Given that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is becoming increasingly entwined with its Disney+ TV shows, it’s entirely possible to think that The Marvels will fall victim to the same bloat that plagued Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Here are more characters you have to work to recognize, you may think. More plots that you only barely care about, more unremarkable digital slop pushed onto a plate increasingly burdened with more of the same. Thankfully, The Marvels is none of that.
Director and co-writer Nia DaCosta uses three of Marvel’s most charismatic heroes to create a delightful team-up filled with color, odd genre explorations and some timely themes, all characterized by a trio that bursts with chemistry. The Marvels is the most personality a Marvel film has had since the MCU’s previous high-water mark, Thor: Ragnarok. It’s also another impressive portfolio entry for DaCosta, who delivers all of this in a fleet-footed 105 minutes.
The Marvels brings together Carol Danvers AKA Captain Marvel (Brie Larson), Kamala Khan, alias Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani) and Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris). Larson’s Carol has been a regular presence since 2019’s Captain Marvel. Vellani’s Kamala and Parris’ Monica are both carry-overs from Disney+ series (Ms. Marvel and WandaVision, respectively) making their big-screen debuts.
When Kree soldier Dar-Benn (Zawe Ashton) creates a series of holes in space-time to rob other planets of their natural resources to save her dying home, the resulting energy links Carol, Monica and Kamala together—they each have light and electromagnet-based superpowers, you see. Now, when any two (or all three) of them use their powers at the same time, they swap places. Initially, this is a potentially dangerous handicap (that’s what happens when only two-thirds of your super-team can fly), but after Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury helps bring them all together, they discover how to turn it into a useful battle technique.
Much of The Marvels’ sense of delight comes from watching Larson, Vellani and Parris interact. As she did in Ms. Marvel, Vellani brings wide-eyed excitement and earnestness to Kamala that closely reflects the character’s innate appeal in the Marvel comics. Parris and Larson’s characters have a more complex history, so their relationship is equal parts curiosity and nervousness. When the three are all in one space, there’s a playful sense of discovery, as in a montage where Carol, Kamala and Monica practice choreographing their spot-swapping with a game of double dutch.
DaCosta also smartly applies another strength of the Ms. Marvel streaming series here: A frequent use of illustration and comic book aesthetics. Early on, Kamala doodles Captain Marvel fan art that comes to goofy hand-drawn life, bringing the audience in on her youthful enthusiasm. In later scenes, DaCosta breaks up the screen into panel-framed shots to transition between scenes or increase the impact of certain moments. It works like a charm, and reminds you why we used to get excited about superhero movies in the first place.
This is all to say nothing of the many places The Marvels takes us on Carol, Monica and Kamala’s quest to save the universe from Dar-Benn. We check in on the refugee Skrulls and get a quick visit from a certain New Asgardian ambassador. DaCosta also takes us to a planet where the primary language is song, resulting in a couple of utterly daffy Disney-style numbers featuring Larson and K-Drama star Park Seo-joon. Fans of Captain Marvel’s Flerken companion Goose will also be pleased to know the extraterrestrial feline gets a side-plot that reunites her with former scratching post Nick Fury.
The Marvels manages to weave together three disparate characters into a fairly straightforward plot, feature beloved side characters, and play with genre—all in about two-thirds of the time that most MCU movies take up. It’s nothing short of a miracle. Yes, some of those threads play into the increasingly convoluted nature of the franchise that have increasingly annoyed many fans (and grudging repeat viewers). However, it does so with very little extra bloat; once the stakes are established, it’s pretty easy to pick up.
Given that the over-exposure of the Marvel Machine is starting to wind down to a more reasonable rate, The Marvels may well mark the end of an era for the MCU (though, as with previous entries, it still promises some juicy future developments for eager fans). However, DaCosta’s assured, efficient direction feels like an example of what we could have been enjoying this whole time, if we hadn’t gotten bogged down by gloopy effects and overblown lore. It’s a story that focuses on well-developed relationships, entertaining locations that don’t overstay their welcome, and a reasonable plot that clocks in at a reasonable running time. The Marvels adds up to the most enjoyable movie the MCU has released in a long time.
Director: Nia DaCosta
Writer: Nia DaCosta, Megan McDonnell, Elissa Karasik
Starring: Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, Iman Vellani, Zawe Ashton, Gary Lewis, Seo-Jun Park, Zenobia Shroff, Mohan Kapur, Saagar Shaikh, Samuel L. Jackson
Release Date: November 10, 2023
Abby Olcese is an entertainment writer based in Kansas City. Her work has appeared at /Film, rogerebert.com, Crooked Marquee, Sojourners Magazine, and Think Christian. You can follow her adventures and pop culture obsessions at @abbyolcese.