THE MARVELS

5.4/10

As a mysterious cosmic crisis spreads across the galaxy, Carol Danvers finds her powers unexpectedly linked with Monica Rambeau and teenage superfan Kamala Khan. Every time one of them uses their abilities, they switch places instantly. Forced to work together against the ruthless Dar-Benn, the unlikely trio races across space to stop collapsing worlds, uncover buried secrets from Captain Marvel’s past, and prevent a catastrophic war that threatens the balance of the universe itself.

CAST & CREW

BRIE LARSON

CAROL DANVERS/CAPTAIN MARVEL

TEYONAH PARRIS

MONICA RAMBEAU

IMAN VELLANI

KAMALA KHAN/MS. MARVEL

SAMUEL L. JACKSON

NICK FURY

ZAWE ASHTON

DAR-BENN

GARY LEWIS

EMPEROR DRO'GE

SEO-JUN PARK

PRINCE YAN

ZENOBIA SHROFF

MUNEEBA KHAN

MOHAN KAPUR

YUSUF KHAN

SAAGAR SHAIKH

AAMIR KHAN

LEILA FARZAD

TALIA

ABRAHAM POPOOLA

DAG

NIA DACOSTA

DIRECTOR/WRITER

MEGAN McDONNELL

WRITER

ELISSA KARASIK

WRITER

KEVIN FEIGE, p.g.a.

PRODUCER

LOUIS D'ESPOSITO

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

VICTORIA ALONSO

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

MARY LIVANOS

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

JONATHAN SCHWARTZ

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

MATTHEW JENKINS

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

DAVID J. GRANT

CO-PRODUCER

SEAN BOBBITT, BSC

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY

CARA BROWER

PRODUCTION DESIGNER

CATRIN HEDSTRÖM

EDITOR

EVAN SCHIFF, A.C.E.

EDITOR

LINDSAY PUGH

COSTUME DESIGNER

TARA DEMARCO

VISUAL EFFECTS SUPERVISOR

JAMES ALEXANDER

VISUAL EFFECTS PRODUCER

LAURA KARPMAN

MUSIC

DAVE JORDAN

MUSIC SUPERVISOR

SARAH HALLEY FINN, C.S.A.

CASTING

SYNOPSIS

The Kree revolutionary Dar-Benn uncovers one of the ancient Quantum Bands on a distant planet. Seeking to restore the dying Kree homeworld of Hala after years of environmental collapse and civil unrest, Dar-Benn combines the Band with the Kree Universal Weapon, granting herself extraordinary cosmic power. However, activating the artifact destabilizes the network of Jump Points that connects the galaxy for interstellar travel, creating dangerous distortions across space. These anomalies begin spreading rapidly, threatening entire systems and drawing the attention of multiple heroes across the universe.

Near Earth, Nick Fury oversees operations aboard the S.A.B.E.R. Space Station when scientists detect severe disruptions near one of the Jump Points. Monica Rambeau is sent to investigate the anomaly while Carol Danvers independently pursues another disturbance connected to Kree activity. At the same time on Earth, teenage superhero Kamala Khan spends her days idolizing Captain Marvel while balancing her normal family life in Jersey City. When all three women simultaneously interact with the unstable Jump Point energy through their light-based powers, they become quantum entangled, causing them to unpredictably switch places whenever they use their abilities.

The sudden entanglement creates chaos during a Kree attack, with Carol, Monica, and Kamala constantly teleporting into each other’s battles across space and Earth. Despite their confusion, they manage to fend off Dar-Benn’s forces, though the conflict severely damages the Khan family home and exposes Kamala’s superhero activities to greater danger. After returning everyone to their original locations, Fury and Monica visit Kamala and her family to explain the bizarre cosmic phenomenon. Monica theorizes that their powers have become linked at a quantum level, meaning any simultaneous use of energy-based abilities triggers an involuntary swap between them.

As the instability worsens, Carol tracks Dar-Benn to Tarnax IV, a Skrull refugee colony established after the destruction of the Skrull homeworld. Carol had once promised to help the Skrulls find safety, making Tarnax one of the few stable homes they possess. Monica and Kamala join her there as delicate peace negotiations unfold between the Skrulls and local leadership. However, Dar-Benn arrives and violently tears open another Jump Point above the colony, siphoning away Tarnax’s atmosphere to replenish Hala’s dying environment. The colony falls into chaos as the Marvels struggle to evacuate civilians while adapting to their unpredictable power-switching during combat.

After escaping Tarnax, the three heroes begin working together aboard Fury’s station, slowly learning how to coordinate their entangled abilities. Kamala enthusiastically names the trio “The Marvels,” while Monica and Carol continue navigating unresolved emotional tension stemming from Carol’s long absence from Monica’s life after the death of Maria Rambeau. Through training and repeated battles, the team gradually masters the mechanics of their switching, allowing them to fight with increasing synchronization and efficiency. Kamala’s optimism and admiration for Carol begin softening the strained relationship between the older heroes.

Carol eventually reveals the deeper truth behind Dar-Benn’s hatred. Years earlier, Carol destroyed the Supreme Intelligence that ruled the Kree Empire, believing she was liberating the Kree people from oppression. Instead, Hala descended into ecological collapse and civil war, leaving countless Kree blaming Carol for their suffering. Dar-Benn now seeks revenge while attempting to restore Hala by stealing vital planetary resources from worlds connected to Carol’s past. The Quantum Bands, originally tied to the creation of the Jump Point network itself, amplify this danger by destabilizing space-time whenever Dar-Benn uses them recklessly.

The Marvels trace Dar-Benn’s next target to Aladna, a vibrant water-rich world culturally tied to Carol through diplomatic alliances. Arriving ahead of the Kree forces, the trio warns the planet’s leaders of the impending attack. Despite their efforts, Dar-Benn invades the planet and begins draining its oceans to replenish Hala’s water supply. During the confrontation, she nearly steals Kamala’s Quantum Band, forcing the heroes into a difficult retreat. The failure sparks tension among the team, with Kamala frustrated by Carol’s secrecy and Monica angered by Carol’s tendency to shoulder responsibility alone. Eventually, they reconcile and realize Dar-Benn’s final target will be Earth’s sun itself.

The Marvels intercept Dar-Benn before she can fully drain the sun’s energy, leading to a massive battle in orbit. Working together seamlessly for the first time, Carol, Monica, and Kamala overpower Dar-Benn and prevent her from completing her plan. Desperate and unstable, Dar-Benn attempts to use both Quantum Bands simultaneously to repair the damage she caused to the Jump Point network. Instead, the overwhelming power tears open a catastrophic rupture between realities. The energy overload destroys Dar-Benn and finally breaks the quantum entanglement linking the three heroes, but the dimensional rift continues expanding uncontrollably.

Realizing the rupture could destabilize the multiverse itself, Monica volunteers to seal it from the opposite side. Empowered by Carol and Kamala combining their abilities with hers, Monica successfully closes the breach but becomes trapped in another universe in the process. Back in her own reality, Carol travels to Hala and reignites the planet’s dying sun, finally beginning to repair the damage she unintentionally caused years earlier. Kamala returns home inspired by her experiences and begins recruiting young heroes for a new team, starting with Kate Bishop. Meanwhile, Monica awakens in an alternate universe where she encounters Binary, a variant of her mother Maria Rambeau, alongside the mutant scientist Beast, hinting at the growing collision between realities.

REVIEW

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LEGACY

THE MARVELS (2023) is a fast-paced, lightweight entry in the modern Marvel Studios lineup that prioritizes energy and character interaction over narrative depth. Directed by Nia DaCosta, the film attempts to blend cosmic-scale science fiction with a character-driven team-up story, centering on three heroines whose powers become mysteriously entangled. While the premise offers clear potential for inventive storytelling, the final execution feels more episodic than cohesive, as it moves quickly from one set piece to another without always fully developing its stakes.

At the heart of the film are its three leads: Carol Danvers, Monica Rambeau, and Kamala Khan. Their chemistry is the film’s strongest asset, with each character bringing a distinct emotional and tonal identity to the group dynamic. Kamala’s enthusiasm and idolization of Carol inject consistent warmth and humor, while Monica’s grounded emotional perspective adds weight and tension. Carol, positioned as the most experienced yet emotionally distant member of the trio, anchors the conflict as the story explores unresolved history and responsibility.

The antagonist, Dar-Benn, provides a functional but underdeveloped opposing force. Her motivations—rooted in restoring her dying world—offer thematic relevance, but the screenplay rarely pauses to fully explore her complexity, resulting in a villain that feels more like a catalyst for action than a fully realized character. This contributes to a larger issue in the film: a tendency to prioritize plot mechanics over deeper emotional or philosophical exploration, particularly in its treatment of the Kree-Skrull conflict and its wider cosmic implications.

Visually, the film delivers a bright and kinetic style that suits its concept, especially during sequences involving Jump Point travel and the characters’ constantly shifting positions during combat. The action is often inventive in its choreography, making strong use of the entanglement mechanic to create unpredictable and occasionally chaotic fight scenes. However, some sequences are overly reliant on CGI-heavy environments that lack visual grounding, and the rapid editing occasionally undermines clarity during key moments of action and exposition.

Ultimately, THE MARVELS is best understood as an entertaining but uneven MCU installment that succeeds most when focused on character interaction rather than large-scale mythology. It introduces promising dynamics between its three leads and reinforces the importance of legacy and mentorship within the franchise, particularly through Kamala Khan’s role as a rising hero. However, its rushed pacing and limited villain development prevent it from reaching the emotional or narrative impact of stronger entries in the series, leaving it as a fun but minor chapter in the broader MCU landscape.

BOX OFFICE

ESTIMATED BUDGET
$ 0 MILLION
DOMESTIC BOX OFFICE
$ 0
INTERNATIONAL BOX OFFICE
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WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE
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