Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani) is the best hope for the future of this increasingly troubled superhero franchise.
A dying sun — that’s the very first image to appear on screen during The Marvels. It hardly needs to be said that this is not exactly a good sign for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, whose once-dazzling reputation in pop culture has taken a significant hit this year. In contrast to the peak of 2021’s WandaVision, the superhero franchise’s recent theatrical releases have had a terrible time matching previous box office successes, and its recent straight-to-streaming shows have hardly left an impression on the public consciousness. (A Variety report from recently delves into all those details.) That is why The Marvels want to rekindle this supernova.
The response of the audience will determine whether or not the film achieves its goal. As of right now, The Marvels can be described as a patchy collection of stories and characters that tries to balance too many different strands, but there are some promising elements that suggest a potential future for the franchise.
The intricate continuity of the contemporary MCU is reflected in The Marvels’ basic premise. The three female leads are from separate projects: The 2019 film Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers, starring Brie Larson, made her debut; Ms. Marvel/Kamala Khan, starring Iman Vellani, debuted in her own Disney+ series last year; and Monica Rambeau, starring Teyonah Parris, was WandaVision’s breakout star. Monica, as you may have noticed, is the only one without an MCU entry of her own name or superhero nickname. It is true that she is the weakest link in this triangle, despite the movie’s attempts to downplay these shortcomings. As the focal point, Carol is likewise rather uninteresting.
Vellani’s Kamala, on the other hand, is a shining star and the MCU’s best hope going forward. This indefatigably happy young superhero, who introduces herself in the film’s opening minutes with a hand-drawn adaptation of her own Captain Marvel fan-fiction, should be easy enough for viewers to follow, even if they have not watched Ms. Marvel. This delightful burst of joy evokes the energy that the MCU desperately needs, as well as the joy of reading comic books and the multimedia creativity seen in other recent superhero adaptations like Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
Meeting Captain Marvel is Ms. Marvel’s greatest dream, as that sequence makes evident. Sadly for them, it ultimately stems from a quantum entanglement that causes the three leads to alternate positions each time they employ comparable light-based superpowers simultaneously. The first instance of this predicament is seen in a furious combat scene that occurs concurrently in the Khan family’s Jersey City apartment, an alien spaceship, and an Earth-orbiting space station. The three Marvels continually trade places, forcing each other to pick up where the other left off.
This scene has a comedic quality that makes it entertaining even though it gets a little difficult to figure out who is where. A highlight of the film is Kamala’s incredible family, which consists of Zenobia Shroff as her mother and Mohan Kapur as her father. They roll with the punches and begin whacking Kree soldiers with lamps when necessary. Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), who mans the space station, also gets to have some fun.
To Kamala’s delight and the others’ chagrin, the three heroines stay together for the duration of the movie, forming an unplanned team to lessen the effects of their space-time shifting. The three of them have some really intriguing dynamics, according to director Nia DaCosta. Although Kamala really wants to win over her idol, using her powers always has repercussions. Monica, meanwhile, idolized Captain Marvel in a similar way as a young child before growing disenchanted. However, it is a little disheartening that any conflict that does arise between the three is quickly resolved in order to move on to the next intricate plot point.
There is not much room for the villain to grow with three heroes sharing the spotlight, and the Kree leader Dar-Benn (Zawe Ashton) is the least formidable foe any Marvel hero has faced in a long time. The MCU is currently in a strange transitional state; it is finished with Thanos but not quite ready for Magneto or Doctor Doom to appear. Additionally, the character of Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors) is still up for debate and is obscured by ongoing legal matters. Throughout the film, Dar-Benn’s ridiculous space name is mentioned far too frequently, giving the impression of being a throwback to the days when the villain in every Marvel film was essentially a carbon copy of the protagonist. (Ashton even sports a similar haircut as Larson.) It represents a sobering reversal for the franchise.
Like so many recent tentpole movies, The Marvels was originally supposed to come out earlier this year. However, it was delayed. This leads to certain scenes in the film feeling a little thrown together, particularly in the third act. A number of the dialogue lines are obviously rerecorded, and even after numerous exposition dumps explaining the villain’s reasoning, it still does not quite make sense.
Despite all those shortcomings, Kamala Khan exists. Even though Kamala’s Disney+ series feels like it is stuck in between a 20-episode teen TV show and a two-hour movie, she excels at meeting her heroes in this role. It is impossible to avoid getting sucked into a big Marvel movie yourself because the actress and the character seem so thrilled to be in it. While there are some classic MCU teases in the movie’s closing moments, the most thrilling part of them is how much more Ms. Marvel is hinted at. She is the one who can bring the dormant sun back to life. Grade: B-
by EW
