And so, Brie Larson’s Carol Danvers returns to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and she’s bringing Ms Marvel aka Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) and Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) with her. No, it’s not Captain Marvel 2, it’s The Marvels, and it’s flying into cinemas on November 9.
This latest (and 33rd in total—jeepers) merry Marvel movie comes to us from director Nia DaCosta, who gave us the excellent indie drama Little Woods before making her studio franchise debut with 2021’s Candyman, actually a sequel to the 1992 original. Following on from Captain Marvel (and Secret Invasion, WandaVision, and Ms. Marvel) it sees Larson’s cosmic-powered superhero contending with a weird, but very comics-appropriate, problem: somehow her powers have become entangled with those of Rambeau and Khan, meaning they swap places whenever they use them. That’s a real problem when one of you is flying at the time.
Could Kree revolutionary Dar-Benn (Zawe Ashton) be responsible? Probably. Can super-spy Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) help? Possibly? Will the soundtrack be as good now we’re no longer set in the 90s? Hard to say, but the Beastie Boys bringing the noise on the trailer is a strong positive indicator.
Kamala’s family, as played by Zenobia Shroff, Mohan Kapur, and Saagar Shaikh in the Disney+ series Ms. Marvel, are making their big screen debuts here, so that should be fun, and the supporting cast includes South Korean star Park Seo-joon (who may or no mot be playing fan fave Amadeus Cho); Lashana Lynch as Carol’s BFF and Monica’s mother, Maria; and Randall Park as hapless S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Jimmy Choo. Oh, and Goose the cat/cosmic horror is making a return.
The bloom may be off the rose for Marvel following the cool responses to Secret Invasion and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, but this seems like a return to meat ‘n’ potatoes cape capers, which at this stage of the game is quite welcome.
