The worlds of three super-powered women collided on The Marvels release date, giving us an outlandish, colorful MCU movie from Candyman director Nia DaCosta. We expected cosmic chaos aplenty and a unique team dynamic that would make Dominic Toretto proud.
MCU fans fell in love with Kamala Khan in the Marvel series Ms. Marvel, while WandaVision gave Monica Rambeau some seriously cool abilities of her own. Combine them with Captain Marvel’s powers, and that’s three amazing MCU characters kicking butt together on screen. So what are we waiting for? Let’s go higher, further, faster!
Who’s in The Marvels cast?
The Marvels cast features Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, and Iman Vellani as Captain Marvel, Monica Rambeau, and Ms Marvel.
With Carol inexplicably ending up in Kamala’s bedroom during the Ms. Marvel ending, we saw some familiar faces from Ms. Marvel in The Marvels cast — Saagar Shaikh, Zenobia Shroff, and Mohan Kapur.
Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury also returned alongside Larson, while (minor spoiler ahead) leaked pictures let on that Lashanna Lynch’s Maria Rambeau would appear. The final trailer also unveiled Thor cast member Tessa Thompson (Valkyrie) in a cameo appearance. This might be the A-Force movie we’ll never actually get.
Zawe Ashton is the villain in The Marvels, Dar-Benn, while Park Seo-joon is Prince Yan.
The Marvels cast list:
- Brie Larson as Carol Danvers
- Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan
- Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau
- Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury
- Saagar Shaikh as Aamir Khan
- Zenobia Shroff as Muneeba Khan
- Mohan Kapur as Yusuf Khan
- Zawe Ashton as Dar-Benn
- Park Seo-joon as Prince Yan
- Lashana Lynch as Maria Rambeau
- Randall Park as Jimmy Woo
- Daniel Ings as Ty-Rone
- Colin Stoneley as Papp-Tonn
- Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie
- Jude Law as Yon-Rogg
- Gary Lewis
- Shamier Anderson
- Abraham Popoola
- Ffion Jolly
- Caroline Simonnet
- Jessica Zhou
The Marvels release date and reviews
The Marvels flew into theaters on Friday, November 10, 2023. The reviews were better than expected.
The Digital Fix’s Emma-Jane Betts gave it four stars in her The Marvels review, writing, “The Marvels gloriously proves all of its naysayers wrong and gives us one of the best comic book movies seen in recent years.”
The film sits in the 60%s on Rotten Tomatoes’ critics meter on the day of release, with a higher audience score in the 80%s. With the years-long misogynistic hatred slung at star Brie Larson and review-bombing a problem, many were expecting its scores to be worse. We were even about to blame The Marvels flopping on the MCU shows.
It was a long haul since Captain Marvel in 2019, and the studio opted for a team-up movie featuring characters from two Disney Plus shows, instead of a standard sequel. If you only watch the Marvel movies in order of their cinema releases, Monica and Kamala are new to you.
What is The Marvels about?
Kamala Khan, Carol Danvers, and Monica Rambeau switch places in The Marvels. Their powers are now “entangled”, and reversing it requires some cosmic exploration. There’s a villain involved, of course.
In The Marvels, the new character Dar-Benn uses Quantum Bands which cause chaos by entangling Captain Marvel, Monica Rambeau, and Kamala Khan’s powers.
Now, they swap places when using their powers, which is what we saw in the Ms. Marvel finale. It’s Freaky Friday meets superhero movies with a “destabilized universe“.
We hoped for a cutesy flavor to this outing to play on the tonal slant of Ms. Marvel, and growth for Kamala as she evolves into a fully formed superhero. We got that!
Zawe Ashton is also a terrific bit of casting who might join the ranks of the best Marvel villains.
The Marvels trailers
The Marvels’ first teaser trailer was released on April 11, 2023. A full trailer followed on July 7, then got a final one on November 7.
The full trailer introduced the concept of the three heroes switching places due to Dar-Benn’s plot. This body-switching idea has plenty of potential for comedy fun, and it could also give us some completely unique fight scenes. After all, these women are from vastly different worlds.
There have also been character trailers made up of footage from other MCU projects to set the stage. If you’re a bit behind with the canon but this film appeals to you, you might find the recap trailers useful. They remind us of one of the Endgame trailers, which covered the Infinity Saga’s history briefly rather than teasing too heavily at the new movies.
The final trailer for the movie leans heavier on the dynamic between Carol and Dar-Benn, while also teasing the prospect of an alternate universe.
It turns out that this might not be the knockabout misfit comedy we were expecting, and there could be giant ramifications for upcoming Marvel movies. The internet is abuzz with speculation about X-Men characters, so we’ll be keeping our eagle eyes open when we see the movie.
How can I watch The Marvels?
The Marvels will be a theatrical exclusive before it heads to VOD and streaming.
So you’ll need to plan a cinema trip and go to a screening. The movie was released on November 10, 2023, as part of Marvel’s Phase 5. Later, it’ll join everything else that’s new on Disney Plus. You can watch Ms. Marvel, WandaVision, and Captain Marvel right now using our link to get familiar.
For more Marvel fun, here is everything we know about the Ms. Marvel season 2 release date and our guide to Marvel Phase 6. We know there’s a lot to follow, but we’ve got you covered so that you can prepare for the best movies heading your way.
If that’s not enough, we’ve also prepared a comprehensive guide explaining what we know about Avengers: Secret Wars. Alternatively, read our open letter to Kevin Feige and find out why one Marvel series cut a storyline too dark for the MCU.