NFL
By Keith Richards
***REVIEW DOES CONTAIN SPOILERS***
As far as critics are concerned, and financials, 2023 was not a great year for Marvel Cinematic Universe. In 2023, the MCU accumulated its lowest earnings since 2014 ($1.51 billion). Though not as critically acclaimed as the blockbusters of the Infinity Saga, there are still gems to be found in the Multiverse Saga. The Marvels is one of those movies.
The Marvels – A Box Office and Critics Perspective
The budget for The Marvels was one of the more robust of the MCU. The revenues from the box office did not surpass the budget, which made the movie a financial failure. On a budget of $274.8 million, The Marvels only pulled box office revenues of $205.6 million. By simple math, that means The Marvels lost $69.2 million, which makes it the first movie in MCU history to have that distinction.
The reviews were not much better. Though not completely awful from a critical perspective, it was not great either. The reviews were mixed, which led to a rating of 61% on Rotten Tomatoes. That means The Marvels is not the worst-reviewed movie in MCU history, but it is in the bottom three (Eternals – 47%, Quantimania – 46%).
On the hopeful end, critics like Lee Zumpe of Tampa Bay Newspapers stated, “The Marvels is exactly what it needed to be: fun, action-packed, wacky, and visually sumptuous. Director Nia DaCosta keeps the pacing brisk, but not so much that it muddles the story.”
On the less hopeful end, critics like Rachel Ho of Exclaim! Stated, “The Marvels neglects to fulfill the most basic tenets of being its own movie.”
The Marvels – An Audience Perspective
The audience reviews are significantly more favorable, whereas The Marvels earned an 83% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. One person stated, “The plot was decent and the script moved well. I don’t think it was clear to whom it was being shown – some parts seemed aimed at younger adolescents and other parts aimed at older folks.”
Another stated, “I really liked it. It’s not Marvel’s best movie, but definitely doesn’t deserve the negative reviews it’s getting.”
The Marvels – My Perspective and Synopsis
As a disclaimer, I should state that I have enjoyed the Multiverse Saga of the MCU. While I will admit that the Infinity Saga still contains all of the best works of the MCU, the Multiverse Saga has gems in its own right. For me, The Marvels is one of the gems of said saga.
As with much of the projects of the Multiverse Saga, The Marvels’ plot is complicated, but I think it still works. With shame, I have to admit that I have not seen Ms. Marvel. Even without knowing much about Kamala Khan from that series, it was easy to pick up on who Ms. Marvel was and what she was about. Her piece of the puzzle of The Marvels was easily followed.
A little more complicated is the relationship between Carol Danvers and Monica Rambeau. From the plot perspective, the last time Monica saw Auntie Carol was at the end of Captain Marvel. At the time, Carol told Monica that she’d be back sooner than she knew it. That did not end up being the case.
Instead, it had been decades since the two had seen or spoken with each other. During that time, Danvers had destroyed the Supreme Intelligence (more to come on that), threw Hala and the Kree into a civil war, and helped the Avengers defeat Thanos…twice.
Rambeau’s life has been no less eventful. One could argue that she’s had a tougher go of it than Auntie Carol. Since she last saw Carol, Monica was blipped out of existence, blipped back to only discover that her mother (Maria Rambeau) had died from cancer, started S.W.O.R.D., and thrust in and out of the Hex by Wanda Maxioff, which led to her receiving her own light-based superhero powers.
When Monica and Carol interact with a wormhole in space, they create a quantum entanglement between the two; along with Kamala. Due to the entanglement, if any of the three heroes use their powers simultaneously with one another, they switch places via teleportation with the other. It is this quantum entanglement that ends up making The Marvels so great.
Carol, Kamala, and Monica must navigate how to fight together to defeat Dar-Benn and use their powers in coordination with one another. As the Marvels’ navigate this unexpected minefield, you can see the chemistry between the three. Danvers’ seemingly emotionless approach, Rambeau struggling to deal with the unspoken tension between her and Auntie Carol, and Khan just happy to be in the presence of her twinsie and idol.
While all three can manipulate cosmic energy, how they manipulate it is different. Carol can create cosmic energy, Monica can see and absorb cosmic energy, and Kamala can harness cosmic energy into physical form. The Marvels learn to time their teleportations and use their powers at the right time in their battle against Dar-Benn.
Dar-Benn is the new leader of the Kree. After Carol destroys the Supreme Intelligence, and the Kree people are thrown into a civil war. With the war over Hala is all but destroyed and has lost its air, water, and sunlight. The goal of Dar-Benn is to restore Hala and seek vengeance on Captain Marvel simultaneously.
Dar-Benn does this with the assistance of the sister Quantum Bangle of Ms. Marvel and the Universal Weapon, which was formerly the weapon of Ronan the Accuser. With the Quantum Bangle and Universal Weapon, Dar-Benn rips open jump points that siphons the resources of other planets.
She siphons the atmosphere from the Skrull refugee colony on Tarnax and the water from the planet Aladana. As Dar-Benn attempts to steal the power of the sun from Earth, she is confronted and defeated by the Marvels. However, before being defeated, Dar-Benn opens a wormhole in space, which starts to leak another reality into their own.
With Kamala using both bangles, and Carol being Carol, they shoot a massive amount of energy into Monica. Monica then travels to the other side to close the wormhole. She realizes that she must remain there to completely close the rip. Danvers attempts to save her but Rambeau is lost behind the repaired tear.
The Marvels – Score and What’s Next
I thoroughly enjoyed The Marvels! The chemistry between Kamala, Monica, and Carol is infectious. The personalities of the three could not be more different, but the mixture of the three turns into a fun, wacky, youthful, and (at times) emotionally successful partnership. The star of the movie is Kamala Khan. She adds a youthfulness to the MCU that we’ve only seen so far in Peter Parker. It was the breath of fresh air the MCU needed and something they should continue with moving forward.
As stated before, the plot can be a bit complicated. After all, Nia DaCosta has to blend three different plots that have had little to no interaction into one working plot. Even with little known about the main antagonist, Dar-Benn, DaCosta makes it work and the villain does not seem to stick out like a sore thumb. Nia ensures that there is enough character development for Dar-Benn throughout the movie that it makes sense.
Overall, I would give the movie a solid four out of five stars. By no means is it the best movie of all of MCU, but I feel it is harshly judged due to the unreasonable feelings and expectations of others. Where the MCU can go from here is both exciting and intriguing.
And here is where the true spoilers come in as I describe the famous Marvel credits scene. In the first scene, we see Kate Bishop returning to her home with her bow. Bishop is surprised to find that Khan is there waiting for her. It is then revealed that Kamala is recruiting fellow young superheroes for a new team, which is assumed to be the Young Avengers.
In the second scene, Monica Rambeau awakens in the alternate reality she has sealed herself in. To her shock, Monica sees her mother, Maria Rambeau. The problem is that Maria has no idea who she is. Maria is not alone either. She is joined by Hank McCoy; better known as The Beast of the X-Men. McCoy explains the situation to Monica and mentions that Charles will want to hear about it.
So, what did you think of the movie? What worked? Where did they fall short? Let us know! Be sure to check out our content regarding the MCU, loads of other movies and shows, and music as well.
