"The Marvels" is a fun return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe's team up movies as it works to develop its titular characters.
The movie sees Carol Danvers' Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) team up with her newly superpowered niece Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) and her biggest fan, Kamala Khan's Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani). The team up is caused by their entangled powers causing them to switch places.
The chemistry between the three of them is great as they navigate how best to manage their entangled powers and resolve personal issues while trying to save various planets from Dar-Benn's (Zawe Ashton) destructive actions.
Ms. Marvel in particular really shines in the movie as the plot picks up right where her series' first season ended. She breathes a new life and sense of enthusiasm into a long-running saga of Marvel movies.
Likewise, Captain Marvel seems to have gained a lot of character development. More of what she's been doing the last 30 years is brought forth and there's more exploration of how those experiences have impacted her and her relationship with Monica.
Captain Marvel even has moments when she takes responsibility for her current and past actions, which is refreshing when compared with the weirdly immature mistakes and lack of responsibility that seem to be running rampant with the older generation of superheroes post-"Endgame."
The one issue I have with the movie is that Captain Marvel's character development feels sudden and Monica's feels non-existent. A second "Captain Marvel" movie and perhaps a separate movie establishing Monica as her Photon, Pulsar, or Spectrum identity could've fixed that.
Roughly 30 years of Captain Marvel's history is skimmed and abridged, leaving me with context questions and a desire to see more of her adventures. Dar-Benn's motivation as a villain, which is closely tied with that history, ends up feeling lackluster as a result.
Similarly, very little is acknowledged about Monica that wasn't already addressed in "WandaVision," she hasn't explored her powers much since then, and her identity isn't solidified beyond her connection to her mother (Lashana Lynch) and Captain Marvel.
This issue isn't exclusive to "The Marvels" though. Both Marvel and DC have recently fallen into a pattern of skipping solo movies in favor of major team ups. Unfortunately, this comes at the expense of the character development that made the "Avengers" movies so satisfying leading up to "Endgame."
I am hopeful for the future though, especially after seeing where Monica, Ms. Marvel, and Captain Marvel end up by the time the credits finish rolling. The fun and character development that made the original "Avengers" movies work seems to be reignited by the end of the movie.
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