Review: 'The Marvels' is a quick-witted and funny entry in the MCU, topped by Iman Vellani's gleeful Ms. Marvel

There are few storytelling ideas more naturally absurd than superheroes — so it’s always been strange that the Marvel Cinematic Universe doesn’t really lean into full-out comedy. 

Certainly, the MCU isn’t as morose as the DC Comics movies have been, either the urban dystopia of Christopher Nolan’s “Dark Knight” trilogy or the bloated self-importance of everything between “Man of Steel” and “Justice League” that didn’t prominently feature Gal Gadot. And sure, there’s plenty of humor, or stabs at it, in such recent Marvel titles as “Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3,” “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” and “Thor: Love and Thunder,” and going all the way back to Robert Downey Jr.’s sarcasm in the first “Iron Man” — but that’s bro-heavy action-movie humor.

But with the possible exception of 2017’s “Thor: Ragnarok,” Marvel hasn’t gotten as consistently funny and light-hearted as it does in “The Marvels,” director Nia DaCosta’s rollicking and charmingly ridiculous variation on Marvel’s superhero action genre.

Something weird is happening around the galaxy, and it’s managed to ensnare three of Marvel’s finest — Carol Danvers, aka Captain Marvel (Brie Larson), astronaut Capt. Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Harris), and teen Kamala Khan, alias Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani). It’s why Carol, fighting Kree soldiers a long way from Earth, suddenly is zapped into Kamala’s bedroom closet in Jersey City, while Kamala finds herself in a space suit floating outside a space station helmed by Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson).

After a few mishaps and sudden shifts, a pattern emerges. It’s tied to the fact that all three heroes use light energy in their superpowers, and something is causing them to swap places when they use their powers at the same time. The cause of this disruption in the space-time continuum is a Kree, Dar-Benn (Zawe Ashton), who is using the galaxy’s space portal network to destroy various planets and get revenge on Captain Marvel — for reasons that I won’t spoil.

DaCosta — who directed Parris in “Candyman” — shares the writing credit with Megan McDonnell, a staff writer for Marvel’s TV series “WandaVision” (which introduced Monica), and Elissa Karasik, a writer both for “Loki” and the Apple TV+ miniseries “Lessons in Chemistry” (which stars Larson). The three put a fun spin on the traditional superhero antics, mainly with the switcheroo scenario, both for comic effect when the trio are haphazardly swapping places and (after the coolest training montage the MCU has ever done) when they get their act together as a smooth fighting unit.

Larson and Parris are solid, but the star of the show is young Vellani — who, to be fair, also was amazing in her “Ms. Marvel” TV series. Vellani plays Kamala as a stalwart superhero, but she’s also a goofy 16-year-old who goes from seriously fangirling on Captain Marvel to respecting her and Monica as friends and universe-saving colleagues. If “The Marvels” generates more movies for the MCU, here’s hoping Vellani’s Kamala Khan is in the middle of them.

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‘The Marvels’

★★★1/2

Opens Friday, November 10, in theaters everywhere. Rated PG-13 for action/violence and brief language. Running time: 105 minutes.