The Marvels Director Says Movie Deals With Specific, Personal, Sometimes Sad Things

Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is well underway, and the saga is bringing some significant sequels and new franchises in the coming years. Among them is The Marvels, an ensemble film that will see Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel (Brie Larson), Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani), and Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) unite onscreen. The film is being helmed by Candyman and Little Woods director Nia DaCosta, and fans are curious to see her approach to the Marvel Comics mythos. In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, DaCosta spoke about the experience of working on the MCU blockbuster, and teased that although the story is lighter, it still deals with some “personal” and “sometimes sad” things.

“It’s a lot less traumatizing to work on for sure,” DaCosta said with a laugh. “But this movie also deals with specific, personal, sometimes sad things. But no, it’s been nice to work in a different world for sure.”

DaCosta also hinted at the creative freedom she’s felt while working on The Marvels, teasing that the goal of the cast and crew is to make “a great comic-book movie.”

“It’s amazing,” DaCosta explained. “[It’s] more [freedom] than I’ve had on anything. It’s great because we’re all just comic-book nerds who want to make a great comic-book movie.”

In terms of those “personal, sometimes sad things” in The Marvels, we do know the film will follow up on the dynamic between Monica and Carol, whose familial relationship in the first Captain Marvel film has apparently become estranged.

“Yes, when Monica was an 11-year-old girl, with her mom and Auntie Carol, they had a beautiful relationship,” Parris told ComicBook.com earlier this year. “And so I think what’s been awesome with WandaVision is getting to see Monica grow up, and we haven’t seen her for 20 years plus, or however many, and getting to see slowly, it’s being revealed what her life has been since we last saw her. And so Carol Danvers was a part of her life when we last saw her, and seeing that there is still, there is something there, I think is very exciting. Because as we know, or maybe not, but I’ll tell you, that Monica will be in Captain Marvel 2 with Carol Danvers and Kamala Khan, Ms. Marvel. So that gives us space to further explore what might be happening there, so I don’t want to ruin anything for you.”

Captain Marvel: The Marvels will be written by Megan McDonnell, who was a staff writer on the Marvel Disney+ series WandaVision. The film will also feature Zawe Ashton and Park Seo-joon in currently unknown roles.

The Marvels is set to be released on November 11, 2022.