In this day and age, there is no shortage of superhero movies or TV shows, whether inspired by famous comics such as Marvel or DC, or even small comics such as the hit series “Invincible.” But over the previous years, the superhero craze of the late 2010s has been slowly dying down. Fans of these franchises, especially Marvel, have felt less of the spark that the early films had. The newest films from Marvel Studios, such as “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” have resulted in the loss of many Marvel fans, and many people on the internet believe that superhero movies have lost their magic touch. “The Marvels” is a perfect example of this.
“The Marvels,” directed by Nia Decosta, is an action-adventure film that takes place within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The story follows Captain Marvel-Carol Danvers, Spectrum-Monica Rambeau, and Ms. Marvel-Kamala played by Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, and Iman Vellani respectively, as they travel the universe to prevent the main antagonist Dar-Benn-played by Zawe Ashton from destroying entire planets to rebuild her own.
The action sequences and CGI are improvements from the past three years’ worth of Marvel’s special effects and action, camera movements in the scenes provide a great flow of motion. But the overall plot of the story is basic at best and has no real stakes to it, with Vellani´s character being the most interesting in the film, her fun personality and heroic attitude showing a great example of what a hero should be. The famous end credits scenes that are a staple of Marvel Studios films reveal major characters and future films that have the potential to get the MCU out of its recent decline, so I’m at least hopeful for the MCU’s future.
When asked what I feel is the problem with “The Marvels,” and recent Marvel films in general, is that there doesn’t seem to be any real consequences to the events that take place in the new films, case in point The Marvels. The reason for this is because the film, as well as most recent Marvel films, is that they all are more focused on comedy and light-hearted adventure. There are no longer any dark or dramatic movies in the MCU that take themselves seriously, and that is the main issue.
The decline in Marvel has been caused by no real stakes and is more of a light-hearted comedy-action movie than a true superhero movie. My view on the issue with Marvel films should be a critique that Marvel should recognize and use to take action and reinvent their formula to something more like the earlier films: serious, character-focused, and dramatic.
Regardless, Marvel hasn’t taken the hint and still pushes out mediocre film after mediocre film, and the lackluster storytelling of The Marvels doesn’t seem to be an exception.
