The Marvels: Is It Really That Bad?

Since its release in November, The Marvels has received quite the load of negative backlash. The film’s trailer also became the most disliked trailer of all the films in the MCU in only the first week of it being released. Many fans, specifically on TikTok, have been relentless with their criticism of the film, and some have even gone as far to call it “the worst film in MCU history.”

However, when looking at its reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, The Marvels actually has a higher rating than Eternals and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. In addition, most of the audience and critic reviews for the film are quite positive. One audience member wrote: “Loved everything about this movie. The onscreen chemistry, the action, the comedy, the emotional beats… Just the thing to put a smile on my face.” Another even said: “funny. emotional. empowered. loved it!” One critic wrote: “The Marvels is joyful and fun. It doesn’t get bogged down in Marvel lore or become too serious for its own good.”

So if so many seemed to love it, why do so many seem detested by this film?

Well, I think it all comes down to sexism and racism.

When Captain Marvel came out, it got a lot of similar negative feedback that The Marvels has gotten. At the time that the former came out, there hadn’t yet been a film in the MCU with a female lead. Although Captain Marvel had some very valid criticisms surrounding the storyline and character development, much of the hate Captain Marvel received was due to misogynists disliking the fact that Marvel was making a film with a female lead.

The Marvels, has not just one female lead, like Captain Marvel did, but three. And two of those leads are women of color. As I mentioned earlier, the majority of the negative reviews that The Marvels has gotten has been on TikTok, and TikTok being one of the largest social media platforms in the world at this time, contains many bigoted users. And those bigoted users are who I believe are the culprit of these unfairly negative reviews.

Just like Captain Marvel, there are definitely valid criticisms of The Marvels. In fact, all films have valid criticisms because filmmaking and storytelling are subjective, and there’s always room to improve when it comes to art.

However, I think we can all agree, that fans of the MCU who criticize films based on bigotry aren’t real fans. Real fans criticize films based on their creative content, not their own hateful beliefs.