Ms. Marvel herself, Iman Vellani, had the perfect response when questioned about The Marvels’ box office. Although the film has been struggling at the box office, Vellani reminds everyone that it’s out of the control of the film’s stars.
The Marvels premiered on November 10 and saw Vellani’s return as Kamala Khan for the first time since Ms. Marvel. However, this time, Khan is joined by her idol Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) and fellow superhero Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris). The trio is forced to work together when their powers become entangled, causing them to switch places every time their powers are activated. Together, they must face a threat from Captain Marvel’s past in the form of Kree revolutionary Dar-Benn (Zawe Ashton).
While The Marvels received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics, the audience response has been very positive. It’s one of the most fun Marvel Cinematic Universe films in a long time, but it still has enough cameos and surprises to be significant to the MCU’s future. Unfortunately, its box office earnings have not been reflecting its high quality.
The film suffered one of the lowest box office openings for an MCU film and faced a significant drop in earnings during its second week. The Marvels’ box office struggles likely reflect superhero fatigue, lack of marketing due to the SAG-AFTRA strike, and sexist individuals boycotting the film for featuring women.
It’s quite clear that The Marvels’ box office was not the fault of its stars, all of whom earned nearly unanimous praise from critics. Hence, Vellani had a blunt response for those so relentlessly focused on the box office.
Iman Vellani says The Marvels‘ box office is Bob Iger’s problem
In an interview with Yahoo Entertainment, Vellani confirmed that her focus isn’t on The Marvels’ box office. She stated, “I don’t want to focus on something that’s not even in my control because what’s the point? That’s for Bob Iger.” Vellani makes an excellent point that the stars of the film shouldn’t be inundated with this fixation on the box office because it really has nothing to do with them.
The Marvels team simply showed up and put forward their best work. As for what happens after, that’s for Disney CEO Bob Iger to deal with. It’s Iger and Disney that have been pushing films with inflated budgets and churning out remakes and sequels amid franchise fatigue. Iger and Disney also contributed to the SAG-AFTRA strike by failing to pay actors a livable wage, which impacted promotions for The Marvels. So, yes, it is Iger’s problem, not Vellani’s.
Vellani went on to explain that she’s personally happy with how the film turned out and is content with knowing that audiences enjoyed it. She stated,
[The box office] has nothing to do with me. I’m happy with the finished product, and the people that I care about enjoyed the film. It’s genuinely a good time watching this movie, and that’s all we can ask for with these films. It has superheroes, it take place in space, it’s not that deep and it’s about teamwork and sisterhood. It’s a fun movie, and I’m just so happy that I can share it with people.
She also makes a good point in emphasizing that The Marvels isn’t “that deep.” Some critics have been tearing the film apart for not being as sophisticated as they wanted it to be, and now everyone is making a fuss over the box office. However, The Marvels was never that serious to begin with. It’s just a fun film about female superheroes and cats in space that was meant for people to enjoy. Anyone getting bent out of shape because it’s not the best film ever, because it has women in it, or because it isn’t a box office hit needs to calm down.
We should just enjoy the film and let others enjoy it because whatever its box office numbers mean, it really has nothing to do with the quality of the movie or with its stars.
(featured image: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
