Summary

• Carol Danvers, Monica Rambeau, and Kamala Khan join forces to investigate strange wormholes and control their powers in The Marvels.
• Director Nia DaCosta brings an indie spirit to the blockbuster film, creating a unique and epic experience.
• The film showcases an empowering female-led cast and sets the stage for future MCU storylines, including the Young Avengers and the X-Men.

In The Marvels Carol Danvers and Monica Rambeau, while working with Nick Fury, investigate strange wormholes on different sides of the universe. When this anomaly unexpectedly entangles their powers with Kamala Khan, the trio begins switching places when they use their abilities. Working together, they must learn to control their new powers while fighting the Kree, an old enemy of Carol's, who set off the chain of events leading to their entanglement and endangering the entire universe.

The Marvels is directed by Ni DaCosta, who also co-wrote the movie with Megan McDonnell and Elissa Karasik. The Marvels stars Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, Iman Vellani, Samuel L. Jackson, Zenobia Shroff, Mohan Kapur, and Saagar Shaikh, with Zawe Ashton and Park Seo-joo. The movie is the culmination of storylines set up in Captain Marvel, WandaVision, Ms. Marvel, and Secret Invasion while also opening the door to an exciting MCU future, including the Young Avengers and the X-Men in another universe.

Screen Rant interviewed The Marvels star Zawe Ashton about her role as Dar-Benn. She discussed collaborating with Da Costa and what it means to her to be a part of an MCU project driven by women both in front of and behind the camera. Ashton also shared her desire to return to the MCU and teased potentially more information about the Quantum Bands in The Marvels deleted scenes. The Marvels is currently available on digital at digital retailers and it arrives on 4K, 4K Ultra HD, Blu-Ray, and DVD on February 13th.

Zawe Ashton Talk The Marvels

Screen Rant: I loved The Marvels. I loved it in theaters. I loved it at home. It is so much fun. It's one of my favorite MCU movies out of this new era, this new saga of MCU films. Zawe, you did such an amazing job in the film, and I loved Nia DaCosta's work. I loved that Candyman film that she did. I'm a huge fan of it. Can you talk to me about working with her as a director and what her directing style added to The Marvels?

Zawe Ashton: Oh, absolutely. Nia is pretty much the reason I did this movie. We met talking and connecting about a very, very different style of project at the beginning of Covid, and on the other side of Covid, she asked me to come on this new journey that she was taking, which was so far away from the film that we were talking about. It was the sequel to Captain Marvel.

And even in the way that she was talking about it and offering it to me, it was like she was offering me an indie, she is indie to her core. That's her roots. That's where she started. And it was this fantastic way of approaching a juggernaut, but with this independent spirit and all that that represents, which is just getting to work on the characters, not letting a lot of the noise in, making sure that everyone is happy and looked after and everyone understands the assignment as it were.

And I would say going to work every day on these incredible sets at Pinewood Studios, which is this epic place to work as an actor. It just is. Whatever style of movie you're doing. I would say going there every day felt like we were making a tiny film, but we were making this all singing - it turns out - all kick ass, all space invading epic that you never would've guessed. Yeah, she's a great woman and her legacy with this movie is amazing. She's of many different firsts for this franchise and long may that continue.

You've described this film as the Spice Girls in Space, and it's such a refreshing entry into the MCU with an all-female led cast with Samuel L. Jackson, but Nia DaCosta directing. Produced by Mary Livanos, also written by Nia, Megan McConnell and Elissa Karasik. What does it mean to you to be a part of this empowering female-led project in the MCU?

Zawe Ashton: It means everything. It's the reason I want to do this work. It's the reason that my inner child was healed on the process of doing this piece. I think a lot of us young girls didn't see movie posters like this one growing up. And that didn't mean that we weren't into these worlds and that we weren't engaged in that kind of material and that we weren't the audience for it.

They just weren't being made. And it's meant everything. And to be, again, part of such a hugely female heavy ensemble and also in terms of the heads of department, it was groundbreaking and hopefully will be one of the last films to have to say it was groundbreaking. This will just become the norm for the generation of actors, and writers, and directors, and producers behind us.

That's incredible. Now your character, Dar-Benn, is definitely dead at the end of the movie. That's a spoiler alert for anybody who hasn't seen it, but it seems like she is. But considering her death tears a hole in reality, theoretically, could she have been transported to another universe maybe and lived out that way?

Zawe Ashton: I hope so! I would love that, if that big explosion of purple light was actually her transforming into some other being. Selfishly as an actor, of course, I would hope that that was a possibility because I had the best time making this movie. The best time. And to continue the journey somehow would be just incredible. Saying that, I'm also so happy with the arc and I'm so happy with how things turned out. But look, God, if she came back, I would just love that. There's part of me that thinks she's not quite done.

One of my favorite scenes of the movie is the musical planet, Aladna. Do you know what happened to the musical planet, and was there anything in the movie or script about the planet's fate?

Zawe Ashton: No, there was not. I wish there had been. It is one of my favorite sequences in the movie. I'm so glad you brought it up. I think it divides people. I just absolutely loved it, and I also was disappointed that my character didn't get to sing. We thought that maybe because of who Dar-Benn is and the Kree energy, she could just somehow be understood and wouldn't have to sing. But I'm very sad that we didn't get to hear her singing voice.

I said in another interview that surely she should have had some amazing Nicki Minaj-esque rapping style. She could have come with a whole Dar-Benn rap situation, which I personally would've been excited to see.

I know that you can only fit so much into a movie that's an hour and 43 minutes long, but the quantum bands of Kree origin, did you have any more information about the Quantum Bands that were either cut from the film or explained to you during the process of making the film?

Zawe Ashton: I think there will be some stuff in the extra footage [about] the journey of the bands and what they mean to Dar-Benn and how they influence her powers and her intentionality in trying to find them. And their power as artifacts was rooted in Ms. Marvel.

But then also we had different ways of being able to expand upon that, not all of which ended up in the movie. It was conversations and hopefully judicious changes as we went along. I couldn't tell you what's on the extra reel. But yeah, there were lots of ways that we had to put respect on the bangles' names. There was a lot of conversations.

There's a popular theory that the quantum bands in Shang-Chi are like this saga's infinity stones. Do you think the quantum bands will make an impact in Avengers: Secret Wars?

Zawe Ashton: Wow. I certainly think they have the power to turn up again. I know nothing hard and fast.

We did joke a lot on set. All of these years, everyone's waited to have an all-female-driven Marvel movie, and actually it's just about bracelets. That was what we were trying to get away from. But that was just a running joke. They're a hugely, hugely powerful force, and they could be used for good and evil later, I would like to say.

I know some of the best bits of advice that you've gotten from your partner, Tom Hiddleston, were practical. But what was some of the best advice he gave you about joining the MCU?

Zawe Ashton: He just really generously said, "What you put in is what you get out." This is an incredible franchise that is 10, 14 years deep at this point. And the people who originated it knew nothing and built it from belief and commitment. And you could come into it later along down the line once it's been successful and feel like you don't have to bring that same game.

And actually you need to bring that game every time because these are long hours that you work. Just on a really basic level, these are incredible physical endurance tests these days, training and fighting and trying to make these huge worlds seem human, and believable, and accessible. He just said, "What you put in is what you get out. You've just got to meet it with an open heart every day.

And that's how you'll get the best experience and hopefully the best movie." And for me, I had honestly hand on heart one of the best experiences of my life. I will never forget making this film and the people I made it with, especially the stunt team, because that was such a huge new world and such a level of transformation, I couldn't have dreamt that up. Yeah, that was the deeper advice, outside of the zippers.

That's incredible. Now, look, I feel like once a Marvel character's introduced to us, that character really truly never dies. They can come back through the What If series, whatever it may be. But if your character does return, what would you like to explore that you didn't get a chance to with Dar-Benn in the future?

Zawe Ashton: God, it's such a great question. I was keen to explore more of her origin story and the origin story for the Kree. Obviously, it's been done in different ways and Secret Invasion has this whole other thing. I just love the idea of this young woman who feels like she needs to avenge her people, and just to see more of the origin story would be amazing.

But obviously if I came back and had to crossover with a bunch of people? I've already joked about this today, but it would have to be to crossover with Loki and Daredevil because I basically started in a play with Tom and Charlie Cox and they were in this huge universe, which at that time I didn't know that much about. If we could make that full circle happen, that would be quite fun.

When I get home entertainment releases, I love doing double features. I know the obvious answer here would be Captain Marvel, but if you could pair The Marvels with any other movie and do a double feature at home, what would you choose?

Zawe Ashton: That's such a great question. I want to go and think about it for a really long time. Why not pair it with something like Barbarella? And really go back to a very vintage era of women in space and taking up that sci-fi space. That would be really interesting.

About The Marvels

Carol Danvers, aka Captain Marvel, has reclaimed her identity from the tyrannical Kree and taken revenge on the Supreme Intelligence. But unintended consequences see Carol shouldering the burden of a destabilized universe.

Check out our other The Marvels interviews here:

• Nia DaCosta
• Mary Livanos
• Laura Karpman

The Marvels is now on Disney+ and arriving on Blu-ray and DVD on February 13.

Source: Screen Rant Plus