Another entry into the MCU! Sadly, I think this movie came at a bad time. Morale in the fandom is low and this movie happened to bear the brunt of the changing tides. It is especially unfortunate that a movie that had everything working against it is a movie featuring three female leads, a female villain, and a predominantly non-white cast. When a movie like this ends up with the worst box office performance for a Marvel movie in history, people draw the wrong conclusions. No, this does absolutely not mean that movies with female leads or non-white casts do not or cannot make money or be successful. And, no, we should not stop making them. What we should take away from this box office failure is what we would take away had this been any Marvel movie featuring any hero. The issue is with the chef, not the ingredients.

Marvel has all the pieces. This movie has a lot of great pieces (more on that later). It’s not even a bad movie. But Marvel is still running with the same recipe that made them a success 15 years ago and it just doesn’t hit the same. Movies have changed, the audience has changed, society has changed and we don’t want the same things we used to in the same way we used to. I don’t think Marvel needs to reinvent the wheel. Superhero movies will always be superhero movies in their way. But I do think something needs to change to get this train back on track because half the fandom seems about ready to jump ship (okay I think I’ve maxed out on metaphors). Speaking for myself, I haven’t put in this many hours (and hours and hours and hours) of content just to quit now, but I will admit my excitement level is waning. I used to love any superhero movie. Now I just find myself thinking how not believable certain aspects are. That is definitely not the mindset you want to be in when tuning into a story like this or like any of these. I do think fatigue is a big factor in this. A superhero story used to be a treat at the movies maybe twice a year. Now we can’t go a few weeks without the next entry. I think we all (including Marvel) could use a break to reset. Give us time to miss these stories before we get overwhelmed by the amount of content.

Marvel rant over (probably). Let’s get to this movie itself. I thought in general it was light, fun, short, and sweet. The filmmakers definitely traded in some depth for zippy comedy which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but was a choice. Since it seems like I’m starting with the negative, I will say the plot left things to be desired. I have to be honest, I’m so done with the Skrulls. I do not care about them or their “civil war” with the Kree or whatever is going on there. This has been a background story in multiple movies now and I didn’t care then. I care even less after Secret Invasion and how terrible and nonsensical that show was. So anytime there’s a Skrull plotline now, I’m just going to roll my eyes. But their inclusion here also begs the question: does this movie take place before or after Secret Invasion? It kind of feels like Marvel wants to pretend that never happened, which I’m personally okay with, but if they’re going to give us so much content, they need to at least help us keep the timelines straight.

Sorry to be so negative! This movie is really not bad. I liked the power switching aspect of the plot. I thought it was really well done both narratively and visually. I liked the way it brought the group together and made the fight sequences fun and cool. Carol and Monica’s history and issues with each other I didn’t totally buy but it worked fine enough. The villain, Dar-Benn, was actually more fleshed out than most Marvel villains, but was still not given a ton to do. Either way, I thought she looked gorgeous and cool and she was played by Zawe Ashton who is married to Tom Hiddleston (Loki) in real life so that’s a fun connection.

Okay now I’ve waited long enough. Let’s really get into it. Iman Vellani. That’s it. That’s the tweet. Actually I do have a lot more to say about her but she is a star. She absolutely carried this entire movie on her 21-year-old back. I had no interest in watching the Ms. Marvel television show but she made it worthwhile and I was looking forward to this movie mostly for her. She just radiates star power in every scene and is the single most entertaining part of the movie (aside from Kamala’s family. Shoutout to them as well for being amazing). I’m upset that because of the actor’s strike she was robbed of a press tour for this, but I have high hopes for her future and am so excited to see where her career goes.

As for her character, Kamala is canonically obsessed with Captain Marvel (played by Brie Larson). The idea of “hero worship” is ever so slightly touched on here, but I think it would’ve been really cool to dive deeper into that in a story that is literally about heroes. Especially because with the way Brie plays Carol, I would have expected her to be initially less accepting of Kamala’s eagerness and adoration. I know some trolls on the internet have expressed annoyance at Kamala “fangirling”, but I would like to say 1) Peter Parker acts the same way with many of the other Avengers 2) When Kamala first meets Carol/Captain Marvel she honestly plays it way cooler than I would have if I was meeting one of my idols. I think in general some fans have had issues with the “plucky” characterization of a lot of the younger heroes that are being introduced, but I don’t mind it. I think it fits in well with the Marvel tone and humor and I really like a lot of the young characters.

Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan is really the heart and soul of this movie and I think it’s a performance worth seeing. Does it work as a standalone superhero movie? Probably not. Did you even read this far if you aren’t a Marvel-head? Probably not. But The Marvels is a fairly breezy, fun, cute superhero movie with female leads so, if that’s what you’re in the market for, this isn’t a bad option.

Super small spoiler section: I loved the final scene with Kamala and Kate Bishop! I love both of their characters as well as a number of the other likely members of the Young Avengers they seem to be setting up and will be so excited to see them all interact on screen together. Like actually excited this time.

2023 Count: 28 seasons, 49 movies, 1 special