‘The Marvels’ Director Says MCU Bomb’s Final Cut Was Not “The Movie That I Pitched Or Even The First Version That I Shot”
In providing yet further insight into Disney and Marvel Studios’ current mishandling of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, director Nia DaCosta has claimed that the version of The Marvels that eventually found its way into theaters was completely different from both the one she originally pitched and the one she actually put to film.
DaCosta, who many readers may also recognize as the director of the 2021 Candyman reboot, revealed this alleged switch-up to her original creative vision for Carol Danvers’ latest outing while giving speaking to attendees of the 2025 Storyhouse screenwriting festival.
Taking the stage as one of the annual event’s Guest of Honor, as recapped by Deadline, the director reflected on the ins and outs of her filmmaking career, including her brief dance with the MCU, which she admitted was more frustrating than fun due to the franchise’s factory-line production style (albeit in much more positive terms).
“They had a date, and they were prepping certain things, and you just have to lean into the process hardcore,” recalled DaCosta to her host Kate Dolan, the director the upcoming M3GAN spin-off SOULM8TE. “The way they make those films is very different to the way, ideally, I would make a film, so you just have to lean into the process and hope for the best. The best didn’t happen this time but you kind of have to trust in the machine.”
RELATED: ‘The Marvels’ Star Reveals Sequel’s Original Ending Featured The Apparent Death Of Captain Marvel
Yet, despite her ostensible attempt to take a ‘chin-up’ attitude towards the situation, the director then detailed a fact about The Marvels‘ production that would burn any filmmaker: That rather than resembling her take on the Marvel trio’s big-screen team-up, the film post-production process saw it shredded into the disastrous final cut that audiences ultimately received.
Adding to her point about the ‘Marvel Machine’, DaCosta asserted, “It was interesting because there was a certain point when I was like, ‘Ok, this isn’t going to be the movie that I pitched or even the first version of the movie that I shot’ so I realized that this is now an experience and it’s learning curve and it really makes you stronger as a filmmaker in terms of your ability to navigate.”
And in definitively confirming that her MCU experience was wildly unsatisfying, the director closed out her comic book-theme recollection by telling Dolan that immediately after wrapping on The Marvels, “I called my team, and I said that I need to make Hedda [her upcoming film adaptation of the famed Norweigan play Hedda Gabler, which follows the titular lead as she laments being trapped in an unhappy marriage and life.]
“I had written it years ago,” noted DaCosta, “and I said that I really needed to go back to that because this isn’t fulfilling in the way I need it to be.”
DaCosta previously spoke to her behind-the-scenes frustrations with Marvel Studios and their production eco-system while speaking to Vanity Fair‘s Rebecca Ford in September 2023, just months ahead of The Marvels‘ release.
“Sometimes you’d be in a scene and you’d be like, ‘What the hell does any of this s–t mean?’” she said. “Or an actor’s looking at some crazy thing happening in space, and they’re [actually] looking at a blue X. There were obviously hard days, and days where you’re like, ‘This just isn’t working.'”
More About:Movies