Much has been made of the decline of the MCU, with 2023’s The Marvels cited as the beginning of the downslide. It was the first outright box office flop for the franchise, earning $206 million against a reported $375 million budget.
The reasons range from mixed reviews to the 2023 actors' strike preventing the cast from promoting the film to the feeling that viewers had to have watched WandaVision and Ms. Marvel first. It had promise as Carol Danvers (Brie Larson), Maria Rambeau (Teyonah Parris), and Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) teamed up on a cosmic adventure.
Vellani was cited as a highlight of the film, little surprise given the actress is an avowed Marvel Comics nerd who loved playing Kamala. On the Revenge Of podcast, Vellani discussed the movie and the series and shared how she was the classic case of a geek on set arguing about possible plot problems.
"At Marvel I was constantly calling out continuity errors while we were filming certain scenes. I was like, I know the Reddit nerds are going to call it out, I'm calling it out now, you have the opportunity to fix it now."
Vellani didn’t specify exactly which moments she was talking about, and she might have meant as much her own Ms. Marvel show as The Marvels movie. The film had undergone some reshoots, with hints of cut storylines and clashes with the established continuity of both the MCU and the comics. Vellani had always loved Kamala, so of course, she wanted to ensure the live-action version lived up to hopes. But she added that director Nia DaCosta and others were open to her input.
"These things have to get approved by 40 different producers and all that. But I got so lucky that I was given so much space to express myself at Marvel. All of the producers I was working with on both the show and the film really respected my opinion."
Vellani claimed the creators saw her as “their secret weapon,” which has fans hoping she’ll make a return.
The movie ended with Kamala meeting Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) to put together a Young Avengers team. The actress hasn’t been seen since and brushed off rumors she might be in Avengers: Doomsday. She joked that maybe the team moniker would have to be changed.
“I will say I’m personally more of a Champions fan than Young Avengers. I think those story lines are way more relevant. But also, none of us is going to be young by the time they get around.”
Indeed, given it’s been over three years since The Marvels came out, the actors wouldn’t fit the “Young Avengers” title anymore. There is still potential in the idea, but given the turmoil Marvel has undergone in the last few years, it seems less likely the project will get off the ground. We’ll have to see if this ever happens, but at least Vellani got to live out her dreams of Marvel stardom.
The Marvels streaming on Disney+.
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