The Marvels had the worst opening weekend since the onset of cinematic Marvel, bringing in a measly $47 million. Not since the opening weekend of The Incredible Hulk in 2008 has a Marvel movie done so poorly. Marvel’s average opening weekend earnings average $133 million, leaving The Marvels release to be woefully inadequate. Further revealing its lack of superpower, The Marvels earned a meager 62% on the Tomatometer from professional critics, though the public audience saw things somewhat differently with an 84% rating through the Audience Score.
Even though The Marvels flopped among Marvel’s standards, it is an important movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). It is the thirty-third film Marvel has made, and the sixth installment in Phase Five of the MCU. The Marvels is a sequel for five different titles: Captain Marvel, WandaVision, Ms. Marvel, Secret Invasion, and Avengers: Endgame.
At the Las Vegas premiere of The Marvels, Kevin Feige (President of Marvel Studios) told Entertainment Tonight that “everything is a building block in the broader story — that’s just part of the fun.”
The movie maximized modern theater tech to draw in the viewer. The seats and floor vibrated during battles between good and evil, maximizing the THX 11.1 multi-channel surround sound system at the Rialto Cinemark theater. It was impossible to avoid the intensity of the battles.
The villain in The Marvels is the leader of the Kree Empire named Dar-Benn. In some people’s eyes, Dar-Benn is a villain, but others believe she is simply attempting to restore the Kree home planet, Hala, and save her people from dying. Yet Dar-Benn does have an ulterior motive: getting revenge against the “Annihilator.”
In The Marvels, Marvel Studios added a scene depicting Captain Marvel, aka Carol Danvers (played by Brie Larson), going to Hala to destroy the Supreme Intelligence, an AI created to act as the Krees’ supreme leader. Once Captain Marvel destroys the Supreme Intelligence, she earns the name “Annihilator.”
In the original Captain Marvel, she thought that the Supreme Intelligence had enslaved the Kree, but in reality, it was their leader keeping peace within the Kree Empire. Once Captain Marvel destroyed the Supreme Intelligence, a Kree civil war broke out on Hala. The war caused the economic and environmental collapse of the planet. Their sun died, the air was polluted, and all of the water on Hala had evaporated. Dar-Benn wanted revenge on Captain Marvel by taking all of the natural resources that Hala needed to return to its former glory from the planets that Captain Marvel cared about. If the planets lose the natural resources that Hala needed, the people would suffer and die just like those on Hala.
And who are all these new Marvels? Besides Carol Danvers, the MCU introduced two other protagonists; Monica Rambeau (played by Teyonah Parris), and Ms. Marvel, aka Kamala Khan (played by Iman Vellani). Danvers is adamant about working by herself, yet she is forced to work as a team when their combined powers, based on light, become entwined. Dar-Benn’s creation of jump points generates this union. These wormholes tunnel through inner space and open to other locations, often different solar systems. The Marvels soon realize that they switch locations with each other whenever they use their powers.
Who is Ms. Marvel? She is not a brand-new superhero in the MCU, but a 16-year-old Pakistani-American girl named Kamala from Jersey City who received her amplified powers from a bangle. She has her own show on Disney+ called Ms. Marvel, released in June of 2022. The tale explains her power, which originated from a different dimension called the Noor Dimension. In The Marvels we find out that there are two bangles which are actually Quantum Bands used to create new jump points. Ms. Marvel will most definitely be returning to the MCU because it’s a new era and the MCU needs a new line of heroes.
Lastly, we have Monica Rambeau. Like most superheroes in the MCU, she was not born with her powers. Instead, she gained them when passing through a witch’s hex. To learn more about Monica Rambeau’s power, make sure to watch WandaVision on Disney+. In The Marvels, Monica doesn’t want to face her “aunt” (Carol Danvers), because she felt abandoned by her during childhood. When Carol said she would be back soon from helping other planets, Monica took it literally.
Since no one appreciates someone who spoils a movie, The Howl will also direct the MCU fan to the end credits. What you will find hiding there is quite interesting.
Despite the rough opening weekend, The Marvels lived up to most of the hype of MCU prequels. The Howl recommends it to a PG-13 audience, not only Marvel Studio fans but for anyone who enjoys a good superhero movie.
Rating: 4/5 stars
