THE MARVELS Star Iman Vellani Says Marvel Studios Needs to Make "The Audience Care About Their Characters"
The Marvels star Iman Vellani is a young actress who is very well-spoken, and I’ve really enjoyed the interviews that she’s given while making the press rounds for her Marvel movie. She seems to have a good handle on how Hollywood works and an understanding of what it takes to get audiences and fans excited about Marvel movies.
The Marvels didn’t end up doing too well at the box office, and while a lot of people trashed the movie, there were also an equal amount of people who enjoyed it. One thing we know for sure is that there was a lack of excitement leading up to the film. I wasn’t even excited about it, but ended up enjoying it more than I thought I would.
Vellani was recently asked what she believes Marvel Studios needs to do to help reignite the Marvel movie hype in the fanbase that we used to see a few years ago, and she believes that it's all about making the audiences and fans care about the characters. She told The Direct:
“I don't know. I don't know if it's about just getting bigger and bigger and bigger. Because then, like, what's left? You know, I think it's just about making the audience care about their characters. And I think they've established so many wonderful characters in the last phase of the MCU that it would be nice to see them all again and see them team up.”
Yes! It 100% is about getting the audience to care about the characters! The fans were fully invested in Marvel’s characters in the first few phases of the MCU, it’s why we were so excited about the movies! That and they consistently told solid stories with strong production value. That has since gone downhill and people don’t have the same excitement for what Marvel is doing.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was the last great Marvel movie that focused on characters that fans cared about. The next Marvel movie that will be a success is Deadpool 3. I’m not opposed to all these new characters that Marvel is introducing in the MCU, but they could be doing a better job telling stories with them.
Vellani previously commented on the Captain Marvel sequel's disappointing box office performance, and pointed out that "commercial success honestly doesn't determine the enjoyment of a film for me."
She added: “But yeah, I mean, I'm speaking as a fan, like I'm still there every Thursday night. All the Thursday night openings of these movies... they're just like a source of happiness for me. And the commercial success honestly doesn't determine the enjoyment of a film for me. I judge a movie by the feeling it left me with. And yeah, I do want to leave a movie feeling a little lighter and a little happier, and I hope the audience does, too.”
Marvel Studios is in the process of making an effort to change things up to get fans excited about Marvel movies again, but only time will tell if Kevin Feige will be able to pull it off. I hope he does!