Leading Ms. Marvel star Iman Vellani is back on Letterboxd after an extended hiatus and she’s marked her return with a ton of reviews for movies that were released over the past year. Among these, one of the most notable was for Madame Web. 5l5p4

Madame Web was released on Feb. 14, 2024, and has since become notorious as one of — if not the — worst superhero movies that has been released by a major studio. In fact, right now it sits at a terrible 11 percent critic score on Rotten Tomatoes with a slightly better 55 percent audience rating.

Given this context, you can probably guess what Vellani might have thought about the film, so we won’t bury the lead any further. Ms. Marvel did not like this Sony Spider-verse flick, and her final rating for the film was an abysmal 0.5 stars out of 5.

What’s confusing about this film review is the fact that Vellani didn’t even bother to leave a message alongside her review, just the ultimate score, but she did leave the movie a heart which typically suggests you’ve liked it. Perhaps this movie is one of those “so bad that it’s good” type of watches for Vellani?

As we mentioned before, seeing a negative review for Madame Web shouldn’t be all that surprising, but there were plenty of other movies with new reviews lodged by the star to check out in the last week. It shouldn’t be any surprise that her review of The Marvels was positive, and while she didn’t give it a score, this time she did leave a message.

“Actual footage of the girlies and I having fun.”

Despite being a key part of the largest comic book movie franchise on earth, Vellani has consistently been critical of projects over the years. In fact, Madame Web isn’t the only superhero film she has given 0.5 stars. Others include The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Justice League. For full clarity, this was the 2017 version of Justice League, not the Snyder cut, so all of you Zach Snyder fans can relax.

Now, if you started thinking that maybe she’s only interested in Disney’s superhero offerings then you’d be wrong. Other recently lodged reviews included The Penguin, which rightfully got the perfect five-star score that it deserves.

Right now, the list of her perfect superhero projects that all received five stars include Avengers, Avengers: Endgame, The Batman, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Black Widow, Captain America: Civil War, The Dark Knight, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Iron Man, Logan, The Penguin, Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and Spider-Man: No Way Home. Yes, there are a lot.

Hopefully, Vellani will continue to keep her Letterboxd updated in the future, as it’s interesting to see insight into what a star of her stature thinks about other movies entering and leaving theaters. If you’re eager to dive deeper into Vellani’s mind and see what her favorite movies actually are, then you can check out her Letterboxd page here.

If you’ve been missing a certain beloved Marvel character, easily one of the most popular and important characters to arrive on the scene since 2020, then you might just be in luck…

Very soon, we’ll be able to say that Avengers: Doomsday — the beginning of the end for the Multiverse Saga — is coming next year, and we still don’t really know what this era of the MCU is driving toward. Just take a look at the three cast either confirmed or reliably reported to be in it so far: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, and Hayley Atwell. All are legacy Infinity Saga stars. So which newbies of Phases Four and Five are destined to stick around in a big way? At least we now know one of them.

Ms. Marvel confirmed to be “a big part of the MCU” despite The Marvels’ misfire 2i769

Good news, everyone! The Marvels‘ box office implosion of November 2023 might not have been quite as destructive as we feared. The lowest-grossing film in the MCU’s history memorably ended with Iman Vellani’s Kamala Khan recruiting Hailee Steinfeld’s Kate Bishop into her “Kid Avengers” initiative, but since then we’ve heard nothing more on this front. Thankfully, it sounds like Ms. Marvel will be back before long, and in a big way.

Brad Winderbaum, Marvel’s head of television and animation, was asked by The Hollywood Reporter what’s next for Vellani following her guest voice appearance in What If…? season 3. Winderbaum was as cagey as you’d expect from someone personally trained by Kevin Feige, but he did promise that the New Jersey-based junior heroine is “really important” to Marvel’s plans going forward.

“I love Iman. She’s incredible,” Winderbaum teased. “I love that character. I will tell you that she’s certainly a big part of the MCU to me. Ms. Marvel is a really important show to us, and without going into great detail, because I don’t want to spoil anything, she is top of mind. So it’s going to be exciting to see where she pops up next.”

Well, ideally where Kamala popped up next would be a Young Avengers project, but considering the studio is taking its sweet, sweet time in getting that one off the ground — Steinfeld is already aging out of the job description — we might have to take what we can get. Captain Marvel 3 is an obvious choice, but honestly we’re even less sure what’s next for Brie Larson’s Carol Danvers than we are her biggest fangirl. In that way, you could argue Ms. Marvel is the biggest success story of the many next-gen heroes of the Multiverse Saga as she’s already more entrenched in the franchise than her precursor. Some, like Ironheart, Stature, and Wiccan, have yet to be given enough of a chance to prove their worth. Others, like Eros, Hercules, and Skarr, have seemingly vanished from the face of the Sacred Timeline.

At least we’ve got Vellani back as Kamala for an episode of What If…?‘s third and final season, premiering this Dec. 22 and dropping daily thereafter.

The MCU’s Multiverse Saga has been plagued by some really head-scratching decisions — most of them found in Quantumania, to be fair — but there’s the feeling that Marvel Studios is finally finding its feet again in the wake of the gargantuan success of Deadpool & Wolverine and is once more making the smart decisions that made the franchise a smash in the first place.

The Russo brothers coming back? Check. Robert Downey Jr. returning (not that this choice isn’t without its critics)? Yup. And, on the TV side of things, Marvel might finally be about to make more of its most acclaimed live-action series ever. In a move that you really shouldn’t need to be Tony Stark to make, it’s rumored that Ms. Marvel is finally on the cusp of landing a second season.

You might expect WandaVision or Loki to occupy the top spot, but the Iman Vellani vehicle is genuinely the highest-rated of Marvel’s non-animated streaming series on Rotten Tomatoes, with a 98% critics score. For a long while there it was the highest overall, but then X-Men ’97 had to come along and steal its (love and) thunder with its near-perfect 99%. Stupid sexy Gambit!

In a sane world, then, Ms. Marvel would’ve gotten a renewal straight off the bat, but in this crazy Kang-mangled timeline we’re stuck in it’s taken three years for even a whiff of a second season to materialize. And for once the entire Marvel fandom is united in one unanimous reaction: Well… duh!

Wait, what’s this? A positive comment about The Marvels? On the internet? I don’t believe it.

Honestly, they might as well make this a backdoor Young Avengers project, seeing as the actual Young Avengers project seems doomed never to materialize before Hailee Steinfeld turns 30.

The complete and utter box office failure of The Marvels left lovers of Kamala Khan afraid that the studio was going to send all three of its heroines to the Void, but while Captain Marvel 3 and a supposed Photon spin-off do appear to have been shelved for the moment, it’s just possible that Ms. Marvel could be the one to survive that wreckage intact. Any claims that this is because Iman won’t stop texting Kevin Feige until he greenlights a season 2 are unconfirmed at this time.

The Russo and RDJ making Avengers films; Marvel crossing the $1 billion mark at the box office again; a show with a virtually flawless critical reception potentially (I say it again, potentially) getting recommissioned… The MCU is healing.

Just when you thought Deadpool & Wolverine had claimed the crown and couldn’t ever be beaten, Daredevil: Born Again has come along and delivered what could be the most unexpected crossover cameo the MCU has ever given us.

Marvel Studios unveiled a first look at the much-anticipated relaunch of the Man Without Fear’s adventures at this August’s D23 — at least, to those in attendance. Unfortunately, the trailer has yet to be officially released online, but thanks to the wonders of leaks and first-hand reportage we know what the teaser contained.

On top of glimpses of Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock, Vincent D’Onofrio’s Kingpin, and Jon Bernthal’s Punisher, not to mention the return of Bullseye, Karen Page, and Foggy Nelson, and the introduction of Muse and White Tiger, the trailer also confirmed another addition to the cast that’s left fans scratching their heads.

The Marvels star confirmed to return to the MCU for Daredevil: Born Again 4bdf

Sorry, Channing Tatum. Move over, Wesley Snipes. The most out-of-left-field MCU cameo surely has to come from this Daredevil: Born Again trailer. The D23 first-look footage confirmed that Mohan Kapur will feature in the series, reprising his role as Yusuf Khan — father to Kamala “Ms. Marvel” Khan — from both Ms. Marvel and The Marvels.

Aside from the relative obscurity of the character — sorry, Yusuf, but Kamala’s mom Muneeba is the supreme Khan family member — the fact that the world of Ms. Marvel is crossing over with Daredevil at all is something of a head-scratcher. For starters, Born Again promises to be an extension of the street-level side of the MCU — inhabited by the Defenders, the Punisher, and Echo — rather than the cosmic side Kamala dwells in. On a geographic level, too, the Khans live in Jersey City, not Matt Murdock’s Hell’s Kitchen home turf.

What’s more, it’s surprising that the studio would elect to call back to The Marvels so soon after its infamous box office devastation last November. All signs had pointed to Marvel throwing the Brie Larson sequel under the bus — see Deadpool’s “You’re ing at kind of low-point” joke to Wolverine in D&W — and quietly cancelling projects like Captain Marvel 3, a Photon spinoff, and perhaps even the Young Avengers movie (notice the lack of an update at either Comic-Con or D23). And yet here Yusuf is to remind us of Marvel’s greatest financial failure.

Filming restarted on Born Again, after it was overhauled from top to bottom, in January 2024, so it’s not like this decision was made prior to The Marvels‘ release. Those who miss Ms. Marvel can likely take this as a good sign, then, that Kamala is still very much a tentpole figure of this franchise going forward. If we get a Daredevil/Ms. Marvel team-up before Daredevil/Spider-Man, though, then something’s definitely up with the timeline.

With The Marvels shrinking to sub-Quantum Realm levels at the box office, the MCU certainly needs some guaranteed wins in its not-so-distant future. And one of those might just come in the form of a sequel to the only Marvel movie to bomb nearly as hard as The Marvels.

Confused? Good, so are we all, thanks to some suitably spoilery comments from Mark “I gave away the ending to Infinity War one year early” Ruffalo. Let’s see what’s happening…

Mark Ruffalo tells us he can’t comment on the chances of an Incredible Hulk 2, which might just answer our question 1tu54

Disney buying out NBCUniversal’s stake in Hulu is a potentially big deal for Marvel fans it theoretically means the House of Ideas might be on its way to finally wrestling the full rights to the Hulk from Universal. So, does this mean a long-awaited sequel to The Incredible Hulk could be on its way, 15 years after the Edward Norton movie hit theaters? Well, Ruffalo hasn’t exactly nipped this rumor in the bud thanks to his curious response. “I’ve been asked not to comment on it,” the Poor Things actor said, which kinda suggests that there is something to comment on in the first place.

Iman Vellani knows which villain should appear in Ms. Marvel season 2, so now we need Kevin Feige to hire her to write it 15s27

Yes, we are yet again banging the “Iman Vellani should take over Marvel Studios already” drum. I mean, who else is better qualified than someone who has lived and breathed the MCU her whole life and now operates as both an actual Marvel hero and a Marvel comics writer? The latest sign that Vellani has ideas aplenty about where to steer the ship? She’s shared her perfect idea for a villain for Ms. Marvel season 2, one that would surely tap into Gen Z’s interests and current AI concerns. It’s such a smart pitch that we can only hope she’s bombarding Kevin Feige with texts until he agrees to greenlight it.

Ryan Reynolds throws off the Deadpool 3 leakers by teasing the only crossover cameos crazier than Taylor Swift 5o6ek

Deadpool 3 is undoubtedly the most-anticipated Marvel movie of 2024. The fact that it’s the only Marvel movie of 2024 is besides the point. With set photos that reveal a new cameo leaking daily, however, Ryan Reynolds has had to step in to politely ask fans to pull it back a little with the spoilers. In his own unique way, of course. Namely, Reynolds muddied the waters by sharing a bunch of hilarious fake pics that appear to confirm some truly crazy cross-media cameos. Considering this is the film that could bring in Taylor Swift as an X-Man, though, Deadpool hanging out with a Predator and Mickey Mouse isn’t actually that far-fetched.

Kevin Feige, we are asking you once again — hire Iman Vellani to work behind the scenes of the MCU as well as in front of it.

As undoubtedly the biggest Marvel fan to actually play a Marvel hero, The Marvels star has proved her multiversal expertise numerous times — she’s the only one willing to challenge Feige on his insistence that the MCU is Earth-616, not the correct Earth-19999 — and she’s even proven she’s an idea machine for the future of the franchise too. Just check out her pitch on how to handle Avengers: Secret Wars.

Sadly, with The Marvels bombing at the box office, it’s unclear where we will see Vellani as Kamala Khan next. However, the actress remains hopeful that she’ll get to return in a Ms. Marvel season 2. And, true to form, the actress knows exactly where she wants the show to go next if it does receive the greenlight. When asked which villain she would wish to face in season 2, Vellani revealed that she had definitely already put ample thought into this question and had an answer ready to go. As she told The Direct:

“Definitely Doc.X. I think that’s a great villain from the comics and can really resonate with the Gen Z audience. It would be so interesting—I don’t know, messing with kids’ psyche almost when you have this villain who only exists on your phone, and on your laptops, and on all your screens that we can’t avoid. I think it’d be really interesting position to put them all in to fight against something that you can’t even see, right? Yeah. Yeah, that’s one of my favorite comic storylines. So I would love to see that play out.”

Ms. Marvel season 2 could introduce the perfect next-gen version of Ultron 45u1u

As Vellani alludes to, Doc.X was an evil AI introduced in the comics in 2017. Despite only appearing in six issues of Ms. Marvel Vol. 4, the villain clearly made a big impact on Vellani as a reader as she can see how such a character could have a hug impact on those of her generation if they were to be adapted by Marvel Studios.

So who is Doc.X? Unlike Ultron or Vision, Doc.X has no physical form and their insidious threat comes from the fact they are able to spread throughout the internet and infect countless devices at once. Originally created as a virus by a World of Battlecraft (no, that’s nothing like World of Warcraft) , Doc.X initially infected the of one player, before growing in intelligence, knowledge, and sentience as it came into with other players.

One of these was a by the name of SlothBaby, none other than Kamala Khan. As Doc.X’s reach grew to mean it had gained control over many devices and networks in the greater New York area, it discovered the truth that Kamala was really Ms. Marvel. Using her secret identity as leverage, Doc.X attempted to blackmail Kamala into ing it into the main S.H.I.E.L.D. server, which would allow its reach to expand exponentially.

With the MCU strangely reluctant to bring back Ultron in live-action, Doc.X would be the perfect timely response from Marvel to the growing problem of AI. It’s worth mentioning that another secret Doc.X threatens to out in the comics is that Kamala’s rival Zoe Zimmer is secretly in love with her best friend, Nakia. This is another plotline that would be worth exploring in Ms. Marvel season 2 to allow for both ing characters to receive some much-needed development.

Sadly, Ms. Marvel season 2 remains a pipedream for now, but, Iman, if you can just keep on bugging Kevin Feige and texting him everyday about it until he gives in and commissions more episodes, we would all appreciate it.

“In the not too distant future…” This is the caption with which 2000’s X-Men movie opens, and sure enough, in the not too distant future the X-Men will be forming once again within the MCU.

While we wait for a full-on reboot of the Children of the Atom to emerge, although Marvel is already searching for scriptwriters, things have definitely heated up on the mutant front across Phase Four and Five so far. Movies and TV series such as Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Ms. Marvel, The Marvels, and the Deadpool 3 deserve much of the credit in this regard.

After Doctor Strange 2 and The Marvels included cameos from old favorites and Kamala Khan’s Disney Plus debut revealed she’s a mutant, the Ryan Reynolds threequel is going even further in establishing the X-Men’s existence. As production plows ahead, Deadpool 3 is adding more and more familiar faces from Fox’s franchise, helping to up the number of mutants confirmed to exist on Earth-616. Although, let’s not forget those who could conceivably be outed as X-gene carriers in other future projects.

With that in mind, let’s stick on our Cerebro helmets and take stock of every mutant in the MCU so far.

Confirmed mutant characters 3b425z

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Black Bolt might’ve shown up in Doctor Strange 2, but it seems that wasn’t enough to get Marvel to connect Kamala to the Inhumans mythos. Instead, Ms. Marvel retconned her as a mutant (something eventually established in the comics as well). Nevertheless, despite her newfound mutanthood, Kamala seems unlikely to the X-Men given that she’s currently assembling the Young Avengers.

Professor X 4b616

Predating Kamala’s outing as a mutant by just a couple of months, Patrick Stewart’s Charles Xavier crossed over from the Fox franchise in Doctor Strange 2. Hailing from Earth-838, this was an alternate version of Professor X from the one Stewart had played for 20 years previously, which arguably opens the door for him to reprise his role as Earth-616’s Xavier as well.

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As per his status in the source material, Tenoch Huerta’s Namor was specifically stated to be a mutant in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. This was a much bigger deal than it may have appeared as it not only marked the first time the all-important term had been uttered in an MCU movie, but also made him the first MCU original character (who is a mutant in the comics, too) to make their franchise debut.

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The Marvels made good on all those X-Men teasing promos in its post-credits scene, which saw Monica Rambeau cross through a wormhole and end up in the X-Mansion, allowing Kelsey Grammer to return as Frasier Beast. Given that this Hank McCoy’s appearance was very different from the one in the Fox films, we’re guessing this was another variant of Beast from elsewhere in the multiverse.

Characters who might be mutants 2m4218

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As fans know, Wanda Maximoff is traditionally the daughter of Magneto in the comics. While this is canonically not the case in the MCU, it’s possible she could still be revealed as a mutant at some point as WandaVision made clear that her exposure to the Mind Stone only unlocked Wanda’s latent abilities and did not create them, as was originally believed.

Quicksilver 6s5o1n

So, if that’s true of Wanda, then we can assume it’s also the case for her late twin brother, Pietro Maximoff. Tragically, Pietro never got to really test the extent of his power due to his untimely death in Avengers: Age of Ultron, but it’s feasible that his super-speed was a natural gift given a boost by the Mind Stone, especially as Kamala’s bangle confirms mutants sometimes need amplifiers in the MCU.

“Ralph Bohner” 705q6o

From one Quicksilver to another. Unfortunately, Evan Peters’ Fake Pietro in WandaVision was ultimately unveiled not to be Fox’s Peter Maximoff but some guy called “Ralph Bohner.” However, there is a widespread fan theory that he actually is Quicksilver, and Agatha Harkness was still controlling his mind at the end of the show, leaving the door open for Peters to return at a later date.

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When Black Widow came out in summer 2021, many fans championed it for low-key introducing the MCU’s first mutant. One of Red Guardian’s fellow inmates at his Russian prison was Mikhail Ursus aka Ursa Major, a mutant who can transform into a bear in the comics. Actor Olivier Richters certainly believes his character can be categorized as a mutant and is hoping for a comeback.

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Any Runaways fans in the house? In the Hulu series, Molly Hernandez got her super-strength from being exposed to extraterrestrial Gibborim Rocks. In the comics, however, her counterpart Molly Hayes is a mutant. We have no idea if the Runaways cast could return to the MCU, but with mutantkind now a thing, fans could always make it their headcanon that Molly was secretly a mutant all along.

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She-Hulk: Attorney at Law introduced a wildly revisionist take on a comic book hero in the form of Craig Hollis aka Mr. Immortal. Although the MCU’s Hollis is depicted as a man visibly in his 60s known for faking his death to avoid his many spouses, the original Mr. Immortal is a teen vigilante, a member of the Great Lake Avengers, and, yes, a mutant.

El Aguila 5x4157

Similarly, She-Hulk likewise featured a guest spot from El Aguila, a self-described swashbuckler with the power to produce bioelectricity, which he channels through his sword. In the source material, he has this power because he’s a mutant, often serving as a frenemy of Power Man and Iron Fist. Like Mr. Immortal, it’s entirely possible he’s a mutant in the MCU, too, it just hasn’t been spelled out.

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Obviously, the most notable mutant on his way is none other than Ryan Reynolds’ Wade Wilson. Deadpool 3 started shooting has been shooting on and off since May 2023, with Shawn Levy directing, ahead of its eventual arrival in theaters in May 2024. It’s long been expected that this one would properly introduce the X-Men into the MCU, and that certainly seems to be the case, going by its extended cast.

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If you haven’t heard that Hugh Jackman is back as Wolverine in Deadpool 3 by now, I can only assume you’ve been trapped in the Quantum Realm. Yes, dreams will come true when we finally see the Aussie icon share the screen with Reynolds’ Merc with the Mouth. He’s unlikely to be the MCU’s full-time Wolvie, though, as we’re pretty sure DP3 will act as his true, final hurrah in his record-breaking role.

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Daniel Cudmore originated the role of Colossus/Peter Rasputin in the initial Fox X-Men movies, but the more familiar version to moviegoers is the full CG character played by Stefan Kapicic in the first two Deadpool films. He’ll be ing Reynolds and Jackman in making the hop over to the MCU, although it’s too early to tell if he’ll bring his sister, The New Mutants‘ Illyana Rasputin, with him.

Negasonic Teenage Warhead 621856

Alongside Colossus, DP’s other X-Men best pal, the impeccably named Negasonic Teenage Warhead, is likewise back in Deadpool 3, with Brianna Hildebrand reprising the part as the gloomy adolescent who can produce nuclear blasts. , Deadpool 2 established that the heroine was gay, making her the first openly lesbian superpowered character in the MCU.

Yukio 5f4g1s

Speaking of, Negasonic Teenage Warhead’s girlfriend in Deadpool 2 was the perky and pink-haired Yukio, a loose adaptation of the comics character who had previously appeared in The Wolverine. Shioli Kutsuna is reuniting with her on-screen love interest Hildebrand in Deadpool 3. Her inclusion means that the MCU now has its first openly gay superhero couple. Hopefully, we’ll get a few more “Hi, Wade”s.

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Most of those rumored Deadpool 3 cameos await confirmation, but set photos from the threequel’s shoot have at least revealed that Sabretooth is definitely back on board. The real surprise, though? That it’s not the Liev Schreiber version but one resembling Tyler Mane’s more feral incarnation from 2000’s X-Men (though it’s currently unclear if Mane is reprising his role or not).

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And let’s not forget that animated revival series X-Men ’97 is also headed to Disney Plus. Fans might be discounting this as non-MCU due to it being a continuation of the beloved ’90s series, but it is produced by Marvel Studios, and showrunner Beau DeMayo has heavily hinted that the show will have some major multiversal tie-ins, suggesting it’ll be more important to the overall franchise than we might be expecting.

Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Marvels.

One of the biggest mysteries established in the MCU’s Phase Four was the location of the second bangle, the twin to the fabulous accessory worn by Kamala Khan that catalyzes her powers in Ms. Marvel. In the Disney Plus show, New Jersey teen Kamala becomes the superhero she’s always dreamed of being when she inherits her grandmother’s bangle, which kickstarts her mutant (not Inhuman) genes.

Throughout the six episodes of Ms. Marvel we discovered that the bangle was sought after by the Clandestines, a race of djinn-like beings from the Noor Dimension who were trying to use the artifact to open a door in reality to return home (and, you know, destroy the Earth too). We also learned that there was a second bangle out there somewhere, but its location was never revealed in the show itself.

A year and a half on from Ms. Marvel‘s conclusion, though, Marvel finally offered up the goods on the second bangle, with The Marvels revealing all we need to know about its origins, location and powers.

Who has the second bangle in the MCU? 63513z

Ms. Marvel featured many clues as to where the second bangle might have ended up. In a flashback, we learned that Kamala’s own bangle had been discovered in a Ten Rings temple raided by the British, found on the disembodied arm of a Kree. This spawned various theories that Shang-Chi‘s Xialing could have it, or perhaps Eternals‘ Sersi or Moon Knight‘s Steven Grant might be looking after it at their respective British museums.

As it happens, the Kree clue was the most important one as The Marvels reveals that the evil Kree radical Dar-Benn has got her mitts on the second bangle, tracking it down to the remote, barren planet designated MB-418. When Kamala learns about its discovery, she its that while she was desperate to find the other bangle she didn’t think it would be in space. That makes all of us, Kamala.

What is the second bangle used for in The Marvels? 29i2z

It’s a shame Kamala and Carol Danvers didn’t become besties sooner as it turns out Captain Marvel knows all about the bangles. Although Ms. Marvel led us to believe they originated in the Noor Dimension along with the Clandestines, Carol reveals that the bangles are actually called Quantum Bands, ancient Kree artifacts of legend that use colossal amounts of energy to open dimensional gateways known as Jump-Points, the network of wormholes that the Kree use to hop around space.

Vengeful after the downfall of the Kree empire, with her homeworld Hala on its last legs, Dar-Benn takes to using her bangle — or Quantum Band — to suck the atmosphere from the Skrull colony planet of Tarnax, the oceans from Aladna, and the sun from Earth and funnel them through Jump Points to reinvigorate Hala. However, once she gets both Quantum Bands, Dar-Benn goes truly power mad. Overwhelmed by the combined energy of both bangles she is atomized and opens a tear in space/time to another reality (but that’s a whole other story).

Who has the second bangle now? 3m1432

With Dar-Benn destroyed, Kamala is entrusted with both Quantum Bands. It’s unclear exactly how Ms. Marvel can withstand the power of both bangles when Dar-Benn couldn’t, but perhaps it’s due to her own mutant genes or else because she had successfully bonded with one bangle for longer than the Kree villain did prior to donning the second.

In any case, Kamala now sports two of the most powerful objects in the MCU’s cosmos on her wrists. These will either cause her a whole lot of problems with settling back into a normal life in a Ms. Marvel season 2 or else come in very handy in saving the day with her new Young Avengers teammates.

Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Marvels.

We all know by now just how much the MCU loves its glowing space jewelry. After all, the entire Infinity Saga was built around Thanos finding the perfect gems to bedazzle his fetching golden glove with. Up to now, the Multiverse Saga has ditched that formula for the most part, so that’s why The Marvels felt downright nostalgic with its plot revolving around the hunt for a newly minted pair of fabulous accessories.

To be specific, ubervillain Dar-Benn spends the film desperate to get her hands on the other Quantum Band, which just happens to rest on the wrist of Kamala Khan. Yes, we finally have a name for those bangles introduced in Ms. Marvel which unlocked Kamala’s powers. But what exactly are the Quantum Bands? Here’s all you need to know about the bangles’ rich Marvel Comics history.

The Quantum Bands, explained 6u1r42

The Marvels reveals that the Quantum Bands are an old Kree legend, ancient artifacts of immense power that were used to create the network of Jump Points that allow Kree ships to open windows through the cosmos to allow for instant cross-space travel. As we know from Ms. Marvel, one ended up in a Ten Rings temple on Earth and was retrieved from the arm of a dead Kree by Kamala’s Clandestine grandmother, Aisha. The other, we discover, was ultimately retrieved from a deserted planet by Dar-Benn.

In the comics, the Quantum Bands’ origins are much different. Created by Eon, the son of Eternity (as seen in Thor: Love and Thunder), the Bands were bestowed upon those chosen champions dubbed the Protectors of the Universe and were worn by all those in this hallowed line of heroes, except for the original Captain Marvel, Mar-Vell. Those who have wielded the Bands include Marvel Boy, Quasar, and Phyla-Vell. Yes, they’re basically Marvel’s answer to DC’s Green Lantern Power Rings.

How the Quantum Bands tie into Ant-Man, Thanos, the Eternals, and more 5q426p

It’s entirely possible that the further history of the Quantum Bands won’t be explained and they’ll simply reappear as Kamala’s nifty arm bands but, if Marvel wanted to, it could easily use the Quantum Bands to fuel many more storylines. They’d particularly be ripe for sparking an Eternals sequel, if that’s something the studio was actually interested in, one which revealed the origins of Thanos and his brother, Harry Styles’ Eros.

In ancient times, the Eternal Kronos transformed the Quantum Bands into wedding rings and gave them to his son A’Lars and his bride Sui-San to mark their marriage. The power of the bands allowed the couple to conceive children in the traditional manner, despite Eternals’ artificial biology, and Sui-San gave birth to two boys, Thanos and Eros. Unfortunately, the Quantum Bands’ baby-making powers were clearly a little erratic as while one became a pretty boy cosmic pirate the other grew up to be Space Hitler. Siblings, amiright?

And if you’re wondering about the name, the Quantum Bands do indeed derive their power from the Quantum Zone, better known as the Quantum Realm in the MCU. This wasn’t specified in The Marvels, but seeing as Ant-Man and the Wasp revealed that anything with “Quantum” in the name links to the Quantum Realm we can easily surmise that this is the case on screen too. Whether this will be explored in time, who knows? Perhaps the Quantum Bands could prove key to defeating Kang in Avengers: Secret Wars, just like the Quantum Realm was in stopping Thanos in Avengers: Endgame.

Warning: Spoilers for The Marvels to follow. 

The trouble with ensemble films is that there is largely not enough for everyone to do. The Avengers consistently did this by sidelining Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and giving Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) nonsensical romance plotlines.

Nia DaCosta’s The Marvels, however, has no such issue. The three female leads are equally as important as the next, with each character fulfilling their arc. Carol (Brie Larson) contends with being a secondary villain. Kamala (Iman Vellani) learns what happens when you meet your heroes. And Monica (Teyonah Parris) finally gets closure for her abandonment issues. When she was just a child, she had her favorite aunt promise her to be back before she knew it and never saw her again. Monica had to experience her mother’s illness all on her own and find her inner strength.

Carol itting fault with how she handled things is exactly what Monica needed to find closure, but that wasn’t the end of her story in The Marvels.

What is Monica’s fate when The Marvels end? 25x39

Since Monica’s exposure to Wanda’s (Elizabeth Olsen) aptly named witch hex, she has been adjusting to her new normal. Her photosensitive powers allow her to phase through materials and produce light of her own. This change has bonded her with Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) as he runs S.A.B.E.R. But as often occurs in the MCU, with great power comes great responsibility.

Monica learns this quicker than most after she and The Marvels battle Kree leader, Dar-Benn (Zawe Ashton). In the Kree’s attempt to fix the environmental issues on her home planet Hala, she rips a hole in time and space. This portal travels into another dimension and another instance of the Multiverse, which has captivated the MCU as of late.

Monica is the only person who can absorb Carol and Kamala’s energy to sew the rift back together. Carol and Kamala agree, not understanding that this is the end of the line for Monica, at least Earth-616. As she mends the rift with her abilities, the entry point closes around her, and she its that she always knew this would be a one-way trip. Carol races to save her, but as Monica seals the portal, it disappears — taking her along with it.

As devastated as the characters are at losing an integral part of their team, this doesn’t necessarily mean she’s gone for good (one of the rare, logically backed parts of the film). Both Carol and Kamala are certain they will see their friend again, and for good reason. Different universes have already been established in the MCU, and being absorbed into one isn’t automatically a death sentence.

Sealing the rift takes its toll on Monica and she loses consciousness. When she wakes up, she finds herself in a ward, with someone at her side who looks exactly like her mother. But when Maria (Lashana Lynch) takes off her sheath and reveals she is instead the superhero Binary, Monica realizes she is in an alternate world. This reveal is just another connection to the future of the MCU and an intriguing hint at the future of the X-Men. But it also means that this is not the last we see of Captain Rambeau (or Pulsar, or Photon, or Professor Marvel — hopefully she will have picked a superhero name by the time she appears next in the MCU).

Being silly is evidently not MCU’s forte, as it seems that in its excitement to be as quirky as possible, logic has stopped making its way to the scripts, something The Marvels has confirmed beyond any lingering doubt.

Some pretty heavy spoilers follow for those who haven’t watched The Marvels yet, as well as some emotionally-damaging questions for our fellow Marvel-eers who have binged it, and are standing strong by its supposed merits.

Help us find the same positivity, will you? Because, for the life of us, we can’t find logical answers to the questions below, to stop their overpowering shadows from making The Marvels another Quantumania for us.

Where did the Skrulls go? Because New Asgard is not an option 1h2b26

Those Skrulls whom Carol does manage to rescue from the planet Tarnax are then taken by Valkyrie, who promises to relocate them. Seeing that Asgardians themselves saw their planet destroyed, leaving them nowhere else to go but Earth, it seems that Valkyrie couldn’t relocate the Skrulls anywhere else.

But taking them to New Asgard is also impossible. Just like its six-episode run, Secret Invasion’s conclusion was also a major mess, one which saw President Ritson declare all aliens as enemies, and promise that America will find them and kill them all. It is already a wonder that the Asgardians are allowed to stay amidst such an hostile environment, and seeing that Ritson’s anger was particularly directed towards the Skrulls, it is hardly a sensible decision to take them towards certain death.

How are there more Skrulls? The existing statistics don’t add up 2k565u

Secret Invasion established that the million Skrulls on Earth are all that remained of the alien species, and yet a much larger number is seen residing on the planet Tarnax. Were Fury and the Earth-residing Skrulls not aware that a perfectly good planet, inhabited by their people, was available? Carol was MIA for years, but she did meet up with Fury during and after the Battle of Earth — did they never discuss the million shape-shifting aliens they brought to Earth and swore to protect?

Where did Nick Fury’s wife Varra aka Priscilla go? 356r40

I swear, I am done with Secret Invasion-related inconsistencies, but first, where is Varra? The Marvel series ended its disappointing streak with Fury and Varra departing for SABER in a spaceship together. And yet, there was no sign of Varra throughout the film. Was she finally pissed with Fury’s inability to see past her Skrull looks, and finally left his one-eyed ass in cosmic dust to go live her life?

How are the planets that Dar-Benn siphoned from “recovering?” 473r1l

Dar-Benn used the combined powers of her Universal Weapon and the bangle to siphon off the atmosphere of Tarnax, and the water of Aladna, and whisk them away to her dying planet, Hala. But in the closing minutes of the film, we are given a one-line closure about the planets’ fate — that they are (somehow) “recovering.” How?

Did Carol use Dar-Benn’s weapon to reverse this situation? But, Kamala immediately returned to Earth with her bangle after the fight, and we have no confirmation that Carol wore it, so who wore it to combine its powers with the powerful staff to reverse what Dar-Benn had done? 

Or are the planets just recovering on their own? It is depicted that Carol only manages to save a few Skrulls after Dar-Benn sucks their atmosphere, but no help came for Aldana. Surely having no water, which is also important to maintain that so-called thing called atmosphere, everybody perished? We saw the immediate effects of Dar-Benn’s attack on Tarnax. So, by that logic, did Carol leave everyone on Aladna, even her dear husband, to die a very painful death?

Why did Dar-Benn start withering away the second she put on the two bangles, but Kamala didn’t? 5s2ux

Yes, we have been dancing around the fact that Kamala is a mutant, but that hasn’t been confirmed. We have no explanation why Dar-Benn went into default destruction mode upon wearing them, but Kamala didn’t — even if she is a mutant, how does that protect her?

How is Kamala using her powers when she has no bangles on? 574x5q

Kamala got her powers in Ms. Marvel after she wore the bangles, and has not exhibited her powers without them once, even though it has been teased that the bangle merely unlocked her dormant powers. But after Carol fails to stop Dar-Benn from clashing the Quantum Bands, the villain explodes, leaving Monica rushing to save a momentarily stunned Captain Marvel floating in space … amid the two bangles. Just then, Kamala makes a giant crystal fist — again, without wearing the bangles — and whisks them away to safety.

So Dar-Benn’s bangle absorbs the energy thrown at it, but Kamala’s doesn’t? 5j5ey

For some reason, which we are sure will never be explained, Dar-Benn constantly absorbed the energy blasts by Carol and Monica, powering up on it. But when she hit Kamala with her powers, the latter’s bangle didn’t perform the same trick. Are the two different? Or did the writers forget, in their haste to give Dar-Benn some edge, that they are the same?

Do Kamala’s parents move from New Jersey to Louisiana just because their house needs renovations? 3w3p5w

The initial tussle with the Kree left the Khan’s house in shambles. But surely that is no reason to travel that far. It is not like their house can never be renovated, or their new residence will offer extra security. America is already aware that Kamala is a superhero, so there is no hiding, and Carol is never really around to provide 24/7 protection to them.

Let’s talk about the convenient presence of the baby Flerkens 1ws5j

Okay, we are not even questioning how Goose laid eggs, and the whole reproduction process. But that was one convenient birth of Flerken on a ship ready to go down and in need of immediate evacuation.

Do you know what the actual joke is? That the whole film was designed without intending to meet any expectation, whether sensible or baldly insane, and was simply rolled out as filler in order to bring in the X-Men. Not a single plot point of The Marvels is going to affect the MCU in the long term or short term. And if the X-Men reveal was that was all they were aiming for, Marvel could have simply stuffed Monica into No Way Home.

Simply put, it’s the perfect chemistry of Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, Iman Vellani, and above all else, director Nia DaCosta’s strong ear for humor in The Marvels, the MCU’s latest team-up movie, that deserves the highest praise.

Though you can mostly skate by refreshing on MCU lore, The Marvels is mostly a sequel to Captain Marvel. After avenging the Supreme Intelligence, Carol Danvers (the cosmic “Annihilator”) unknowingly inserts herself into the Kree/Skrull civil war, bearing the guilt and responsibility of a fight she never intended. In connection to particular Kree events from Captain Marvel, superfan Kamala Khan and S.A.B.R.E. astronaut Monica Rambeau become entangled in an electromagnetic adventure in Captain Marvel’s pursuit of a dangerous Kree revolutionary.

To no one’s surprise, Iman Vellani’s Kamala Khan, aka Ms. Marvel, is a true standout of The Marvels, who elicits the film’s best laugh-out-loud reactions. Vellani perfectly embodies what I imagine a Swiftie’s reaction might be upon meeting the legendary pop star; her hardcore stanning is just that infectious. Considering Vellani’s genuine obsession with the MCU, you must appreciate both the actor’s — and the character’s — genuine glee to be swept into the superhero world. They say “don’t meet your heroes,” but tell that to Kamala Khan, and it’ll absorb through one bangle and out the other.

That’s not to say the other two leads don’t hold their own. For all the unfair, online toxicity hurled Brie Larson’s way, she still portrays Carol Danvers with undeniable charm, with a real talent for turning humor on and off faster than the speed of light. Teyonah Parris also builds more layers upon WandaVision’s Monica Rambeau by further exploring The Blip’s psychological consequences — all while upping the importance of the character for future entries, and fans will be really excited about where the MCU’s headed.

It’s impressive how much past and present MCU lore is stuffed into Marvel’s shortest entry. The Marvels wastes zero time kicking off, with the unstable teleportation seen in the trailers, to the hilarious reactions of the Khan family. As a result, we get a hell of a joyride, and The Marvels is the type of blockbuster you can easily catch yourself casually throwing on TV precisely because of the brisk pacing. 

On the other hand, there’s a glaring feeling that The Marvels was caught amid an executive tug of war. Marvel’s ongoing content splurge across film and TV forced a dilemma you’d never think the brand would struggle up against: Recognizing what deserves to be a movie, versus what merits a lengthier television series — a problem raised as far back as The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Well, The Marvels is another example of indecisiveness, or maybe more precisely, incorrect corporate vision.

The film’s literal core occurs in a blink-and-you-miss-it flashback scene that drives the entire conflict, which should have served more naturally as the film’s cold open. It’s especially confusing if you haven’t done your due diligence MCU homework. Overall, it’s confusing why this flashback wasn’t chosen to establish the film’s context to ground the viewer into the movie from the get-go.

The issue doesn’t end there. Danvers’, Rambeau’s, and Khan’s character arcs fight for screen time in an already thin movie. Consider Carol Danvers and her massive influence within the Kree/Skrull war; Monica Rambeau’s struggle to identify herself as her own hero; and Kamala Khan’s balance of teenagehood and family life while being ushered into a world much more significant than hers. All of this exists in The Marvels, but it’s unfortunately presented more like a list of bullet points instead of plot development, and you can tell someone (or multiple someones) was fighting for a larger canvas.

Which is all more the shame when The Marvels screeches to a halt before revving up again. Midway through, there’s a particular love-it-or-hate-it sequence — you’ll know the one — with no business existing in the film. Granted, it’s a harmless moment played for laughs, yet still a gag that hinges unfortunately on the point of embarrassment for Larson who, we’re well aware, has mixed feelings about the whole gig. It’s a scene that would have fit right at home in an alternate D+ version, but here? How about a sharp lesson of what to cut from an already crisp runtime.

Yes, The Marvels is another example of inconsistent, and at times questionable special effects execution on yet another massive budget. What deserves exceptional praise, however, is the glimmer of B-movie sci-fi cinematography that DaCosta creeps through the temporal cracks, until the film wrestles itself away in favor of able MCU action schlock. This moment occurs in space during one of the first fights between Captain Marvel and the Kree. The actors, adorned in alien makeup, fool no one about that they’re working off an obvious sound stage, and they enter the scene in sync like they’re in a video game. And I wish The Marvels dug deeper into the classic Doctor Who aesthetic, because those Kree designs are some superb, Grade-A camp.

The Marvels continues the current MCU streak of sloppy storytelling — not to mention a cynical (but still fun) slapped-together mid-credit scene designed purely to sell more tickets — and we’re still trapped in that tug-of-war era of uncertainty with these Marvel projects. And yet, it still succeeds as a primarily standalone project — and who could forget Goose! Despite it all, DaCosta and her three stars wager pure fun above anything else, and The Marvels is a frenetic joyride full of riotous moments that audiences will recite on the walk back to their vehicles.