The Marvels is a super fun comic book movie, especially in the scenes where the three leads are together. It’s too bad we didn’t get to see more of their magic chemistry on a press tour hyping up their awesome film before its release.
The Marvels brings together three powerful female superheroes for the first time: Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers (Brie Larson), Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris), and Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani) become a reluctant team when an event in space triggers all three of their powers, linking them together. Every time more than one of them uses their powers at the same time, they switch places. But the women shared connections even before this movie. Carol is Monica’s aunt, yet Carol wasn’t aware of Monica’s powers. Kamala is a huge fangirl of Carol, and chose her superhero name to honor her hero.
The record-breaking SAG-AFTRA strike that lasted all summer finally ended on Friday, November 10—the same day that The Marvels hit theaters. The major film studios’ greed kept the strike from ending sooner, robbing us of The Marvels press tour. Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, and Iman Vellani are magical together in the movie. Their chemistry is perfect for these characters, and audiences have fun right along with them. In the few behind-the-scenes clips released over the weekend, the three of them look like they are having the time of their lives together. I just want to hang out with them!
Although The Marvels is great (it’s now in my top five favorite Marvel movies), it isn’t faring well at the box office. Several factors are contributing to this. There are plenty of misogynists on the internet who won’t see it because they are afraid of females with superpowers and want to review-bomb it to make themselves feel better. Also, audiences are feeling the superhero fatigue. We’ve been subjected to a lot of mediocre—if not outright terrible—superhero films lately.
However, many casual viewers may not be going because of the lack of press. It is the first Marvel Cinematic Universe film to not have a press tour. It is the first time stars of the movie haven’t been out promoting the film for people who aren’t already tapped into Marvel’s release calendar. If more people saw how great Larson, Parris, and Vellani were together, there would have been more excitement for The Marvels—and a bigger box office take.
(featured image: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
