MARVEL MARATHON DEEP DIVE
THE MARVELS
The Marvels reached US cinemas on 10 November 2023 with Nia DaCosta directing Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris and Iman Vellani. The three heroes find their powers linked, and the film runs 105 minutes.
A SEQUEL BUILT FROM THREE STORIES
HOW THE FILM REACHED THE SCREEN
Kevin Feige confirmed plans for a Captain Marvel sequel at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2019. Megan McDonnell entered negotiations to write the script in January 2020, and Nia DaCosta was hired to direct in August 2020. The film continues Captain Marvel and Ms. Marvel, with Teyonah Parris reprising Monica Rambeau from WandaVision, and DaCosta, McDonnell and Elissa Karasik received writing credits.
Principal photography began on 26 July 2021 at Pinewood Studios and Longcross Studios in England and concluded by mid-May 2022, with further filming in Tropea, Italy, and a reshoot period in August 2022. The net budget was $307.3 million, and Laura Karpman composed the score.
THREE HEROES AND A KREE VILLAIN
WHO IS IN THE CAST
Brie Larson plays Carol Danvers, with Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau, Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan, Zawe Ashton as Dar-Benn, Park Seo-joon as Prince Yan and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury. Zenobia Shroff, Mohan Kapur and Saagar Shaikh play Kamala’s family, and Kelsey Grammer appears as Hank McCoy.
A STRIKE, A MOVING DATE AND A LOW OPENING
HOW THE FILM WAS RELEASED AND WHAT IT EARNED
The film moved from 8 July 2022 through 11 November 2022, 17 February 2023 and 28 July 2023 before settling on 10 November 2023. It premiered in Las Vegas on 7 November without its cast, because of the SAG-AFTRA strike, and opened in South Korea on 8 November and in the US and China on 10 November.
It opened to $46,110,859 in the US and went on to earn $84,500,223 there and $206,136,825 worldwide. That was the lowest opening weekend for an MCU film and the best opening weekend for a Black female director. The second weekend fell 78%, the biggest second-weekend drop for an MCU film, and the result was a box-office bomb.
In a mid-credits scene, Rambeau wakes in a parallel universe and meets Binary and Hank McCoy, and in a closing scene Kate Bishop is recruited by Kamala for a new team of young heroes.
THE REWATCH
A 63% CRITICS SCORE AND A VELLANI AWARD
Rotten Tomatoes lists a 63% critics’ score from 377 reviews and a 79% audience score, and its consensus calls the film “funny, refreshingly brief, and elevated by the chemistry of its three leads.” Metacritic gives it 50 from 57 critics and a user score of 3.7, and audiences polled by CinemaScore gave it a B. Peter Travers of ABC News wrote “if there is such a thing as chemistry, Larson, Parris and Vellani have it,” while Christy Lemire of RogerEbert.com gave it one and a half stars.
Iman Vellani won the Critics’ Choice Super Award for best actress in a superhero movie, and Laura Karpman won the Hollywood Music in Media Award for best original score in a sci-fi or fantasy film.
In the Marvel Marathon it sits in the MCU release order guide between Loki Season 2 and Echo, and in the MCU movies in order guide between Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and Deadpool & Wolverine. In the Marvel movies in release order guide it sits between Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and Madame Web. In the MCU timeline guide it comes between Secret Invasion and Agatha All Along.
QUICK ANSWERS
THE MARVELS WATCH QUESTIONS
Do I need to watch other MCU projects first?
Yes. It is a sequel to Captain Marvel and a continuation of Ms. Marvel, with Monica Rambeau’s story following WandaVision.
How long is The Marvels?
105 minutes.
Is there a mid-credits scene?
Yes. There is a mid-credits scene with Monica Rambeau, plus a closing scene involving Kate Bishop.
Which Marvel Marathon guides include The Marvels?
It appears in the MCU release order, MCU movies in order, Marvel movies in release order and MCU timeline guides. In the timeline it sits between Secret Invasion and Agatha All Along.
EDITORIAL NOTES
SOURCES AND UPDATES
Development, production, release, box-office and reception details are checked against a film reference, box-office data and aggregator scores, cited individually below.