‘The Marvels’ Spotlighted in Nine New Images; Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, and Iman Vellani Discuss Their Time Making the Movie, and More
(L-R): Brie Larson as Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers and Iman Vellani as Ms. Marvel/Kamala Khan in Marvel Studios’ THE MARVELS. Photo by Laura Radford via Entertainment Weekly. © 2023 MARVEL.
With San Diego Comic-Con around the corner, Marvel Studios is finally starting to promote their last feature film of the year, Nia DaCosta’s The Marvels. Of course, the studio will not have any presence at the convention this year, but they clearly intended to do so at some point, and before they drop the second trailer for the movie, Entertainment Weekly has published a big piece on it, featuring nine new stills and interviews with different members of the cast and crew, including the three lead actresses.
The title of the film already makes it very clear — this is a team-up picture. And what’s more exciting about it is that we’ve already met all the individual players but never seen them interact before. We know there’s a rocky history between Teyonah Parris’ Monica Rambeau and “Auntie Carol”, Brie Larson’s Carol Danvers, after Captain Marvel essentially left Earth behind for two decades, effectively ghosting young Monica (who has now grown up and become a superhero of her own in WandaVision) as well as Nick Fury.
Director Nia DaCosta on the set of Marvel Studios’ THE MARVELS. Photo by Laura Radford via Entertainment Weekly. © 2023 MARVEL.
We learned in the piece that, much like Earth was calling Fury for a long time before he decided to return for Secret Invasion, Carol has finally answered Fury’s call, though a bit begrudgingly. The call is extremely necessary after Fury realizes that Monica, Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani), and Carol are swapping places every time one of them uses their powers; as Jackson explained it:
“He’s been calling her, and she’s off in galaxies far, far away. She’s like, ‘Fury, why are you calling me? I told you not to use this [number].’ He’s like, ‘You gave it to me, so I’m gonna use it. And I’m calling you because I need your help!'”
Larson herself justified her character’s behavior as a workaholic’s:
“The way I was able to tap into it and understand it is the concept that Carol kind of became a workaholic, and she lost touch with her heart and with family and friends. That’s certainly something I can relate to.”
Brie Larson as Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers in Marvel Studios’ THE MARVELS. Photo by Laura Radford via Entertainment Weekly. © 2023 MARVEL.
Carol’s return will force her to confront her leaving behind young Monica, as Teyonah Parris explained:
“Carol is such a huge part of Monica’s life in ‘Captain Marvel.’ When we see her in ‘WandaVision’, you get a sense that she has not talked to Carol in a very long time. So, we have to address the elephant in the room.”
Mary Livanos, executive producer on the film, and who also produced WandaVision and worked on Captain Marvel, said that in her head this was always going to pay off as a story of family reconnection.
Teyonah Parris as Captain Monica Rambeau in Marvel Studios’ THE MARVELS. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios via Entertainment Weekly. © 2023 MARVEL.
And of course, there is one new addition to the marvelous team — mega-fangirl Kamala Khan. Iman Vellani immediately bonded with her co-stars, as director Nia DaCosta explained:
“It was a very sisterly bond on set. It was really fun to see how their relationship mirrors their relationship in the movie.”
(L-R): Iman Vellani as Ms. Marvel/Kamala Khan, Brie Larson as Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers and Teyonah Parris as Captain Monica Rambeau in Marvel Studios’ THE MARVELS. Photo by Laura Radford via Entertainment Weekly. © 2023 MARVEL.
These friendly dynamics were also very evident in the video interview that Entertainment Weekly posted on YouTube, attached below. Parris added how the prospects of the new movie excited her from the very beginning:
“I’m excited that the MCU has three lead women, all from very diverse backgrounds, and they’re all baddies in their own way. It’s going to be really exciting just to see these smart, fun, intelligent, and troubled women find their way.”
Larson also explained how bringing in these two heroes was something she and Kevin Feige had discussed long ago, and that idea eventually morphed into The Marvels. DaCosta was also a big factor in that — she had already worked with Parris on Candyman, and according to Vellani, brought a very “calm vibe” to the set as well (the young actress painted her and Livianos as the two driving forces of the film on set). DaCosta was also responsible for casting Zawe Ashton as the villainous Kree revolutionary Dar-Benn, who wants to see her homeworld restored to power after a long civil war.
Zawe Ashton as Dar-Benn in Marvel Studios’ THE MARVELS. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios via Entertainment Weekly. © 2023 MARVEL.
Apparently, Ashton had met with DaCosta via Zoom during the pandemic to discuss an indie project the latter may have been eyeing the former to star in. One year later, she called her reps with an offer for Ashton to join The Marvels. The Velvet Buzzsaw actress then turned to her fiancé, MCU veteran Tom Hiddleston, who gave her some advice. Said Ashton:
“It led to some incredible conversations about his experience being part of this franchise for over a decade.
One of the main takeaways from our conversations was ‘What you put into Marvel, you get back.’ He said, ‘If you go into this with an open heart and a great work ethic and just want to provide an amazing experience for the fans, you’ll have an amazing experience on those sets.’ He really empowered me in that way.”
Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury in Marvel Studios’ THE MARVELS. Photo by Laura Radford via Entertainment Weekly. © 2023 MARVEL.
The Marvels features the return of Nick Fury, as previewed in the film’s teaser trailer, something that Iman Vellani was both excited and terrified about — apparently, she hid behind Nia DaCosta on the first day Samuel L Jackson was on set, before the actor found her and gave her one of Vellani’s “top 10 hugs” of her life. But also back is Goose the cat/flerken, who is featured on one of the pictures.
The interview also featured some of the classic descriptions of intense fight training we’ve come to expect from Marvel titles, with Parris sharing some stories about her experiences with wires on the set in the video below. Ashton also took the opportunity to highlight the fact that it was a female-fronted cast led by a female director:
“It’s this all-female sci-fi extravaganza, with a woman on the other side of the camera. I felt very moved, actually, being involved in it. It’s not an environment you’re often in — a huge-budget movie with all these badass women and Samuel L. Jackson. That just doesn’t happen.”
Goose the Flerken in Marvel Studios’ THE MARVELS. Photo by Laura Radford via Entertainment Weekly. © 2023 MARVEL.
But once again, Vellani stole the show with her wrapping statement:
“We’re really lucky because we have such a plethora of female characters with real flaws and real arcs. Time and time again, it’s proven that not only do these stories have such a robust fan base, but they sell.
Marvel has always championed that idea of finding this idealized version of yourself through their characters — a version of yourself that can fly in space or stop a train with one hand. I think that aspiration to be greater than who you are is such a universal feeling, regardless of gender identity. I hope people recognize that and find ways to identify with all of our characters.”
At that point, Larson and Parris could only say once again what they’d said so many times while filming: “We should just let Iman answer all these questions.”
Iman Vellani as Ms. Marvel/Kamala Khan in Marvel Studios’ THE MARVELS. Photo by Laura Radford via Entertainment Weekly. © 2023 MARVEL.
The Marvels opens in theaters on November 10. With this feature piece, Marvel is essentially warning us that a new trailer is on the way, which may or may not be tied to Secret Invasion‘s season finale next week. Look forward to that!
In the meantime, here’s a segment of Entertainment Weekly‘s video interview:
You can also check out the teaser trailer from earlier this year here:
Miguel Fernández is a Spanish student that has movies as his second passion in life. His favorite movie of all time is The Lord of the Rings, but he is also a huge Star Wars fan. However, fantasy movies are not his only cup of tea, as authors like Scorsese, Fincher, Kubrick or Hitchcock have been an obsession for him since he started to understand the language of filmmaking. He is that guy who will watch a black and white movie, just because it is in black and white.
