Summary

The Marvels is released on November 10, 2023, as a sequel to Captain Marvel, Ms. Marvel, and WandaVision.
The movie faced several delays, but ultimately closes out 2023 as the final Phase 5 of the year.
The Marvels' ending and post-credits scene set up some exciting storylines for the future of the MCU.

Of all the Phase 5 movies, The Marvels is one of the most interesting — and potentially one of the most pivotal to the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe. After several delays and rumored story adjustments, The Marvels released as the final movie of 2023's MCU movie timeline, serving as a sequel to not only Captain Marvel but Ms. Marvel and WandaVision, too. Joining Brie Larson's Carol Danvers in the second Captain Marvel movie are Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan, a.k.a. Ms. Marvel and Teyonah Parris as the powered-up Monica Rambeau.

The Marvels was confirmed in 2019, with production underway by 2020. The build-up to the movie's release saw a barrage of teases, reveals, which helped clue audiences in as Marvel's Phase 5 has changed significantly from the original plan. Littlewoods and Candyman director Nia DaCosta helmed the film, sharing The Marvels screenwriting duties with Zeb Wells, Alissa Karasik, and Megan McDonnell. Though the movie has since come out, this may have only increased questions about its release, cast, and story, as well as what effect The Marvels could have on upcoming MCU movies and shows - especially given the major implications of The Marvel's post-credits scene.

A stylized split image of Monica Rambeau, Kamala Kahn, and Carol Danvers in The Marvels

The Marvels Cliffhanger Ending Explained & MCU Future Set-Up Explained

The Marvels tells a fairly straightforward narrative by MCU Multiverse Saga standards, but its exciting ending has big implications for the wider MCU.

The Marvels News & Updates

Now that The Marvels has released, there's a lot of important information to break down surrounding Captain Marvel's MCU return, which is covered in a range of Screen Rant's key coverage and articles:

Marvels

The Marvels sees the long-awaited team-up of Carol Danvers (Brie Larson), Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani), and Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) as the trio work together to find out how their powers have become inextricably linked. Acting as a sequel to both Captain Marvel (2019) and the Ms. Marvel television show, The Marvels is the 33rd film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Release Date: November 10, 2023
Director: Nia DaCosta
Cast: Brie Larson , Zawe Ashton , Teyonah Parris , Iman Vellani

The Marvels Release Date

Monica Rambeau in an astronaut suit, touching an anomaly in space in The Marvels.

The Marvels' release date was November 10, 2023 - though prior to this, the movie had been pushed back multiple times due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the constantly changing MCU schedule, and more recently, the need to perfect the CGI in post-production process. The Marvels' release date was pushed back four times since the Captain Marvel sequel was first announced, with the final November 2023 date coming after much reshuffling of the MCU schedule. Originally, The Marvels was slated for a July 2022 release before being moved back to November that year, then February 2023, and finally, the July 2023 slot it previously occupied before its current November date.

The Marvels' poster with a stack of cash in front

Why The Marvels Budget Is So High

The budget for The Marvels has reportedly been revealed as an all-time MCU high, begging the question of why the figure is so inflated.

The Marvels Cast

Brie Larson reprises her role as Carol Danvers, a.k.a. Captain Marvel, in The Marvels, and is joined by Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan, a.k.a. Ms. Marvel, and Monica Rambeau, Teyonah Parris' former SWORD agent and SABER astronaut who gained powers during WandaVision. Monica and Danvers had met prior to The Marvels, although Monica was a child in Captain Marvel, making their reunion years later decidedly complicated - especially as Monica's mother Maria, portrayed by Lashana Lynch in Captain Marvel, was Danvers' best friend, in addition to being the Captain Marvel of Earth-838 in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Samuel L. Jackson also reprises his role of Nick Fury in The Marvels following his appearance in Secret Invasion on Disney+.

Zawe Ashton portrays The Marvels' villain Dar-Benn, a Kree Accuser who has a particular animosity for Captain Marvel. Dar-Benn was first introduced into the MCU in The Marvels' trailer, where she was shown wielding a Universal Weapon - capable of transforming matter - which allows her to oppose The Marvels' trio of heroes, especially after having tampered with their abilities and causing them to swap places when they're used.

As well as returning Captain Marvel character Goose the Flerken (with a bundle of kittens), Park Seo-Joon of Parasite fame also joined the MCU cast as Prince Yan, the ally and husband of Carol Danvers - although this is quickly established to be a marriage of convenience. From the Ms. Marvel cast, Kamala Khan's mother, father, and brother - Zenobia Shroff, Mohan Kapur, and Saagar Shaikh, respectively - all return to fill out the supporting cast. Most interestingly, The Marvels' post-credits also adds Kate Bishop to the roster of characters in the movie, with Kelsey Grammer's version of Beast - previously seen in the Fox X-Men franchise - and a superpowered variant of Maria Rambeau known as Binary making important multiversal cameos of their own.

The Marvels Story

zawe ashton villain in the marvels trailer

Phase 4's Ms. Marvel ended with a post-credits scene that saw Carol Danvers swap places with Kamala Khan, ending up in the latter's family home. This is where The Marvels picks up, as the movie centers around the issue of Danvers, Kamala, and Monica Rambeau switching places every time any of them use their abilities, due to their similar powers becoming entangled. However, this isn't the only important part of the film.

The official synopsis for The Marvels states that Danvers' actions in Captain Marvel have left her "shouldering the burden of a destabilized universe." This is revealed in the film to be the result of Carol destroying the Supreme Intelligence on Hala, resulting in the planet becoming inhospitable, and its inhabitants labeling Captain Marvel as the "Annihilator" as a consequence. Dar-Benn's efforts to bring the planet back to its former glory revolve around attacking other planets for their resources, leading Carol Danvers, Kamala Khan, and Monica Rambeau in the precarious position of attempting to rescue them from the MCU villain's machinations.

How The Marvels Set Up The Future Of The MCU

The Marvels closes with Monica stuck in an alternate universe, confronted by a variant of her mother and Beast from the X-Men. This is strongly suggested to be the Fox X-Men universe - or at least a universe close to it - by the appearance of Kelsey Grammer's Beast, as the actor was last seen playing the character in X-Men: Days of Future Past in 2014. This raises a lot of exciting prospects for the future of the MCU, either by having Monica appear in Deadpool 3, which also is set to go from the Fox movie universe to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, or simply by establishing another universe for a big Multiverse Saga movie like Avengers: The Kang Dynasty to feature.

However, the multiversal twist isn't the film's only vital future MCU setup, as the ending of The Marvels also shows Kamala Khan talking to Kate Bishop about setting up the Young Avengers, namedropping Ant-Man's Cassie Lang in the process. The Young Avengers scene is the most transparent setup of the Marvel team so far in the MCU, and suggests that its official formation is on the immediate horizon, possibly meaning it is also a fixture of Avengers: The Kang Dynasty or Avengers: Secret Wars, though there is also the possibility that this is instead getting the concept in motion for after the Multiverse Saga.

While Captain Marvel's ending in The Marvels - reigniting the sun on Hala and then returning to move into Maria's old house - is less of a final zinger, the implications of it are arguably just as important. Carol mentions she hasn't returned to Earth because she's been trying to put right her mistakes, and finishing that chapter of her life suggests Danvers will be seeing much more of her home than she had prior. This would allow the MCU hero to be a more integral member of the new upcoming Avengers team, allowing her to play a bigger role in the MCU than when she was largely away on space missions - and also let her continue to mentor Kamala as well.