The cat is out of the bag for The Marvels

The Marvels is the latest tail in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and unfurtunately it is not purrfect. Sorry, I was coughing on a fur ball!

The Marvels follows the story of Captain Marvel traveling to outer space for a battle of the bangles in phase five of the MCU. Carol Danvers reunites with Monica Rambeau and meets Kamala Khan who wears half of the Quantum Bands while enemy Dar-Benn has the other.

The trio switch places through teleportation when they use their powers which brings in Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury and Khan's TV family. It's not only confusing to the characters onscreen but to many audience members who have not studied up on The Marvels.

Let's review the homework involved before heading out to the cinema to watch the 33rd endeavor for the MCU.

To jump into this marvelous world one must have watched the movie Captain Marvel in 2019 as this is the sequel. To know who Rambeau is one will need a subscription to Disney+ to watch WandaVision and then meet Khan as Ms. Marvel in her self-titled series.

There's also required reading with major backstories in the comic books that are sporadically followed for key plot points. That's fun for some but others might find this assignment tedious.

The name game was played out in this film. The problem is the Photon name didn't come up at all for Rambeau when Khan was floating ideas around. In the comics Rambeau used the Captain Marvel name when Danvers lost her powers so when they are cinematically all together this for film no one knows what to do. Binary isn't as catchy as a title for a film so that name is lost in celestial space. There is a payoff for those who have managed to tackle all of the projects over the years in the post-credit scene.

Spoilsports are already posting on social media about things that should be left as surprises.

The Marvels group were itching to make more of a musical and if they called themselves The New Supremes that would tie in with the Supreme Intelligence. Before you can sing “Stop! In the Name of Love” the viewers are transported to Aladna where people only speak in song. TO shave off some of the running time the scenes set there were reduced, which has upset K-pop fans looking to hear more from actor Park Seo-joon.

The creators of this franchise have really focused on Captain Marvels' pet Goose to cash in on cat memes and videos. While Goose is not actually a feline but an alien, the story leans heavily into that idea even playing “Memories” during one action sequence similar to what Guardians of the Galaxy has done in the past. At least there was no real catfight between the trinity for that old trope. If one suffers from ailurophobia back away from this film slowly.

At least there was not a real catfight behind the scenes, Larson had mentioned in the past that she didn't fit in with the boys' club of The Avengers cast when she met them off camera. I hope she has found her tribe with Teyonah Parris, Iman Vellani and a female-focused creative crew including director Nia DaCosta.

The supporting cast was excellent and important to the storyline. In the past different casts were sometimes used for television and movie franchises so it is refreshing for it not to be the case here. Zenobia Shroff, Mohan Kapur and Saagar Shaikh all reprise their roles to success in this cinematic project. It shows that actors don't have to be a household name to step up to the plate and do a good job, plus it keeps the story going.

This leaves The Marvels as a holdover piece that's really a notch in the belt and doesn't stand on its own foot. It's a mixed bag where some things work, such as the three leads, and other things don't, a musical planet, too much teleportation and overuse of cats in space simply do not.

The Marvels are currently clawing their way into cinemas around the country.