Warning! This article contains major spoilers for The Marvels.
Summary
- Dar-Benn, the new Kree Accuser, steals resources from former Kree-colonized planets and targets Earth’s sun, leading to a battle with Carol Danvers and her allies.
- The ending of The Marvels introduces a tear in the fabric of space-time and reveals the possibility of multiple realities, setting up future conflicts and the arrival of the Young Avengers.
- Monica Rembeau is left strange in another reality, while Carol Danvers and Kamala Khan both return to live on Earth.
After several delays, The Marvels is finally here, carrying on the stories of several Marvel movies and TV shows and setting up some potential plotlines for the MCU Phases 5 and 6. Despite being one of the most powerful heroes in Marvel’s sprawling universe, Carol Danvers, aka Captain Marvel, has been missing from the franchise since Avengers: Endgame. The final moments of Ms. Marvel season 1 teased the hero’s return as Carol mysteriously teleported into the Khan house, and The Marvels wastes no time picking up from there. However, despite The Marvel‘s being a relatively straighforward story by MCU Multiverse Saga standards, a lot happens in the movie’s final act.
Dar-Benn, the next Kree Accuser after the death of Ronan in Guardians of the Galaxy, spends the movie stealing resources from former Kree-colonized planets and places of importance to Carol. Captain Marvel’s past catches up with her when Dar-Benn finally gets to Earth, setting her sights on the planet’s functioning sun. Of course, not all goes as planned, and though the heroes are victorious, they’re left with a mix of hope and regret over the cost of their battle. Here’s everything that happens in the ending of The Marvels and the exiting plot threads it teases for the future MCU.
Dar-Benn’s Villain Plan Explained
The Marvels starts with a scene of Zawe Ashton’s Dar-Benn unearthing the sister bangle of the one owned by Kamala, and the mysterious object plays a critical role in her grand scheme. At first, Captain Marvel and company think Dar-Benn is destroying locations important to Carol as a simple act of punishment for Captain Marvel destroying the Kree Supreme Intelligence. However, it quickly becomes clear that her mission is slightly more nuanced.
When Captain Marvel destroyed the Supreme Intelligence, the AI that ran the Kree civilization, their homeworld of Hala fell into a long-lasting civil war that largely destroyed their planet’s natural resources. With dangerous air, evaporated oceans, and a dying sun, Dar-Benn uses the bangle to open portals on other planets and take their resources from them. She first takes air from one planet, then the ocean water from another. At last, she approaches Earth to steal the energy of its sun to power her planet’s own star.
Is Dar-Benn Dead?
In The Marvels’ third act, Carol, Monica, and Kamala confront Dar-Benn aboard her spaceship after the villain has already opened a portal and began siphoning the Sun’s solar energy. The three previously fought Dar-Benn but could not overcome their entangled powers, but this time, the trio comes better trained. A large piece of debris falls on Dar-Benn, puncturing her abdomen. However, in a moment of mercy, Carol frees her and promises to help restore Hala.
Too committed to Carol’s destruction, Dar-Benn takes advantage of the situation to steal Kamala’s bangle, finally uniting the pair. Despite being previously warned by her advisor that the combined powers of the bangle would be too much for her to handle, Dar-Benn unleashes them, and the resulting pulse of energy does indeed disintegrate her into nothing. The bangles remain, but Dar-Benn is undoubtedly killed.
How Dar-Benn Tears A Hole In Reality
It’s unclear if Dar-Benn knew what would happen when she unleashed the power of the bangles, but the result is a tear in the very fabric of space-time. A hole that looks similar to other cosmic portals in the MCU opens up, but this one starts to shake and peel. A different reality can be vaguely seen through the opening, and the unstable hole threatens to destroy both universes if it’s not stopped.
What Happens To Hala
Despite Dar-Benn refusing to work with Carol moments before her death, the hero stays true to her word and travels to Hala to restore its sun. Carol flies into the star’s core, reigniting it in moments. The Kree of Hala are seen breathing freely and watching their first sunrise in quite some time. The long-term fallout of Hala stealing air and water from other planets is left unresolved, but the Kree people appear set to live normal, comfortable lives moving forward.
What Happens To Monica Rambeau?
With a hole between realities threatening both universes, the three Marvels concoct a plan: Carol and Kamala can imbue Teyonah Parris’ Photon with energy, and she can use it to seal the breech. For reasons that are unclear, Monica has to close the hole from the far side, placing her in the unknown reality. What she doesn’t tell Carol or Kamala is that she’ll need to stay there to ensure the closure is permanent. Captain Marvel attempts to fly out to grab her friend, but the reality rift closes too soon, and Monica is seemingly lost.
Though The Marvels‘ directed Nia DaCosta claims Monica’s code name Is Photon, it’s never actually used in the movie.
How Monica Repairs The Rift In Space
It’s left unclear exactly how Monica Rambeau is able to close the space-time rift, as the specifics of her powers are left a bit vague. However, the answer likely concerns what causes the rift in the first place. Dar-Benn creates the hole with a power burst from the bangle, and Kamala uses the same bangles to power up Monica. Furthermore, Captain Marvel’s powers result from Space Stone exposure, so it makes sense that her energy can help repair an out-of-control portal. Regardless, Monica shoots out thread-like energy beams that latch onto the edges of the portal and slowly pulls it shut.
Where Is Monica?
During the main runtime of The Marvels, it’s left unclear what exactly the new reality is that Dar-Benn opens a portal to. However, The Marvels‘ mid-credits scene gives a bit more information. After being left adrift in space, the scene opens with Monica hooked up to a medical IV. Shockingly, she sees her mother, Captain Marvel‘s Maria Rambeau, though her mother doesn’t understand why Maria calls her “mom.” Most shockingly, X-Men member Beast, voiced by Kelsey Grammar, explains that Maria is the hero Binary. Further specifics of Monica’s location are left unclear, but whatever reality she’s stuck in features the X-Men and a heroic variant of her mother.
The Young Avengers Are Finally Coming To The MCU
After years of seemingly teasing the Young Avengers in the MCU, The Marvels finally makes the franchise’s first concrete steps to getting the team together. The movie’s final pre-credits scene is a hilarious riff on Nick Fury’s Iron Man recruitment spiel. Kamala, partially covered in shadows but not at all intimidating, approaches Kate Bishop about putting a team together.
Who Is Kate Bishop? Ms. Marvel’s First Young Avengers Recruit Explained
The Marvels marks Kate Bishop’s first appearance in an MCU film as the young Clint Barton protégé was previously the co-star of Hawkeye on Disney+. Like Clint, Kate Bishop has no superpowers but relies on her incredible talent and training with a bow and arrow. The end of Hawkeye teased that Clint was ready to officially pass on his superhero mantle to the young woman, and her brief appearance in The Marvels, in which she’s shown returning home in full superhero costume, implies she’s been busy at work. Assuming she says yes to Kamala, Kate will be the second member of the MCU’s Young Avengers team.
Ms. Marvel Plans To Recruit Cassie Lang To The Young Avengers
During her pitch to Kate Bishop, Kamala explains that she has a lead on some other potential teammates who may join the cause. However, she only directly alludes to one. It’s a brief line, but Kamala says she knows Ant-Man has a daughter, referring to Cassie Lang. In Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Cassie finally dons her own Pym-tech suit, becoming a hitherto unnamed hero in the same vein as her father.
Where The Young Avengers Could Appear Next
While the prospect of a Young Avengers project is exciting, it’s unclear where the team will actually show up. Looking ahead at upcoming MCU movies, none seem like clear fits for Kamala, Kate, and whoever else they recruit. However, it’s worth noting that Marvel Studios has several reserved release slots in the MCU Phase 6 without announced movies. One of these may be a Young Avengers movie or a movie in which they can be partially featured. Regardless, it seems likely they will show up at some point before Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars.
What The Marvels Ending Means For MCU Phase 5 And Avengers 5 & 6
The Marvels ending – and especially its mid-credits scene – seems to set up a few characters and plot threads for the future of the MCU. First, the end of The Marvels sees Carol Danvers finally return to Earth long-term as she moves into the Louisiana home that Maria and Monica previously lived in. It’s unclear why Kamala’s whole family is there to help her move in when they’re from Jersey City, but having a character as powerful as Captain Marvel on Earth positions her to interact more with other terrestrial heroes and whatever the next Avengers lineup looks like.
Moreover, The Marvels introduces yet another way in which different realities may cause problems for each other, which will presumably be a big plot point in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and/or Secret Wars. Kamala ends the movie in possession of both bangles, so the possibility of them creating another space-time rift is there. Like with incursions, these tears threaten entire realities.
Also, at the end of The Marvels, Nick Fury and the rest of the SABER station crew are forced to escape to Earth as SABER erupts in flames. While Fury being back on Earth makes sense, his crew, composed of both humans and aliens, could create trouble. The Secret Invasion finale established that all aliens are unwelcome on Earth by order of President Ritson. However, with a new president set to debut in Captain America: Brave New World, it’s unclear if that plot thread will continue.
Of course, the most exciting set-up is the reveal of Beast and Binary in the alternate reality Monica is trapped in. The MCU has previously shown Professor X in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, but Beast – and the reveal of an X-Men logo on his computer – is another solid step toward the team’s full debut. This ending makes theories that the X-Men will enter the MCU from another reality seem all the more likely.
What The Marvels Ending Really Means
While the end of The Marvels has clear implications for the future of the MCU, its real meaning lies in the way it presents new and important character beats for two of its three leads. While Monica is stranded in another reality and doesn’t fundamentally change from the determined and optimistic hero she is throughout the movie, both Carol and Kamala show marked growth in the movie’s final minutes. These smaller moments make the movie’s narrative a bit more personal and, ultimately, satisfying.
Carol, after spending decades largely avoiding Earth out of her fear of being a failure, finally helps save Hala and returns to live on her home planet. Kamala, who’s spent her Disney+ series and The Marvels yearning to be an Avenger, shows growth as she realizes she can do more good by starting a new team of heroes. This positions the leads of The Marvels to all be prominent and important figures moving forward in the MCU.