The MCU’s Biggest Box Office Bomb Is Way Better Than It Gets Credit For

As the sequel to a blockbuster movie that grossed more than $1 billion, the fact that The Marvels flopped at the box office came as a huge disappointment. A handful of factors contributed to the problem, but at the end of the day, the film itself is still actually quite good.

The Marvels sees Captain Marvel partner up with two women who share similar abilities, making for the rare superhero movie featuring multiple female leads. While the film wasn’t a success, there are a lot of things going for it that show it deserves to be more fondly remembered.

The Marvels Is The MCU’s Lowest-Grossing Movie

When all was said and done, The Marvels grossed just over $206 million at the worldwide box office. That’s a huge far cry from the $1.1 billion that Captain Marvel pulled in back in 2019.

To be fair, those numbers for Captain Marvel were boosted by it coming in between Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, which is when interest in the MCU was at its peak. The Marvels was never going to reach those numbers.

Not even Black Panther: Wakanda Forever hit $1 billion like its predecessor and it seems the only Marvel property that can consistently touch $1 billion is Spider-Man. Still, $206 million is about as bad as it could’ve gone for The Marvels.

Those numbers put The Marvels firmly in last place among MCU movies for box office intake. It’s even lower than The Incredible Hulk, which arrived before the franchise took off and was barely even viewed as canon by many for years.

The Marvels Is Led By A Great Trio Of Stars

The numbers might be abysmal, but those who watched The Marvels can attest to what works about it. For starters, it is led by three brilliant ladies who all deliver great performances.

Brie Larson, Iman Vellani, and Teyonah Parrish share remarkable chemistry. Each scene featuring all three of them is incredibly endearing, especially as we watch them form a bond and learn more about each other.

Larson has won both an Emmy and an Oscar, Parris has been great in everything she has been cast in, and Vellani is widely seen as one of the most charismatic performers in the entire MCU. Together, they are a sight to behold on the big screen.

Along with the women on the screen, the lady behind the camera is also fantastic. Nia Dacosta has been plagued by films that underperformed commercially, but all of the movies she directs are very well made. 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, Candyman, Little Woods, and Hedda are evidence of that alongside The Marvels.

Being A Sub-Two Hour Superhero Movie Is A Welcome Change

One of the most surprising things about The Marvels is its runtime. The film clocks in at just over 100 minutes, which is much shorter than most superhero films, especially in this day and age.

This is a world that has given us a three-hour Avengers: Endgame runtime, a four-hour cut of Justice League, and so many superhero projects that are at least two and a half hours long.

The runtime is a nice idea, though it does cause some issues. While it’s a welcome and refreshing change to have something that moves along briskly, 5-10 extra minutes to get it right to two hours would’ve helped flesh out a couple of bits.

It seems like the MCU learned from this, because no film since has been this short, but also, no film since has been more than 128 minutes. That’ll change for the likes of Avengers: Doomsday, but for smaller superhero films, this kind of runtime is ideal.

There Are Cool Concepts In The Action Scenes

The action scenes in The Marvels feature some intriguing concepts. While it doesn’t match the top MCU movies in terms of fight scenes, the film understood how to get creative and make that work in its favor.

The main premise that brings these heroes together is that they end up unwittingly swapping bodies whenever they use their powers. That leads to fun moments where they end up in places they don’t expect, always setting up something unique.

There’s a training montage, a concept that’s always a blast in movies, where Carol, Monica, and Kamala learn how to use this to their advantage. That sets the stage for them swapping seamlessly when it comes to the climactic battle.

When you add in the inclusion of Goose the cat, the movie can really get creative with these ideas. The action in this film is far from groundbreaking, yet there’s more than enough of what it does well to make The Marvels such a joy to watch.

The Post-Credits Scene Is Very Important

Judging by the box office numbers, many major MCU fans completely ignored The Marvels. However, that proved to be something of a mistake because the film, although mostly a contained story, is actually pretty important to the grand scheme of the franchise.

Just before the credits roll, Kamala finds Kate Bishop and invites her to join a team. It’s a callback to when Nick Fury asked Tony Stark to join the Avengers in Iron Man and is meant to set up the Young Avengers at some point.

The MCU has Kamala, Kate (who hadn’t been seen since Hawkeye), America Chavez, Cassie Lang, Skaar, Billy and Tommy Maximoff, Kid Loki, and more, meaning this is happening down the line.

Even more important is the post-credits scene. Monica, now in a different universe, finds a version of her mother who is alive. Then she sees Beast, with Kelsey Grammer reprising the role from the X-Men movies of the 2000s.

With the news that Grammer is part of the Avengers: Doomsday cast, alongside the likes of Patrick Stewart, Halle Berry, James Marsden, Rebecca Romijn, and Ian McKellen, it’s clear the original X-Men are back. That means the ending of The Marvels is notable and will play some factor in establishing the upcoming blockbuster.

All these things combine to make The Marvels an underrated part of the MCU, even if the box office was a disaster.