With Captain Marvel 2 officially being called The Marvels, the MCU is breaking its long-running title formula. One of the central figures for the MCU going forward will be Carol Danvers, after Brie Larson brought the iconic Marvel heroine to life in 2019. Not only did Captain Marvel become the MCU's first female-led superhero film, but its sequel will be changing things up a notch for the interconnected universe as well.

After WandaVision introduced the adult version of Monica Rambeau, and with Ms. Marvel soon bringing Kamala Khan into the MCU, Teyonah Parris and Iman Vellani will be headlining the second Captain Marvel installment alongside Larson. Because of that, Marvel Studios is doing something to the sequel that other MCU franchises have never done. Rather than naming it Captain Marvel 2 or adding a subtitle to the second film, Marvel Studios revealed the movie would officially be titled The Marvels. While a new Marvel comic series with the same name did kick-off earlier in 2021, the sequel will have nothing to do with that book. The Marvels symbolizes that Carol, Monica, and Kamala have equal billing.

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However, as significant as this is, the MCU has never done this before, where a sequel to an established franchise drops the titular character's name from it. The only significant title changes the MCU has ever done is add "Volume" for the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise starting with the second film, while Ant-Man co-billed The Wasp with its sequel. While it's new for Marvel Studios, Captain Marvel 2 shifting over to The Marvels is the appropriate thing for the MCU to do. Kamala and Monica are huge characters in their own right, while also being key players in Carol's mythology. Rather than be supporting characters to Carol's story, The Marvels instead allows the three heroines to be front and center, which adds a refreshing new layer for the MCU. It also goes to show how massively different Phase 4 is from all the previous Phases.

the marvels Captain marvel Monica Rambeau Ms Marvel

Phase 4 is the first time the MCU is continuing stories and setting up new franchises on both the big and small screen. While Marvel Studios had Marvel TV between Phase 2-3 with shows like Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., as well as their shows on Hulu and Netflix, the tie-ins were one-sided and limited. Phase 4, however, marks the first time where Disney+ is launching Marvel shows, particularly for new characters like Ms. Marvel, before they bridge over into the movies.

Whether or not this means The Marvels' follow-up will be called something else or if it will go back to Captain Marvel 3, if it's just Carol, remains to be seen. But given the big setup they did for Monica on WandaVision, while Ms. Marvel is telling Kamala's origin story, it wouldn't be a shocker if this franchise is about these three going forward. To see the MCU mix it up like this shows that it's still evolving as a shared universe, which has existed for over a decade. Over 20 films later, it's encouraging to see Marvel Studios trying new things, which it is now doing with The Marvels instead of Captain Marvel 2.

NEXT: Every Upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe Movie

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