The Marvel Cinematic Universe is likely to have a good year in with both Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Avengers: Doomsday on the 2026 movie schedule. Both upcoming Marvel movies are likely to be big winners at the box office, which will be a welcome change from what has largely been a series of underperforming titles, Deadpool & Wolverine notwithstanding.
One movie that is, at least financially speaking, Marvel’s biggest flop was The Marvels. The movie struggled at the box office and failed to win over critics, very much unlike its predecessor, Captain Marvel. However, while the movie may not be deeply loved, its director, Nia DaCosta, has absolutely no regrets about the movie. She tells Deadline that everybody involved worked hard on the film, and she’s still glad to have had the experience, saying:
It’s so interesting, because the Marvel machine had so much chatter around it. But when I look back on it, everyone tried their best. Everyone was trying to make a great film, and I will say I’m really happy to have those relationships.
While The Marvels had its champions, it was certainly a film that didn’t blow away audiences, leading to it having one of the lowest box office grosses of any film in the franchise. We haven’t seen Captain Marvel or any of the characters from that film since, and despite The Marvels post-credits scene having a direct tie to Doomsday via the X-Men, there’s no confirmation that any of those actors are in the new film.
Considering the movie’s rocky reception, I’m not sure anybody would blame Nia DaCosta for not having the best outlook on Marvel, or if Marvel had decided to move on from the director. However, she says she visited the set of Avengers: Doomsday at one point, and she clearly has strong relationships with many people still part of the “Marvel Machine.” She said:
I was just visiting the Avengers set last summer, which was really fun, catching up with the producers, seeing the Russos, and some of my friends were in the movie. So it was really nice, despite how everything went with the box office and the reviews, knowing that the relationships are so good. I look back, and everyone tried their best and everyone was trying to do the right thing, and it is what it is.
Having strong relationships with a number of major stars as well as people in the industry is never a bad thing when you're a director. While DaCosta and Marvel might be on good terms, it’s unlikely that she’ll be back directing an MCU movie anytime soon. But who knows?
She helmed not only The Marvels, but also directed sequences for Worlds of Marvel on Disney Cruise Line, so she may show up somewhere else we won’t expect. Such as post-apocalyptic England for her latest effort, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (read our review), which hits theaters on January 16, 2026.
