About this episode
On the November 13, 2023 episode of /Film Daily, /Film editor Ben Pearson is joined by /Film editors Jacob Hall and BJ Colangelo to have a spoiler-filled conversation about The Marvels. Opening Banter: In The Spoiler Room : The Marvels Quick acknowledgement of its sub-par box office performance, the delight some people are taking in its failure, etc. If you want to listen to people gleefully celebrate this movie’s failure, I’m sure there are plenty of places to do that, but that’s not what we’re doing here. Brief reactions Jacob BJ Ben Breakdown The movie opens with Dar-Benn, played by Zawe Ashton. She’s now the leader of the Kree, and is searching for the Quantum Bands. She uncovers one of them and Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) has the other. Before we get into the heroes, let’s talk about the villain. So Dar-Benn opens these jump points across the galaxy, and by the end of the movie, we realize she’s trying to use these portals to essentially siphon resources back to her home world of Hala – including Earth’s sun. (I’m not really sure how that works, and the movie isn’t super interested in the details, either.) But the jump points create some sort of anomaly in space, and Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) and Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) end up touching things they shouldn’t have touched, and Kamala Khan’s bangle/Quantum Band ropes her into one of the movie’s main ideas, which is that these three women are linked, and when any two of the trio use their powers simultaneously, it causes them to switch places. Antics ensue. At one point, they visit a planet called Aladna, where everyone sings as their primary form of communication, and it’s revealed that Captain Marvel is married to a prince. How did you think the film dealt with the relationship between the three women? Monica and Carol have history, Kamala worships Carol. Sam Jackson on a space station, using Flerkens kittens as escape pods. Eventually Dar-Benn gets a hold of both Quantum Bands, is nearly killed by the power of using both at the same time, and inadvertently rips a hole in the multiverse. Monica convinces Carol to make amends for destroying the Supreme Intelligence and basically causing a Kree civil war by flying into Hala’s sun and reigniting it with her powers. Kamala and Carol supercharge Monica, who flies into the multiversal hole to close it, but ends up being stuck on the other side. I guess the Khans are living in Louisiana now? Kamala goes to recruit Kate Bishop The mid-credits scene Monica wakes up in a medical bay overseen by Dr. Hank McCoy, aka Beast, played once again by Kelsey Grammer. Monica’s mother, Maria Rambeau, played by Lashana Lynch, is sitting at her bedside, but this is an alternate universe version of the character who didn’t die during the five years Monica was Blipped, and she apparently has no idea who Monica is. BJ, you wrote an article about this, so tell me what that costume was that Maria was wearing. Kevin Feige continues to slow-play the introduction of the X-Men into the MCU. Closing thoughts All the other stuff you need to know: This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/FILMDAILY and get on your way to being your best self. You can find more about all the stories we mentioned on today’s show at slashfilm.com, and linked inside the show notes. /Film Daily is published every weekday, bringing you the most exciting news from the world of movies and TV as well as deeper dives into the great features from slashfilm.com. You can subscribe to /Film Daily on Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts , Overcast , Spotify and all the popular podcast apps. And please subscribe to our newsletter ! Send your feedback, questions, comments, concerns, and mailbag topics to us at bpearson@slashfilm.com . Please leave your name and general geographic location in case we mention the e-mail on the air. Please rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts, tell your friends and spread the word! Thanks to Sam Hume for our logo. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy