The Marvels‘ budget has reportedly been revealed and it seems the film cost Disney and Marvel Studios around $130 million to make. A lengthy feature on The Marvels‘ director Nia DaCosta reveals the budgetary cost of making the film as part of a larger point: that with The Marvels DaCosta is at the helm of “the highest-budgeted film ever helmed by a Black woman,” edging out Ava DuVernay’s A Wrinkle in Time ($100 million budget).
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“It is a Kevin Feige production, it’s his movie,” DaCosta explained to Vanity Fair. “So I think you live in that reality, but I tried to go in with the knowledge that some of you is going to take a back seat.”
The Marvels admittedly represents something of a pivotal challenge for Marvel Studios. The film is set for release in November, at a time when the Actors’ and Writers’ Strikes in Hollywood make marketing a new film or TV impossible beyond trailers and commercials; the film is building on two different Marvel TV shows (WandaVision, Ms. Marvel), and one of the most divisive movies in the franchise (Captain Marvel). None of the actresses in the lead trio (Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, Iman Vellani) are big box office draws, and the hype over the Marvel Cinematic Universe has cooled a bit in the last few years, as fans struggle to see the larger overarching story that’s unfolding. Even the recent Secret Invasion TV series that leads into The Marvels wasn’t exactly a hit with fans, so the actual mainstream selling point of this film is hard to determine.
Nia DaCosta hasn’t yet been tested on a blockbuster level as a director – and she openly admits that bieng in the Marvel machine wasn’t always easy when making The Marvels:
“Sometimes you’d be in a scene and you’d be like, ‘What the hell does any of this shit mean?’ Or an actor’s looking at some crazy thing happening in space, and they’re [actually] looking at a blue X. There were obviously hard days, and days where you’re like, ‘This just isn’t working.’”
In fact, it may be the most telling detail of all that DaCosta’s stated goal after making The Marvels is getting back to doing the opposite of a studio franchise film:
“It was really great to play in this world, and to be a part of building this big world,” Dacosta said. “but it made me just want to build my own world more.”
What Is The Marvels About?
In The Marvels, which arrives in theaters on November 10th, Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) 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 (Iman Vellani) aka Ms. Marvel, and Carol’s estranged niece, now S.A.B.E.R. astronaut Captain Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris). Together, this unlikely trio must team-up and learn to work in concert to save the universe as “The Marvels.” The Marvels will also see the franchise returns of Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Saagar Shaikh as Aamir Khan, Zenobia Shroff as Muneeba Khan, and Mohan Kapur as Yusuf Khan. New cast members include Zawe Ashton, Park Seo-joon, and Shamier Anderson. Produced by Marvel Studios, The Marvels is directed by Nia DaCosta with a script from DaCosta, Megan McDonnell, and Elissa Karasik.
The Marvels opens in theaters and IMAX on November 10th.
