The Marvels is a 2023 American superhero film based on Marvel Comics. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the sequel to the film Captain Marvel (2019), a continuation of the television miniseries Ms. Marvel (2022), and the 33rd film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film was directed by Nia DaCosta, who co-wrote the screenplay with Megan McDonnell and Elissa Karasik. It stars Brie Larson as Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel, Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau, and Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan / Ms. Marvel, alongside Zawe Ashton, Gary Lewis, Park Seo-joon, Zenobia Shroff, Mohan Kapur, Saagar Shaikh, and Samuel L. Jackson. In the film, Danvers, Rambeau, and Kamala team up as "the Marvels" after they begin swapping places with each other every time they use their powers. Marvel Studios confirmed plans to make a sequel to Captain Marvel in July 2019. Development began in January 2020 with McDonnell hired after working on the television miniseries WandaVision (2021). Larson was set to return from the first film as Danvers, and DaCosta was hired to direct that August. In December, Parris was revealed to be reprising her role as Rambeau from WandaVision alongside Vellani returning as Kamala from Ms. Marvel. Second unit filming began in mid-April 2021 in New Jersey, and the title—referring to the three characters and their similar abilities—was revealed in early May. Principal photography began in July 2021 and concluded by mid-May 2022, taking place at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire and Longcross Studios in Surrey, England, as well as in Los Angeles and Tropea, Italy. Karasik's involvement was revealed during post-production. The Marvels premiered in Las Vegas on November 7, 2023, and was released in the United States on November 10 as part of Phase Five of the MCU. It received mixed reviews from critics, with praise for its performances and action sequences but criticism for its script and tonal inconsistencies. The film was a box-office bomb, grossing $206.1 million worldwide against a gross production budget of $374 million, making it the lowest-grossing film in the MCU and one of the few MCU films not to break even in its theatrical run.
Plot Carol Danvers destroys the Supreme Intelligence, the artificial intelligence that leads the Kree empire. This leads to a civil war on planet Hala, the Kree home world, rendering the planet barren as it loses its air, water, and sunlight over the next 30 years. The Kree come to know Danvers as "the Annihilator". The Kree's new leader Dar-Benn discovers one of the two legendary Quantum Bands, which were previously used to create a network that allows fast travel across space. She uses the Band to forcibly open a new jump point that connects to the network. The resulting anomaly impacts the entire network, including a jump point near Earth's S.A.B.E.R. space station run by Nick Fury. Captain Monica Rambeau investigates the jump point near S.A.B.E.R. while Danvers investigates the new one that Dar-Benn opened. When they touch their respective jump points, Rambeau is transported to Danvers's location, Kamala Khan—who has the other Quantum Band on Earth—is transported to Rambeau's location, and Danvers is transported to Kamala's house. The three use their different light-based powers to fight off Kree enemies, leaving Kamala's home destroyed. After the trio return to their original places, Fury and Rambeau visit Kamala on Earth. Rambeau surmises that their light-based powers are linked through quantum entanglement and that they switch places when any of the three use their powers simultaneously. They join up at a Skrull refugee colony on planet Tarnax, which Danvers helped found and where a peace treaty is being negotiated with the Kree. When talks break down, Dar-Benn rips open another jump point which siphons the atmosphere from Tarnax to restore breathable air to Hala. After a hasty effort to evacuate the colony, Danvers, Rambeau, and Kamala form a team that Kamala names "the Marvels". Danvers explains that Dar-Benn's repeated rupturing of jump points is causing instability in the network and endangering the entire universe. They deduce that Dar-Benn is targeting planets that are meaningful to Danvers, whom Dar-Benn blames for the desolation of Hala. The Marvels travel to the water planet Aladna—where people communicate in song—and warn Prince Yan, Danvers's husband through a diplomatic act. Dar-Benn arrives and tears open a jump point, drawing the planet's water to Hala. Her final plan is to use the energy from Earth's sun to restore that of Hala's sun. On S.A.B.E.R., Goose—Danvers's cat-like pet Flerken—gives birth to a litter of kittens that can temporarily consume people, which Fury uses to evacuate the station's personnel. Dar-Benn steals Kamala's Band and attempts to use both Bands, but this destroys Dar-Benn, ends the Marvels' entanglement, and leaves behind a rupture between realities. Kamala reclaims the Bands and joins Danvers to energize Rambeau, allowing her to close the rupture but stranding her on the other side. Kamala returns to Earth and Danvers uses her power to restore Hala's sun. Kamala's family helps Danvers move into Rambeau's house. Kamala's short-lived team-up with Danvers and Rambeau inspires her to seek out other young heroes and form a new group, starting with Kate Bishop. In a mid-credits scene, Rambeau awakes in a parallel universe where she is greeted by Binary—an alternate version of her mother Maria—and the mutant scientist Hank McCoy.
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