“The Marvels” Director Reflects On Film’s Issues

While Marvel Studios had been having issues beforehand with the underwhelming results for “Eternals” and “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” it was 2023’s “The Marvels” that really drove home to Disney that something had to change.

The film released to mixed reviews, but more importantly grossed just $206 million worldwide against a production budget of $374 million – a costly follow-up that earned a mere fraction of the over $1 billion gross that “Captain Marvel” did in early 2019.

It still stands as the lowest-grossing film in the MCU, with losses said to be around $237 million. With a need for someone to blame, the finer pointing seemed to be put on the movie’s director Nia DaCosta.

Now, two years on, DaCosta has finally discussed her experience directing the project while speaking at Dublin’s second annual screenwriting festival Storyhouse Ireland (via The Playlist). She says the final released film is far from the movie she intended to make:

“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 a learning curve, and it really makes you stronger as a filmmaker in terms of your ability to navigate.”

DaCosta confirmed that she had to exit post-production work on the film to start prepping “Hedda,” and she had no other choice:

“They had a date, and they were prepping certain things, and you just have to lean into the process hardcore. 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.”

DaCosta’s “Hedda” releases in October, and she has also directed “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple” which will hit January 2026.

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