The Marvels is one of the most anticipated upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe projects that is set to come out on November 10, 2023. The film, set to star Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, and Iman Vellani as the main heroes, seems interested in telling a bit of a different story than fans have seen before. The issue is that while different in some ways, The Marvels might be falling back into a familiar trap by reviving one of the worst MCU trends.
Throughout the MCU, there have only ever actually been a handful of good villains. Some people go as far as to point to Loki, Killmonger, and Thanos as the only three truly compelling villains to date. Despite this, the MCU has tried to make their villains much more clear and present as of late, especially in projects like Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness and Spider-Man: No Way Home. Now, that lack of focus on villains seems to be resurfacing.
The Marvels Is All About The Heroes
While the villain of The Marvels is known and does make some minor and relatively lackluster appearances in the official trailer for the film, the movie does seem much more heavily focused on the heroes instead. It seems like a majority of the plot is going to revolve around the concept of the three main women swapping places across the galaxy whenever they use their powers. Something like that is bound to put a character like Kamala Kahn in some seriously tense situations as a novice hero, but exactly how often the place swapping will occur hasn’t yet been revealed, especially since the characters are shown using their abilities without swapping locations throughout the trailer.
The film is surely going to be another step forward to further female representation on screen and empower women by focusing on the relationships and dynamics between heroes of varying levels of competency. With each of their powers all being tied together by all being based on light in some form, these women have a lot in common while still remaining distinct, something that allows for the director and writers to follow some interesting story threads. The problem is that the trailer shows a bit too heavy of a focus on the dynamic between the characters with flashes of random action and relatively weak villain intention sprinkled in. This very thing should send up a lot of red flags for fans of the MCU, because this may signal that, yet again, the villain of the film is either nothing but an afterthought or really doesn’t matter, something that could be argued to have been the case in 2019’s Captain Marvel.
The Marvels May Lack A Compelling Villain
That villain who’s only been sprinkled throughout the trailer of the film happens to be Dar-Benn, played by Zawe Ashton. If that name doesn’t ring any bells, that’s not surprising. Dar-Benn might just be the most inconsequential MCU villain to date, as the biggest contribution this originally male character has made to the Marvel lore is that he played a part in creating the Silver Surfer. That little piece of information may make Dar-Benn more exciting for the potential of such a major character, but using a movie to introduce a high-impact character moving forward does not make for a compelling villain. If the amount Dar-Benn appears in the trailer is any indication, MCU fans may be stuck with a far less compelling villain than anyone could have hoped, and the introduction of the Silver Surfer would only further exacerbate the issue.
With all of that information in mind, the recent rumors that The Marvels will be the MCU’s shortest film to date only further crushes potential hopes for a compelling villain. It takes time and specifically screentime for a villain to make a real impact, and turning this D-list character that most average Marvel and MCU fans won’t even know of into a major villain could be a serious misstep. If The Marvels really does run much closer to an hour and a half total than more than two hours, there might be a struggle with building up the two Disney+ series characters to the same level as Captain Marvel let alone build a villain to the point that she’s fearsome enough to handle the already overpowered hero who has the help of two other superheroes and all of Nick Fury’s resources.
The MCU Has Always Had A Villain Problem
When the average person thinks of MCU villains, the most likely name to come up will be Thanos. Acting as the main villain of the original three phases of the MCU, Thanos was a major figure, and considering Avengers: Infinity War was practically Thanos’ dedicated film, he stands out as the most fleshed-out villain of the bunch. Then there’s Loki, who’s now more or less reformed into a fascinating anti-hero as time has gone on. One of the only villains to gain major notoriety in a single dedicated film without any other major appearances is Killmonger from 2018’s Black Panther. He was a different take on an MCU villain, and felt like a major force throughout the film instead of someone who set things in motion for the heroes to deal with, only to pop back up for a CGI fight in the final fifteen minutes.
The list of lackluster MCU villains is, unfortunately, rather long. One of the worst examples that people point to is Zemo from Captain America: Civil War. He was so pointless to some that one of the most common criticisms of the movie is that Zemo should have been removed entirely for Iron Man to be the main villain. Iconic Marvel villains like Dormammu, Taskmaster, Gorr the God Butcher, Red Skull, and even Kang the Conqueror have all made some seriously tame waves in the films they feature in. A lot of the time, these villains are trapped in movies with heroes who have an equally important narrative that serves to set up or flesh out a hero, leaving the villain as a rather forced challenge for them to overcome in order for the latest MCU movie to be labeled as a blockbuster film. Only time will tell if The Marvels falls into the same trap, so it might be best for everyone to keep their fingers crossed.
The Marvels is set to release in theatres on November 10th, 2023.