The Marvels, the long-awaited team-up and sequel to Captain Marvel, has finally hit theaters. Although the movie has earned middling reviews, it does have an ending that ties up some emotional loose ends and sets up the next chapter of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Let’s get into it!
Warning: massive spoilers for The Marvels ahead!
Dar-Benn is defeated, but Hala is restored
Dar-Benn, the Kree revolutionary played by Zawe Ashton, has a noble goal at the heart of her villainy: she wants to restore the natural resources of her home planet, Hala. However, when she refuses Carol (Brie Larson)’s offer to help and puts on both quantum bands in order to siphon off Earth’s sun, the power overwhelms her, and she explodes. RIP yet another one-off Marvel villain.
Carol doesn’t forget her pledge to save Hala, though. She goes to the planet and flies into the center of its sun, revitalizing it so that the planet is rendered healthy again.
Monica gets stuck in a parallel reality
When Dar-Benn opens a jump point in order to steal the sun, she accidentally creates a rift between realities. Monica (Teyonah Parris) realizes that the only way to close that rift is to seal it from the other side. However, her efforts leave her trapped in that parallel reality. But don’t worry! The movie’s post-credit scene gives us a glimpse of what’s in store for Monica next.
Carol finds a new home—or an old one
The emotional core of The Marvels kind of gets buried in all the action sequences, but if you don’t blink, you can still catch it: Carol and Monica are both still hurting from the death of Maria Rambeau (Lashana Lynch), Carol’s best friend and Monica’s mother. Monica is angry because she thinks Carol never came back to Earth after regaining her memories. However, Monica learns that Carol actually did come back to see Maria—while Monica was blipped.
At the end of the movie, with both Maria and Monica gone, Carol finally claims a home on Earth, moving into their old house in Louisiana. This is a pretty big development for Carol: not only is she honoring Maria and Monica’s memory (although I bet we’ll see both of them again, considering that post-credit scene); she’s finally coming home to Earth after decades of roaming the stars. Carol’s absence has been a running theme ever since Avengers: Endgame, with multiple characters having commented on the fact that she’s never around, so the fact that she seems to be settling down is big.
The Young Avengers are on their way
In a callback to the early days of the MCU, when Nick Fury recruits Tony Stark to S.H.I.E.L.D. at the end of Iron Man, Kamala (Iman Vellani) starts recruiting superheroes for a team of her own. Using S.H.I.E.L.D.’s intel, she tracks down Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld), the archery prodigy we first met in Hawkeye. Kamala tells Kate that she’s building a team of “kid superheroes.” Kate points out that she’s 23, but that’s not a deal-breaker for Kamala.
This scene makes it official: the Young Avengers are getting an onscreen adaptation. This beloved Marvel team-up, best rendered in Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie’s comics run, consists of a younger generation of heroes fighting the battles that adults can’t always take on (for example, enemies that are undetectable to anyone over a certain age. Just read the collected story arc, it’s great).
In the comics, the Young Avengers include Kate Bishop, Kid Loki, America Chavez, and Cassie Lang, all of whom have been introduced in the MCU. The team in the comics also includes the characters Wiccan, Hulkling, Prodigy, and Noh-Varr, a.k.a. Marvel Boy. We haven’t seen those characters onscreen yet, but Wiccan might make his debut in Agatha: Darkhold Diaries, with actor Joe Locke in a currently-undisclosed role.
Whatever the Young Avengers roster ends up looking like, though, Kamala already has great chemistry with Kate, and seeing her leading a team of super-powered youngsters is sure to be a ton of fun.
This piece was written during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Without the labor of the actors currently on strike, the work being covered here wouldn’t exist.
(featured image: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
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