{"id":54035,"date":"2026-07-25T00:01:06","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T04:01:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=54035"},"modified":"2026-07-25T00:01:06","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T04:01:06","slug":"nia-dacosta-the-marvels-2023-female-filmmaker-friday-sdcc-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2026\/07\/25\/nia-dacosta-the-marvels-2023-female-filmmaker-friday-sdcc-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Nia DaCosta: The Marvels (2023 [Female Filmmaker Friday] [SDCC 2026]"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Decades after we first met Carol Danvers as Captain Marvel, she finds herself teaming up with a now-grown Monica Rambeau and teenage Ms. Marvel Kamala Khan to try and stop a vengeful Kree from destroying the universe.<\/p>\n

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If you’re worried about coming into\u00a0The Marvels<\/i>\u00a0without having seen the previous chapters of the MCU, that’s a fair concern. The film is tasked with weaving together multiple heroes, years of franchise history, and enough emotional baggage to fill several movies. Carol Danvers and Monica Rambeau are still grappling with the fallout of Monica’s disappearance during the Blip and the death of her mother, Maria. Add Kamala Khan, the teenage superhero who idolizes Captain Marvel, and a Kree revolutionary determined to restore her dying world, and the film has an enormous amount of narrative ground to cover. It’s an ambitious balancing act, and while Nia DaCosta brings energy and confidence to the material, the storytelling never feels quite as seamless as it needs to.<\/p>\n

DaCosta tackled the screenplay alongside Megan McDonnell and Elissa Karasik, and unfortunately it often feels overburdened by the demands of the larger Marvel universe. Post-Endgame<\/i>\u00a0films increasingly must balance years of interconnected stories, television series, and new characters while remaining accessible to casual audiences.\u00a0The Marvels<\/i>\u00a0never quite find that balance. At just under two hours, some emotional beats and storylines don’t receive the development they deserve. Thankfully, the humor and warmth of its central trio keep the film consistently entertaining.<\/p>\n

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DaCosta is one of those filmmakers who makes you excited to love film. She is fearless in taking on beloved characters and expansive franchises, a challenge that has humbled even the most seasoned directors. Even when all the pieces don’t quite come together, her filmmaking is so confident and imaginative that you can see the outline of something truly special.<\/p>\n

One of DaCosta’s strengths is her versatility. She has flirted with several different genres while maintaining a clear emotional throughline. Her greatest strength lies in creating characters the audience genuinely invests in, a quality that goes a long way toward smoothing over the film’s messier storytelling.<\/p>\n

The cast has a lot to carry, but they rise to the occasion. Brie Larson has already proven she is a formidable Captain Marvel. We first met Teyonah Parris\u2019s Monica Rambeau in\u00a0WandaVision,<\/i>\u00a0and she has a strength and emotional depth that is magnetic on film. Rounding out the three protagonists is Iman Vellani, reprising her role of Kamala Khan\/Ms. Marvel from the TV series of the same name. Vellani not only holds her own with Larson and Parris, two esteemed actors in their own right, but she makes off with almost every scene she is in. Her natural charm and enthusiasm are endearing without creeping into obnoxiousness. There\u2019s an earnestness to her performance that brings fresh energy into every moment she\u2019s in.<\/p>\n

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Zawe Ashton as Dar-Benn does what she can with a villain that has a lot of potential but lacks development to be truly memorable. That’s particularly disappointing because Marvel has certainly given us many sympathetic and nuanced antagonists in previous films (I\u2019m looking at you,\u00a0Black Panther<\/i>.) Dar-Benn\u2019s motivation of preserving and restoring her home world that has fallen to ruin as a result of Captain Marvel’s actions had the potential to be an incredibly compelling arc but instead remains two-dimensional and forgettable.<\/p>\n

Despite its flaws,\u00a0The Marvels<\/i>\u00a0succeeds because of the chemistry between its three leads. Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, and Iman Vellani create a team that’s easy to root for, while a fleet of Flerkens adds just enough chaos to keep the film playful. Even those less tuned into the Marvel Cinematic Universe will fall under the charm of three badass women superheroes. The plot may occasionally tie itself into knots, but DaCosta never loses sight of the characters at its center, and that’s ultimately what makes\u00a0The Marvels<\/i>\u00a0worth revisiting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Decades after we first met Carol Danvers as Captain Marvel, she finds herself teaming up with a now-grown Monica Rambeau and teenage Ms. Marvel Kamala Khan to try and stop a vengeful Kree from destroying the universe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2035],"tags":[58,221,222,4061],"class_list":["post-54035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-felfilmfri","tag-action","tag-comic-book","tag-comic-book-movie","tag-sdcc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/35"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54035"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54035\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54036,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54035\/revisions\/54036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}