The past week in Hollywood has been all about celebrating 2023’s best movies, with the likes of Oppenheimer, Barbie, and Poor Things enjoying prolific nights at different ceremonies. However, there has been no mention of one of the most expensive movies of 2023, The Marvels.
Made with a gross production budget of $274.8 million, the Brie Larson-led movie has failed on all fronts. It’s rare for superhero movies to make any noticeable trembles during the awards season, but The Marvels even bombed at the box office, cementing itself as the lowest-earning MCU movie of all time with a global collection of just $206 million.
Now that we’ve mentioned all the bad things (there are plenty more), it’s only fair to talk about at least one good thing filmmaker Nia DaCosta did.
What Brie Larson’s The Marvels Did Better Than Other Marvel Movies
The Marvels pitched its main antagonist Dar-Benn, a Kree revolutionary leader, against not one but three superheroes. After discovering one of the two Quantum Bands, Dar-Been harnesses the power of the Band to cut open a jump point, a gateway that allows fast travel across space.
However, this ends up impacting the entire jump point network. Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) investigates the problem, which leads to her powers getting entangled with those of Kamala Khan and Monica Rambeau.
The trio takes on Dar-Benn to save the universe and ends up defeating her, at the expense of Teyonah Parris’ Monica Rambeau, as she lands in a different realm. The scene where she wakes up and meets her mother, Maria Rambeau, also introduces fans to X-Men’s furry blue doctor, Beast.
Interestingly, Beast’s appearance in the movie was fully engineered through CGI – something that fans really liked as the character appeared comic book accurate. Many MCU movies before The Marvels have frequently relied on make-up.
CGI beast its more comic accurate and u can do much more with a CGI character especially when it comes to fighting.
— dredriven83 (@dredriven83) January 16, 2024
CGI Beast just feels more solid. But I like them both.
— Greg Scott Bailey (@gregscottbailey) January 16, 2024
The Practical Effects looks great but I’ll admit they did a great job with the CGI despite Hulk,Abomination looking wonky they did better for Beast and hopefully they keep it right for future projects.
— Alpha Prime (Revenge of the Goat) (@DarkPri80233922) January 16, 2024
Cgi beast, ill always prefer this over the fluffy blue man on wires
— Dacc (@yohan98672512) January 16, 2024
Practical, but go w/ glasses and that style hair. That CG portrayal is the most comic accurate Beast layout by far. But I'm hopeful they could do it practically
— Show Feast (@ShowFeast_2002) January 16, 2024
It remains unclear when Marvel Studios will properly introduce Kelsey Grammer‘s character (keep a close eye on Deadpool 3). Irrespective of the timing, it’s best if they continue to stick with CGI rather than going back to using practical effects for Henry McCoy.
How Brie Larson’s The Marvels Made Comics Fans Happy
Larson’s movie didn’t just impress Marvel Comics fans by showing the comic-book accurate Beast, they also paid homage to Marvel’s original Captain Marvel comic series.
Carol, Kamala Khan, and Monica switch places while using their powers, akin to how Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell) would swap places with his sidekick Rick Jones whenever he struck the Nega-Bands on his wrists together (via IMDb).
Having said that, there’s one crucial detail in The Marvels that must’ve irked many comics followers. In the comics, Dar-Benn is a male Kree general. However, as we all know, the female-oriented film went with Zawe Ashton to assume the role of the main antagonist.
