After facing delays from its initial release date of July 28, 2023, “The Marvels” finally debuted in theaters on Nov. 10, 2023, which marked Marvel Studios’ third theatrical release this year.
This film was initially set to be a direct sequel to Brie Larson’s initial “Captain Marvel” film from 2019 before it was renamed “The Marvels” to accommodate Teyonah Parris’ adult Monica Rambeau and Iman Vellani’s Kamala Khan.
We last saw Larson’s Carol Danvers in Khan’s debut Disney+ show, “Ms. Marvel,” where she switched places with the young hero in the final moments of the season finale, ultimately setting up the initial events of this movie. Meanwhile, Rambeau was last seen during the events of the Disney+ show, “WandaVision,” which is where she attained her powers to phase through physical matter, absorb energy and channel it at will.
Samuel L. Jackson also reprises his role as Nick Fury as he comes into this film fresh off the events of “Secret Invasion.”
This unique cast is brought together by the film’s antagonist Dar-Benn, played by Zawe Ashton, who seeks to restore her homeland, the Kree planet Hala, after Danvers destroyed the planet’s Supreme Intelligence following the events of the first film. The villain also possesses a bangle similar to the one that is worn by Khan that unlocked her mutant abilities in “Ms. Marvel,” further establishing the bracelets as the notorious Quantum Bands from the comics.
Dar-Benn uses her bangle to absorb energy and create wormholes in the universe, which entangles the powers of Danvers, Khan and Rambeau throughout the entire film.
This forces the heroes to work together to take down this threat as Danvers and Rambeau work through their strained, rocky relationship created by the former leaving a young Rambeau waiting decades to see her. Additionally, Khan’s adoration of Captain Marvel and her excitement to be part of a team with Danvers and Rambeau creates a fun dynamic that fans can relate to throughout the entire film.
When the heroes realize that Dar-Benn is taking resources from other planets to restore Hala using the wormholes she’s generating after failing to save the Skrull refugee colony on Tarnax IV, they head to Aladna, a water-based planet, to thwart her next attempt.
The team’s time in Aladna is arguably the most fun part of the movie, as it’s revealed that people on the planet are only capable of speaking through songs, setting up dancing and singing sequences that Khan really gets into and Danvers, who reveals she married the prince of the planet to resolve a political dispute, dances and sings to warn people about the imminent danger ahead.
Despite the warning, the team fails to stop Dar-Benn again and Khan becomes a prime target of the antagonist once she notices that the young hero is wearing the other Quantum Band she needs.
In the film’s final act, Dar-Benn attempts to take the sun from the galaxy and is stopped by the heroes once again. This time, they succeeded in stopping her, but not before she took Khan’s bangle and created a tear to another reality before immediately exploding.
Rambeau makes the ultimate sacrifice play in fixing this tear between both realities as she ends up stuck in a different reality, which is revealed to be one that the X-Men are in at the end of the film. Khan also ends the film recruiting Kate Bishop like Fury did with Tony Stark, hinting at a potential Young Avengers project in the near future.
This movie perfectly sets up the second season of “Ms. Marvel,” a third Captain Marvel movie and both upcoming Avengers films, but time will tell when these stories finally receive their payoff.
