Over the weekend, I caught a new TV spot for “The Marvels,” and something immediately struck me: Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) and Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris), prominent figures in the previous two trailers for the film, were conspicuously absent. Instead, this clip heavily focused on Carol Danvers (Brie Larson), underscoring that this movie is indeed a sequel to “Captain Marvel,” seemingly downplaying its connections to the Disney+ series “Ms. Marvel” and “WandaVision.”
The Marvels
In fact, an extended version of this spot is now available online, allowing you to watch it here. The TV spot I saw didn’t incorporate all the clips from previous films as this one does, but those included scenes only emphasize the point further: “The Marvels” is undeniably “Captain Marvel 2.” Furthermore, Kamala and Monica make brief appearances, almost as if they play secondary roles.
I initially believed this might be an isolated occurrence until Marvel Studios issued a press release with the headline “Captain Marvel Returns with New Superhero Allies on November 10.” This release featured the aforementioned clip and a new featurette titled “The Return of Captain Marvel,” not “Ms. Marvel,” not “Monica Rambeau,” and not “WandaVision.” The focus remained firmly on Captain Marvel. You can view the feature below.
While this featurette does incorporate more of Kamala and Monica than the TV spot, it still emphasizes that this is primarily Carol’s movie. The question arises: why this shift in marketing? Is it because Marvel’s research revealed that audiences are more familiar with the character who appeared in multiple billion-dollar movies, making it wiser to emphasize her for ticket sales? Or are we to expect separate clips featuring Kamala and Monica in the weeks to come? Perhaps there’s another reason altogether. io9 has reached out to Marvel for potential comments, and we’ll provide updates if and when we receive a response.
Regardless of the motivation behind the change, Marvel is unequivocally conveying that “The Marvels” is a sequel to “Captain Marvel.” This fact is resoundingly clear. Furthermore, tickets are now available for “The Marvels,” set to open on November 10.