The Marvels opens in one month. While I am still reeling from the sudden end of summer, the fall movie season is barreling down on us. It’s going to be a light one, as some big movies, notably Dune: Part Two, moved out of 2023 to fill gaps in the 2024 schedule brought on by strike delays. But Marvel held steady with The Marvels on November 10, and to mark the one-month timer—and the sale of advanced tickets—they dropped some new featurettes, including one about Carol Danvers’ “legacy”, which after only one movie and very brief appearances in Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame feels a little premature, but okay.
Much more effective is the shorter “return of Captain Marvel” spot, which benefits from quicker pacing, a good use of Beastie Boys, and, most importantly, Iman Vellani’s nuclear-grade charm.
Negotiations between SAG-AFTRA and AMPTP are continuing this week, and if they agree to terms relatively quickly, there’s a chance we might get a little bit of press out of Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, and Iman Vellani. There is no doubt The Marvels is the kind of movie that would benefit from a peppy press tour, particularly fueled by Vellani’s irrepressible nature—she is SO hard to resist, so charming and fun and her excitement is contagious. There are important issues at stake in the strike, and I hope they get resolved to the benefit of gigging actors trying to make a living…but I would also like a little bit of a Marvels press tour.
Because, honestly, I’m scared of this movie and for this movie. Still, to this day, there is a not insignificant number of dudes incapable of being normal about Brie Larson. Since theatrical distribution resumed after the lockdowns of 2020, we have seen a pattern of Marvel movies underperforming, and even the films that do well, like Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 haven’t hit a billion dollars. Previously, you could set your watch by Marvel releasing billion-dollar hits every year, but the only billion-dollar film they’ve had since Endgame is Spider-Man: No Way Home.
But while those films are still acknowledged as winners even without billion-dollar box office, if The Marvels does not beat Captain Marvel’s box office of $1.13 billion, there will be an unholy amount of “celebrating” its failure. Like, it doesn’t even matter if The Marvels does well to the tune of $800 or $900 million, if it doesn’t top Captain Marvel, people WILL call it a flop and cheer for Brie Larson’s comeuppance.
But in reality, Captain Marvel, like Black Panther, overperformed. Wakanda Forever’s box office ($859 million) is more in line with what was expected of its predecessor and given how superhero movies in general and Marvel movies specifically have performed over the last couple years, it seems likely The Marvels will do similar business (especially without Dune to cut into premium large format theaters like IMAX later in the month). But none of that will matter when it comes to The Marvels. There is an entire cottage industry dedicated to propagating hate against Brie Larson and any perceived weakness will be capitalized upon as some kind of proof that she’s the worst person to ever live.
The Marvels looks fun. Word that the runtime is a lean, mean 105 minutes is actually encouraging, especially after seeing how blazingly fast-paced the latest season of Loki is—someone at Marvel remembered how to tell an action-packed story that is light on its feet and still makes room for interesting characters. Hopefully, The Marvels is of a similar bent. And I REALLY hope it does well with audiences because I cannot face more years of “everyone hates Brie Larson” thumbnails on my YouTube page. I have never once clicked on that sh-t, and YouTube still tries to feed it to me. I wish those dudes would move on, but not even Barbie dislodged their hateboners for Brie Larson. At this point, I don’t think anything will except for whatever bog witch cursed them and made their penises tiny lifting her hex.
Also, this “making of” featurette has a clear shot of Park Seo Jun as Prince Yan, dancing with Carol. This is for Lainey.
Attached - More of Brie Larson at the Chanel show in Paris last week.
