With the Marvel Entertainment Universe having expanded to 33 feature films and more than two dozen TV shows, prepping for the next chapter in the never-ending saga entails more research and timeline-checks than getting ready to see “Oppenheimer.” Then again, there’s almost always that scene(s) where the main characters stop in their tracks to discuss what’s happening, why it’s happening and what they need to do next; it’s the next best thing to them turning to the camera and addressing us directly to explain what’s going on.
We get one of those scenes in the flat, uneven and wholly unmemorable “The Marvels,” but by then, it’s too little, too late, as we’re just not that invested in this lightweight romp. “The Marvels” has a kind of 1990s B-movie vibe throughout and is neither as funny nor as engaging and warm as it tries to be, despite the best efforts of the talented director Nia DaCosta (2021’s “Candyman”) and a trio of gifted and enormously likable leads in Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris and Iman Vellani.
