There will be a lot of eyeballs on The Marvels when the upcoming Marvel movie opens this week, for so many different reasons. To start with, the concept of “superhero fatigue” is resting heavy on the industry, and while Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 performed extremely well at the box office, soft openings for movies like The Flash have studio execs wondering if the comic-book bubble is about to burst. We have known a lot of details about The Marvels for some time now, mainly because the movie’s release date kept getting pushed back after COVID issues and industry reshuffling. But a new charge was leveled at the movie in a piece by Variety, and The Marvels director Nia DaCosta is clearing things up.
Variety put out a recent cover story asking if Marvel Studios was in trouble, bringing up a lot of the same talking points about the MCU’s adjustments following both COVID outbreaks, the ongoing strikes plaguing the industry, and issues involving key stars such as Jonathan Majors. In the feature, it was revealed that Nia DaCosta began working on another movie while The Marvels was in post-production, insinuating that it was unusual for a filmmaker to do that, and all but implying this meant issues existed between Marvel and the director.
While speaking with ReelBlend co-host Jake Hamilton, also of Fox 32 in Chicago, Nia DaCosta addressed this concern, however, and made it clear:
I think there’s just a lot of energy and criticism around Marvel anyways, so I’m not surprised. But for me personally, it was literally just that they moved the date of the film four different times. And so, instead of it being a two year process – which I was deeply committed to – it became a three-and-a-half year process. Every time the date moved… and they knew the entire time that I had another obligation, a greenlit movie with people who were waiting for me, and I pushed that. And I pushed it again. And then I pushed it again, and eventually, we all knew, ‘If I push this again, I’m not going to be able to be in L.A. to do the rest of this in person.’
The unavoidable delays caused by the COVID outbreak affected virtually every aspect of the entertainment industry, though the timeline of MCU movies took an enormous hit. Some productions leapfrogged over others, depending on how much work remained on them. The same thing is happening now, as Disney shuffles release dates due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Still, as DaCosta goes on to explain, her absence on the physical studio lot didn’t affect post-production. She elaborated:
We just figured out a way to do it remote. We figured out the best process. And actually, at the time that I left to go to London to start prepping my next film, everyone was so clear about what (The Marvels) was. Everyone knew what I wanted. So it really wasn’t the dramatic sort of thing that I think people think it is.
That will never stop Marvel fans from chasing rumors. Believe me, I’m one of them, and I pursue every breadcrumb that presents itself. For now, I just want to see The Marvels. Brie Larson hasn’t been in full action as the super-powered hero since Avengers: Endgame. And I stand by the belief that Ms. Marvel star Iman Vellani is one of the best casting decisions the MCU has made in ages. The Marvels opens in theaters on November 10.
