The Marvels: key information
– Releasing in theaters in November 2023
– First trailer released in early April
– Acts as a sequel to Captain Marvel, Ms Marvel, and WandaVision
– Stars first all-female superhero team in the MCU
– Main cast largely confirmed
– Plot synopsis revealed
– Secret Invasion TV show “essential” to setting up The Marvels
– Said to have been inspired by anime and musicals
– Will impact future Marvel projects
We’re less than six months away from The Marvels debuting in theaters. The Final Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) movie of the year flies onto the big screen in November, and we suspect you’ll want to swat up on what’s what way ahead of launch.
Below, then, we’ve compiled a comprehensive list of everything worth knowing about the Marvel Phase 5 movie. That includes its release date, trailer, cast, plot details, how it’ll impact other MCU projects, and more. Marvel fanatics – you included – won’t need to go anywhere else in search of the most pressing answers.
Major spoilers follow for multiple MCU projects including Captain Marvel, WandaVision, Ms Marvel, and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Potential spoilers follow for The Marvels as well.
The Marvels release date
Higher. Further. Faster. Together. Check out the brand-new teaser poster for Marvel Studios’ The Marvels, coming to theaters November 10. pic.twitter.com/zSlozSfQrzFebruary 17, 2023
The Marvels arrives in theaters on November 10, 2023. It was scheduled to release on July 28, but Marvel chose to delay its launch by a few months, marking the fourth time its launch has been pushed.
According to The Wrap and The Ringer’s Joanna Robinson, the delay is giving the post-production team more time to iron out its VFX issues, as well as allow Marvel to reshoot specific scenes. Hopefully, the film will still be ready in time to meet its latest launch date.
The Marvels trailer
The Marvels‘ first teaser landed online in mid-April. And, just as was reported out of D23 Expo 2022, it confirms that our three heroes will regularly swap locations throughout its runtime. We also think it’s got the vibe of 2012’s Avengers Assemble nailed down, too, with quirky humor, heroes being forced to work together to stop a cosmic threat, and the exasperated and parental figure of Nick Fury ensuring everyone’s singing from the same hymn sheet.
We discuss more about what the trailer tells us about the story in our, well, plot section, so carry on scrolling for more information.
The Marvels cast
Here’s The Marvels‘ confirmed cast so far:
- Brie Larson as Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel
- Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan/Ms Marvel
- Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau
- Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury
- Zenobia Shroff as Muneeba Khan
- Mohan Kapur as Yusuf Khan
- Saagar Shaikh as Aamir Khan
- Zawe Ashton as Dar Benn
- Park Seo-joon as TBA
Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, and Iman Vellani reprise their roles from their previous MCU outings. Larson’s Captain Marvel was last seen in Avengers: Endgame, although she made brief cameos in post-credits scenes in Shang-Chi and Ms Marvel. Parris’ Rambeau had a major supporting role in WandaVision, which is one of the best Disney Plus shows. Vellani, as well as Zenobia Shroff, Mohan Kapur, and Saagar Shaikh all return from Ms Marvel’s TV series.
Jackson, who has regularly appeared in the MCU as ex-SHIELD director Nick Fury, will also show up. He’ll star in Secret Invasion on Disney Plus first, which has been confirmed to launch on June 21 – but Fury will also appear in The Marvels later this year as well. Jackson has since confirmed Secret Invasion is “essential” to setting up The Marvels (via Empire magazine), so you’ll have another TV show to stream before watching this one in theaters.
Zawe Ashton (Fresh Meat, Velvet Buzzsaw) will play Dar Benn, the movie’s main antagonist (per motionpictures.org). Previously, Marvel insider DanielRPK (via Lugar Nenhum) claimed Ashton was playing the Kree revolutionary who, in the comics, is a male general and becomes co-emperor of the Kree Empire. It’s unclear if Ashton’s Dar-Benn will hold a similar position in The Marvels, but the character has been gender-swapped for the film.
Potential cast spoilers for The Marvels follow.
Per industry leaker CanWeGetSomeToast, Monica Rambeau will get her superhero name – Photon, the same as in the comics – in The Marvels. Kamala Khan will reportedly give her that pseudonym after Monica describes her powers to her fellow heroes. Meanwhile, Brazilian outlet Chippu, which has previous form for revealing MCU details ahead of time, Photon will also get her comics-accurate costume.
Park Seo-joon (Parasite) is supposedly playing the ruler of a planet where everyone sings (via CanWeGetSomeToast). Meanwhile, Abraham Popoola (Andor) is reportedly playing someone called Dag (via his Independent Talent agents page) and Ffion Jolly (Mission: Impossible Fallout) has been cast in an undisclosed role (per her Spotlight casting page). Lastly, the Motion Pictures’ website also seemingly confirms Daniel Ings (Lovesick) is playing another Kree individual called Ty-Rone. Marvel is yet to confirm any of these castings, though, so take them with a pinch of salt for now.
Lastly, could we see cameos from Ben Mendelsohn’s Talos, Jude Law’s Yon Rogg, and Anson Mount’s Black Bolt? Talos is a possibility, especially if Secret Invasion ties into this movie. We’d be surprised if Law’s Yon Rogg features, though, after his heavy beating from Captain Marvel in her 2019 solo flick. Meanwhile, industry insider CineStealth suggests Black Bolt, last seen in Doctor Strange 2, will show up, but Marvel hasn’t confirmed this yet.
The Marvels plot
Potential story spoilers for The Marvels follow.
Here’s the official plot synopsis, courtesy of Marvel Studios: “Carol Danvers, aka Captain Marvel, has reclaimed her identity from the tyrannical Kree and taken revenge on the Supreme Intelligence. But unintended consequences see Carol shouldering the burden of a destabilized universe.
“When her duties send her to an anomalous wormhole linked to a Kree revolutionary, her powers become entangled with that of Jersey City super-fan Kamala Khan, aka Ms. Marvel, and Carol’s estranged niece, now S.A.B.E.R. astronaut Captain Monica Rambeau. Together, this unlikely trio must team up and learn to work in concert to save the universe as The Marvels.”
The Marvels pick ups right after Ms Marvel’s ending and post-credits scene. As you’ll remember, Ms Marvel unexpectedly traded places with Carol Danvers when the former’s bangle was unexpectedly activated. As we said before, the movie will focus on this duo, plus Monica Rambeau, working out why they exchange places every time they use their powers.
Before we proceed, here’s a quick recap on what those abilities are, and how each one acquired them: first, Carol Danvers acquired her superpowers upon exposure to the Tesseract, aka the Space Stone, via a Kree-designed light-speed engine device in Captain Marvel. Next, Monica Rambeau’s DNA was inadvertently rewritten by the Mind Stone – via the Hex that Wanda Maximoff created in WandaVision – thereby gifting her superhuman abilities. Finally, Kamala Khan’s abilities come from her grandmother’s bracelet. Oh, and the fact that she seemingly possesses the X gene, which makes her one of the MCU’s first mutants.
With the trio’s powers deriving from objects that helped to create and shape the MCU, it seems their abilities are connected – and that the source of these powers is the reason they keep trading places. Interestingly, MCU leakers The Watcher and CanWeGetSomeToast suggest they’ll be able to combine their powers once they work out how to stop inadvertently trading place.
Chatting to Entertainment Weekly (EW), Marvel President Kevin Feige expanded on what else we can expect from the story and how it plays into the dynamics between its leading ladies. “It’s picking up directly after the end of Captain Marvel 1, not in timeline but in story,” he said. “There are fun cosmic elements to it. There’s something immensely powerful about seeing Monica, Kamala, and Carol together in a frame. To me, it’s only akin to the first Avengers movie and seeing the six of them together in a frame. It’s chill-inducing. They’re so great together, and they all have different histories with one another.”
Meanwhile, according to DanielRPK (per The Marvels Updates Twitter fan account), CanWeGetSomeToast, and CineStealth, the world ruled by Park Seo-joon’s character, which the three heroes travel to, is musical-themed. That means we can expect singing, dancing, and potentially humorous moments, as well as some anime-esque sequenes (per the Captain Marvel News Twitter fan account).
The reason for travelling to this planet? Captain Marvel is apparently married to Seo-joon’s nameless individual, albeit for diplomatic reasons. Maybe she agreed to marry him to prevent some sort of disaster on her universe-spanning travels. Thankfully, CineStealth has claimed The Marvels won’t be “overly comedic” in tone and finds a better comedy-drama balance than the maligned Thor: Love and Thunder.
Speaking of Captain Marvel, she has a complicated history with the Kree, who are expected to be on chief villain duty again here. As the movie’s story synopsis explains, Carol Danvers thought she was a member of the Kree empire – she was taken to their home world after her Tesseract-related accident on Earth – and was part of their armed forces. That’s until she was captured by Talos’ splinter group of Skrulls, who jogged her memory and helped Carol rediscover her true identity.
Now, Captain Marvel is an enemy of the Kree, which puts Dar-Benn in direct opposition with Carol and company. It’s unclear why Dar-Benn is after them, but maybe it’s got something to do with Ms Marvel’s bracelet, which appears to be alien technology. We know this because the Clandestine – the villains in Ms Marvel’s TV show – wanted to use it to expand the Noor dimension and take over Earth. The bracelet was originally found by Kamala’s grandmother in 1940s India, too, where it took up residence in a Kree-looking underground location.
If Ms Marvel’s bracelet is of Kree design, that’ll explain why Dar-Benn wants it, especially as she possesses its sibling (you can see the other bangle on Dar benn’s left wrist in the image above). Thanks to Ms Marvel, we know there are two bangles and, based on the image above, Dar Benn owns the other one. Clearly, Dar Benn wants it to carry out some universe conquering masterplan.
As for subplots, one of the most pressing is the forthcoming reunion between Carol and Monica.
Monica hasn’t seen Carol since the latter left in the 1990s – remember, this is when Captain Marvel took place. Maria Rambeau, who was Carol’s best friend, has since died of cancer and Carol didn’t return for her funeral or to check up on Monica. Expect Carol to be greeted frostily by Monica until they clear the air.
Elsewhere, Nick Fury’s role in this film sounds like it’ll be determined by what happens in Secret Invasion. Could a long overdue reunion with Carol be on the cards? It’d be a pretty emotional one, if so.
As for any multiversal shenanigans, can we expect this Phase 5 film to include any? Per industry leaker KC Walsh, it’s possible that a multiversal incursion – an event where parallel universes collide, as seen in Doctor Strange 2 – may be part of proceedings. However, with rumors circulating that the film has undergone reshoots and had some of its content cut, The Marvels might not include any multiversal storylines after all.
The Marvels: how will it affect the MCU?
That depends on The Marvels‘ story and ending, but we have a few sneaking suspicions about what it could lay the foundations for.
First up is Ms Marvel season 2, which is rumored to be in early development. If we’re going to see more of Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan/her superhero alias before the next two Avengers movies it’s likely to be on the small screen.
Speaking of those Avengers films, aka Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars, The Marvels could play a major role in setting up events in those films – especially the former.
MCU fans already know Kang the Conqueror is the next big supervillain – or, rather, multiple Kang variants are. The time-traveling warlord – read more about him in our Kang the Conqueror explained article – was the main bad guy in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. However, he was seemingly killed by the film’s titular heroes. Now, the Council of Kangs – including Immortus, Scarlet Centurion, and Rama-Tut – are gunning for the MCU, so Captain Marvel and company are sure to have their hands full in The Kang Dynasty (if they appear, of course).
Some fans also seem to think that the giant, circular rings seen in Quantumania are alternate reality versions of Shang-Chi’s Ten Rings. If the Kang gang have collected alien tech-based weaponry as they plot their route to dominion over the Marvel multiverse, they’re sure to come after Ms Marvel’s and Dar Benn’s bangles as well. If they do, expect Captain Marvel and Photon (as well as Ms Marvel) to stand in their way.
Depending on how The Marvels and The Kang Dynasty play out, we’d expect to see Carol, Monica, and Kamala in Secret Wars, too. We’d be surprised if they pop up in projects beforehand, so the next time we’re likely to see them (outside of starring or cameoing in Ms Marvel season 2 ) is 2025’s The Kang Dynasty.
For more MCU-based content, find out how to watch the Marvel movies in order. Additionally, check out our ranking of every Marvel Phase 4 movie and TV show, or get the lowdown on Loki season 2.
