“The Marvels” is a fantastic way to start off phase 5 as it focuses largely on two new storylines within the franchise. Many negative reviews have already been trending but “The Marvels” caters to the same audience as movies such as “Five Nights At Freddy’s” where the main goal is to have fun.
I’ve been a serious fan of Marvel and have watched it grow in the way so many complain about. To me, Marvel is now focused on building characters and not worlds. This is especially true in “The Marvels” as the many planets the three visit within the film are simply a plot device to further their dynamic with each other.
The return of three widely beloved characters was one I was excited to see, and it was executed well. The complaints of Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) being cocky most likely aren’t going away any time soon, but they should. “The Marvels” shows an entirely new aspect of Carol in which she’s family oriented and focuses on helping everyone in any way she can.
Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) is a relatively new character to the MCU but I think both new and old fans will find a new favorite when it comes to her personality. I loved all the jokes used throughout the movie but Kamala’s constant fangirling was by far a standout. Not only did it make for a lot of great jokes, but an interesting team dynamic as well that I can’t wait to see more of.
The most important aspect of the dynamic though is Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris). Without her the team dynamic would lose any sort of common factor. Monica is close to Carol while also being more similar power and personality wise to Kamala. This is the first time the audience has seen Monica since “Wandavision” and “The Marvels” provides a much needed dive into her backstory as well as her newly created super powers.
The plot can be a bit messy but its use of emotions and two huge cameos absolutely made up for it. My main complaint with the plot is I wish we had seen more development with the villain, but it was so exciting to see Zawe Ashton make her “Marvel ” debut. While the villain herself wasn’t super well developed she brought some fun tension as well fight scenes to the movie.
Knowing that Kamala is starting her own team brings hope of a new age of the MCU. Some fans complain this team isn’t comic accurate, but I see it as an opportunity for the MCU to stand out as something new and, depending on how they utilize the team, better.
Although many users of Letterboxd may claim the MCU has been on a steady downhill, to me “The Marvels” is a message to those “fans” saying they have a new audience–one that doesn’t expect every movie to be another “Endgame.”
