledged this explanation, but also wondered if there was a connection to the 1994 comics series Marvels — which tells various Marvel Universe events from the perspective of a photographer — or a project of the same name announced in 2020. He also wondered if "The Marvels" referred to a family of heroes, much like DC Comics' Marvel Family (now known as the Shazam Family). Later that month, pre-production work was starting in the United Kingdom. Park Seo-joon was cast in an undisclosed role in mid-June, and was set to join the production after completing work on the film Concrete Utopia. His role was reportedly as Prince Yan of the planet Aladna. Larson and Parris began preparing for filming the next month. DaCosta said The Marvels would deal with "specific, personal, [and] sometimes sad things", such as how people deal with pain and trauma, but would have a lighter story than her films Little Woods (2018) and Candyman. She felt that she had more creative freedom on The Marvels than on her prior films. Feige said that the dynamic between Danvers, Khan, and Rambeau was the center of the film and likened their team-up to the formation of the Avengers in The Avengers (2012). He revealed that The Marvels would have "fun cosmic elements", including some from Roy Thomas' 1971 "Kree–Skrull War" comic book storyline, with the story directly picking up from the ending of Captain Marvel. He described the film as being tonally different from the MCU series Secret Invasion (2023), another Captain Marvel follow-up.
===Filming===
Principal photography was expected to begin on May 31, 2021, and had begun by August 10, at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, and at Longcross Studios in Longcross, Surrey, England. Sean Bobbitt served as cinematographer. Around the start of filming, Samuel L. Jackson revealed that he would reprise his MCU role as Nick Fury in the film, working on it in London at the same time as he was preparing to film Secret Invasion. Filming for The Marvels took place in Tropea, Italy, beginning on August 27, including on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea. On September 3, Park left for Los Angeles to begin filming. Shortly after, Saagar Shaikh, Zenobia Shroff, and Mohan Kapur were revealed to be reprising their respective roles as Khan's older brother Aamir, mother Muneeba, and father Yusuf, from Ms. Marvel. In October 2021, the film's release was delayed to February 17, 2023. Park shot his scenes for two months, and completed filming in England by November 2. Production designer Cara Brower said the scale and scope of the film were massive, contrasting her work with DaCosta on Candyman. In April 2022, the film's release was moved to July 28, 2023, swapping places with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania given that film was further along in production than The Marvels, which still had some filming left to occur. Filming had wrapped by the middle of the following month.
===Post-production===
Jackson revealed in mid-June 2022 that he would return to London in August to work on reshoots for The Marvels, before doing the same for Secret Invasion, and Marvel was preparing for those reshoots by the end of July. Filming occurred in early August in Battery Park in New York City to capture visual effects plates. DaCosta was revealed in January 2023 to have also worked on the film's script alongside Elissa Karasik and Zeb Wells, who had respectively served as a writer on Marvel Studios' Loki (2021–present) and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022). In February 2023, the film's release was delayed to November 10, 2023, as Disney and Marvel Studios were re-evaluating their content output and costs. Catrin Hedström serves as the editor of the film, after working with DaCosta on Candyman. With the release of the first trailer, Ashton's role was revealed to be Dar-Benn, while Daniel Ings joined the cast as Ty-Rone. Lynch was reported to be reprising her role as Maria Rambeau, alongside Cobie Smulders and Randall Park in their respective MCU roles as Maria Hill and Jimmy Woo, although Smulders denied her involvement in June following Hill's death in Secret Invasion, when Gary Lewis was revealed to have joined the cast, portraying Emperor Dro'ge. Also in June, Marvel Studios held an "uncharacteristic" public test screening in Texas which was reportedly met with mixed responses. Tessa Thompson was confirmed to appear in the film in her MCU role of Valkyrie with the release of the final trailer in early November 2023.
==Marketing==
Larson, Parris, and Vellani appeared at the 2022 D23 Expo to promote the film and show exclusive footage. The first trailer premiered on Good Morning America on April 11, 2023. Edidiong Mboho of Collider felt the teaser "delivers on the charm and action the MCU is known for". Charles Pulliam-Moore at The Verge said the trailer "leave little question" that Danvers, Rambeau, and Khan "are going to end up making quite the team and [the film] might just have one of the MCU's more inventive "place-switching" fight scenes". Jackson's appearance in the teaser was believed to be a spoiler for the end of Secret Invasion, indicating that Fury survived the series following speculation ahead of that series' premiere that it was possible that the character would die by the end of it. Marvel Studios and Bic partnered to create limited-edition pens inspired by the film, as well as the "Write with Might" sweepstakes that offered a chance to win a trip to the film's Hollywood, Los Angeles, premiere. Pita Pit was also partnered with Marvel Studios and Walt Disney Pictures to launched the brand new limited edition smoothie "Banana Chai" to promote the film.
==Release==
The Marvels premiered in Las Vegas on November 7, 2023, with the film's cast unable to attend due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. It was released in South Korea on November 8, and is scheduled to be released in the United States and China on November 10, in IMAX, ScreenX, and 4DX. The film was initially not expected to have an IMAX release, given Dune: Part Two was planned to be released on November 3, 2023, and would have had access to IMAX's screens for five to six weeks. IMAX Corporation CEO Richard Gelfond noted that the company would pivot to showing The Marvels in IMAX should Dune: Part Two move its release date, which was subsequently confirmed after it was delayed until March 2024. The Marvels was previously scheduled for July 8, 2022, November 11, 2022, February 17, 2023, and July 28, 2023, with the first July date and the November and February dates respectively given to Thor: Love and Thunder, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. It will be part of Phase Five of the MCU.
==Videos==
Marvel Studios’ The Marvels - Teaser Trailer
Marvel Studios' The Marvels - Official Trailer
The Marvels - Final Trailer - In Theaters Friday
Category:English-language films
Category:American films
Category:Superhero films
Category:American superhero films
Category:Sequels
Category:American sequel films
Category:Marvel films
Category:Marvel Cinematic Universe films
Category:2023 films
Category:Films starring Brie Larson
Category:Films starring Teyonah Parris
Category:Films starring Samuel L. Jackson
Category:Box Office Bombs