The Marvels is the latest film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the first to make use of one of the recent Disney+ shows.
The Kree are up to their warmongering ways in The Marvels, this time they’re after the resources to restore life to their nearly dead world. As the Kree start this process our three heroes become entangled through their light based powers and keep swapping locations with each other. The first things I was told about this film, prior to seeing it was that several of the Disney+ shows are required viewing. Ms Marvel, obviously, because she’s one of the three heroes caught up in this mess. Secret Invasion because it is a direct follow up to the Captain Marvel film and likely the lead in to this film. Wandavision because that is how Monica gets her powers. Lastly I was told the second season of Loki was required as well. If you want to understand everything in the film. That is entirely false. If you are not caught up on Loki then you have nothing to worry about. To understand the midcredits scene though you should first watch Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
My expectations were rather high for the film. I loved the first film and thoroughly enjoyed each show that directly lead to this one. The first act helped reinforce these expectations until they arrived on the world called Aladna. Aladna is a world that is almost completely water and the population speaks exclusively through song. That’s right, for a brief moment we have our first official Marvel musical. Thankfully they move on as quickly as it starts and as I hoped it did not continue through the film.
From a sales perspective I had read that this film did the worst out of the MCU and most of the comments on why attribute that to Brie Larson, Captain Marvel herself. I seriously don’t understand why so many people in the community dislike her so much but I suspect it might be because she’s a woman that has strong opinions and doesn’t shy away from sharing them. In a male dominated society I consider this to be proof of her strength and bravery. That being said, this has nothing to do with my thoughts on the quality of the film, perhaps some people could learn to be objective about a film regardless of the cast? Visually the effects were fantastic and the story was well written. The cast were perfect in their roles, so much so that I would say that this is the BEST MCU film since COVID. I thoroughly enjoyed the film and hope to see a follow up film bringing these characters together again.