Right, my turn to moan. I don’t like going into a sequel without at least the option of catching up on what has come before. Captain Marvel is easy, and necessary, since I remember it being one of my least enjoyable Marvel experiences in the moment, and I’ve forgotten so much about it. The Marvel TV shows, on the other hand, is where I’ve fallen behind; not because the passion isn’t there, but because there’s so damn many of them, and I have other interests too. I will get to them one day, I’m sure of it – but it means I have no idea who Ms. Marvel is, and I’ll be banking on this movie to give me a crash course on the pint-size lassie, where I’ll hope to fall in love with her quickly. I considered binging Ms. Marvel over the past few weeks (out of order from the other shows 😬), but then there’s also Secret Invasion, which seems like it could be relevant too. But even if I’d watched these shows, it’s still been years since WandaVision came out, and there’s no way I’m rewatching an entire TV show just to be ready for Monica Rambeau – although at least I remember that I admired Rambeau very much. I’ve been warning all of Disney’s major studios for years, about how less is more, and how quality over quantity keeps our appetite whet; and I feel like the consequences of a rapidly expanding MCU are now coming home to roost. Rewatching Captain Marvel though, I did enjoy it more for how the story plays out a second time around, without the hype, and its awkward placement between the two most gigantic Avengers movies to date upon release. But my point still stands, and The Marvels is pushing uphill to generate any excitement; based on what has come before, and the amount of homework required to be across all stories. 2023 has already been shaky for the MCU, and I’ll be looking for a little more Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and a little less Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania 😬
After touching a suspicious warp portal, Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) and Monica Rambau (Teyonah Parris) trigger a metaphysical connection, between the pair of them and Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani), which causes them to swap places whenever they use their powers, linked by their abilities to be able to manipulate light. To make matters more complicated, the ravenous Dar-Benn (Zawe Ashton) has uncovered an ancient Quantum band, emboldening her to spring a deadly plan where she means to regain the shattered strength of the Kree. She will steal life-sustaining resources from other planets, with a keen vengeance against Captain Marvel fueling her mission in the back of her mind. Pray for director Nia DaCosta, tasked with bringing this all together.
For one, you know how I just said the Marvels switch places whenever one of them use their powers? Well, it turns out what that means is whenever the fuck the plot wants! I don’t envy this movie, trying to do its own thing, while trying to reverse-park into a tight spot assigned by the MCU as well – the movie is connecting characters with limited shared experiences, and goes about it by dropping their short backstories sporadically throughout the movie, which I can only hope could’ve been done better. I needed to know who Ms. Marvel was, and what her powers could do, straight away – does she need the bangle to project power? Turns out, she doesn’t 😕 Of course, I should’ve watched the show, but at the same time this movie does mark a very important step with the MCU, for it makes TV viewing essential. Wanda Maximoff might’ve done her own thing in WandaVision, but her motivations were clear enough (and should’ve been clearer) by the time we meet her again in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. And Valentina Allegra de Fontaine shows up at the end of Black Widow, but that was in a post-credit teaser, hardly integral to the Black Widow story. To me, it makes sense for established characters to spin off from the main movies and get their own side stories on Disney+ (that includes Hawkeye and Loki for those playing at home). And I don’t even mind new characters, like Ms. Marvel, becoming staples of the cinema for the future, but since this is the first time a movie’s tack has made TV a prerequisite for the MCU in cinemas, I think it muddies the water between what is a main meal (which is what I would imagine the cinematic experience to be, since you have to leave your house and pay money to see it), and what is an encore (which I would have as the TV series, you get with your Disney+ subscription). That is to say, I imagined this movie would’ve prioritised the grunt-work exposition way better, filling in gaps so as to not leave people behind. The movie wants to keep what Captain Marvel has been up to a mystery from the beginning, but it doesn’t work if Ms. Marvel, Rambeau and Nick Fury have all jumped places as well. If this is the way the MCU is going to position itself going forward, then I’m not surprised to see people drop away in droves. The MCU can already be very complicated to follow, catching up with intersecting characters and developing worlds, and it’s running away too fast now to follow.
So, let’s talk about a few things I missed, and how they affected my viewing experience. How the hell is Nick Fury in space? I’m personally still in limbo on that since the ending of Spider-Man: Far From Home, where it was revealed a Skrull version of Nick Fury had been doing the heavy-lifting. When did the real Nick Fury catch up with Monica Rambeau? Shall I assume that was answered in Secret Invasion as well? 🤔 Rambeau seems to have a better understanding of her powers than what I can remember from before, and Captain Marvel has clearly been up to some stuff since the last time we met her too; either, in the nineties, or even throughout her few years with the Avengers, which remain vague. When did Captain Marvel knock about with King Valkyrie? I suppose they could’ve passed ways during the blip, or somewhere in space, but a line of dialogue carrying an explanation would’ve gone a long way. And since the Skrull are now in the care of Valkyrie, does that mean they’re all coming to Earth for yummy Infinity Conez? 🍦😅
Anyway, about halfway through the movie, The Marvels does catch us up with Captain Marvel, and it’s a right kerfuffle. We learn that Captain Marvel has completed her objective as promised at the end of Captain Marvel, vowing revenge on the super intelligence leading the Kree; but our stupid superhero apparently went in fists-blazing – for even after having lived among the Kree for however many years, she couldn’t foresee that dismantling their power structure and belief system, without a word of explanation to anyone, would bring about catastrophic in-fighting and deathly consequences 🙄 What would Tony Stark say? “Not a great plan”. In fact, almost unforgivably foolish. Also, let’s not overlook the fact that the Marvels are now swapping places because dopey Aunt Carol touched something shiny and sprung what she already suspected was a trap 😑 Everyone, buy her toys, she’s a role model! Whilst a tad generic, I do like that the villainous Dar-Benn is out to set her people’s right again, and I almost feel sorry for her, having no frame of reference but to try to reclaim past prosperity and supreme dominance for her peoples. I would’ve appreciated Dar-Benn more if she wasn’t making her mission personal though, because targeting worlds favoured by Captain Marvel probably took elaborate time and investigation that her suffering people didn’t have, and makes Dar-Benn unnecessarily petty; but I can’t have everything, I suppose.
The Marvels really does seem a movie stuck in between potential – the way I see it, the MCU has no idea what to do with Captain Marvel, where there were a few visible possibilities out there, outside of putting her in a dashy team-up as quick as possible. We could’ve actually seen Captain Marvel strike back against the Kree, as promised at the end of her last movie. We could’ve seen her get into a completely new caper, off-world, anywhere across the galaxy as well. It’s also been rumoured that Secret Invasion could’ve been a Captain Marvel vehicle, since she’d had previous involvement with the Skrull, and without knowing how that TV show went for myself, it does sound like an action-packed premise suited for the big screen. All these options would’ve offered better growth opportunities for Captain Marvel’s character anyway, where in this movie, sharing the screen with an ensemble, Captain Marvel’s main characteristic is that she’s strong, and that’s it 😕 I understand that Brie Larson cops a lot of flak too, and sometimes deservingly so, highlighted by her turn in the MCU, but I can’t blame her for the studio’s lack of development in her character. In her first solo movie, the intention was to make her quippy, but it came off as arrogant – her banter with Nick Fury was so forced at times as well. At least The Marvels has dialed all that back for the better, so she’s easier to be around, but she’s still so silly.
Positively, there are some positives. I think the intention of The Marvels is to be a fun gal-pal team-up, and a good part of Marvel’s longevity has come through their willingness to play in other movie genres. This movie captures a few really strong moments of goofing around when the trio get to relax, and they complement each other well when fighting. You’re also either going to like the planet where everyone sings, or you’re not 😅 As a Disney Princess from way back, I was all for The Marvels getting in on the action, although the way Captain Marvel gets in and out of that dress remains a complete movie-magic mystery. I also don’t mind shots of space kitties everywhere – to the sounds of ‘Memory’ from Cats, I might add 😆 – because at least this movie tried something new, and I like that the MCU may still have the ability to surprise us. So, when this movie is given free air to stand alone, there’s a spark of good comic fare straining to break out. Although, of course, the problems are indisputable, coming through a juggling of baggage to fit within a larger story, and I think a rush, or at least a change, of plans, is evident. The Marvels is bad with characters flopping motivations so that the plot can move on too – Ms. Marvel’s mother back-flips on her daughter risking her life in space, and Captain Marvel only seems to get mad and reckless just before it’s time for her to confess her obvious sins. Captain Marvel dumping her memories on Monica is also so awkward, and what an awful thing to do to a person, all in the name of the movie trying to tease out a practical way to dump in some backstory – chalk it up to another clunky action taken by crazy Aunt Carol though. God, James Gunn must be sitting back laughing, with a full list of ‘don’ts’ when it comes to building a respectable superhuman being for himself… We need his Superman to go well 🤞
And I may eventually watch the required TV shows and gain a full ardent love for this movie – you don’t know; nothing’s impossible 😅 Ms. Marvel does seem a cool sort – a rambler, sure, but I can’t be turned away by her passion. Monica Rambeau remains the best of it, and whilst your personality didn’t allow you to outshine the other two, you’re a true hero, and I see you. Good luck on the other side, sister ❤ Of course, The Marvels ends by teasing another team-up (threat to be determined), and fakes another death/loss that we’re sure by now can be undone. I don’t know about you, but I’m not tremendously excited by either of these rote prospects. I know that many apocalyptists out there have been claiming they hear Marvel’s death rattle for years, and I might finally venture to their side when I say that I think, at least, I will be viewing this franchise differently from this point forward. Thor: Love and Thunder was frightening, Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness felt like a watered-down promised, and Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania was a gigantic blow – now, with The Marvels, I’m calling it that the good-will bubble has burst. The MCU is now a franchise going through the motions when it used to be the trend setter.
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