The Marvels – Identity Crisis

By feeling more like optional homework than obligatory viewing, The Marvels falls into a familiar trap of the Phase 4 and 5 MCU films. And it fails to up the ante for its main heroine from her first solo outing.

There is certainly more to juggle here—adding in both Ms. Marvel and Monica Rambeau—but The Marvels fails to find the right balance.

The titular three are charming and have decent chemistry. The villain, however, is one of the most paper thin ever produced by the Marvel movie machine.

As for the plot, what little there is, it just feels like a retread of better films. Another issue The Marvels shares with some its more recent MCU counterparts is an abundance of cheap looking effects.

For a movie with a budget north of $250 million, it looks more like a hastily produced Disney+ show. None of this should've been enough for it to tank as badly as it did, earning just 20% of the first's gross; but it is indicative of the larger MCU issue: too much, too often, too little quality control.

Now, sit back, swap places with a Juiced to Jupiter from Fat Head's Brewery, and warm up those pipes for Aladna! The Thunderous Wizard (@WriterTLK), Chumpzilla, Capt. Cash, and Bling Blake are hijacking the sun!

This Week’s Segments:

• Introduction/Plot Breakdown – Higher. Further. Faster. Together! (0:00)
• Lingering Questions – Who is in a position for better future success: DC or Marvel? (40:02)
• The "Flerken Transit Authority" Trivia Challenge – Bling Blake challenges the field to trivia about the movie. (1:08:28)
• Recommendations – We offer our picks for the week and next up: We analyze perhaps the most divisive Star Wars movie, The Last Jedi! (1:20:53)

And, as always, hit us up on Threads, Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram to check out all the interesting factoids from this week’s episode!