The Marvels is now in theaters, and its post-credits scene has a stunning turn for the MCU! Find out what it all means!
It should be obvious, but this article contains SPOILERS for The Marvels, so proceed at your own risk.
The Marvels has Carol Danvers (Brie Larson), Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) and Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) forced to team up when their powers become entangled and they swap places. The trio has to overcome some issues, from Carol and Monica’s tense relationship to Kamala being a Captain Marvel fangirl.
The trio faced Dar-Been (Zawe Ashton), the leader of the Kree, who sought revenge for Carol killing the Supreme Intelligence. She used special quantum bands to open up tears in space with the plan to restore the Kree homeworld of Hala by stealing the life force of other planets, including Earth's sun.
The final battle had Dar-Been defeated, but not before she tore a massive hole between realities. Carol and Kamala imbued Monica with some of their power so Monica could fly out and repair the hole…but she was caught on the other side.
That leads to the two ending scenes with some major developments.
The Young Avengers form?
The first end scene had Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) returning to her apartment only to find Kamala waiting for her. In a nearly shot-for-shot remake of the Nick Fury/Tony Stark scene from the first Iron Man movie, Kamala told Kate she was putting a team together and they should reach out to Cassie Lang.
This was an obvious setup for a Young Avengers team, something fans have speculated about for a while. Besides Kamala and Kate, the team could include the Scarlet Witch’s reborn children (who in the comics become Wiccan and Speed) and Patriot, the grandson of Isaiah Bradley.
That was a fun setup, but paled next to the bigger one.
Where is Monica, and is that who we think it is?!
Monica woke up in a lab and was stunned to see her long-dead mother, Maria (Lashana Lynch), sitting next to her. Her tearful reaction was interrupted by none other than Hank “The Beast” McCoy, with Kelsey Grammer reprising his role from the X-Men movies. He told Monica that she was now in an alternate reality.
Maria revealed she was wearing a white and red costume with the Beast calling her Binary. Maria then asked who Monica was, with Monica moaning, “Oh, s—-” as the film ended.
What does this mean for the MCU?
First of all, the Binary codename is a very deep cut for the MCU. During a time when Carol Danvers briefly lost her Ms. Marvel powers, she gained new cosmic energies on an adventure with the X-Men and thus went around as Binary for a while.
This comes after Spider-Man: No Way Home and Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness established the existence of the multiverse in the MCU. The latter movie had another counterpart of Maria, who was her reality’s version of Captain Marvel, so really, this movie had four “Marvels” in it.
Introducing the X-Men reality (the Beast mentions Charles Xavier) is a huge move for Marvel. It will likely play into how Deadpool 3 has Hugh Jackman appearing as Wolverine while Loki also used the multiverse. This means not only can the X-Men appear, but the potential for other Marvel properties not tied to the main MCU.
This kicks Phase 5 in a new direction as Multiverse of Madness discussed “incursions” where one reality clashes with another. It’s likely that this will all lead toward the planned Avengers: Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars movies involving more alternate realities.
As it stands, The Marvels is a huge move for the MCU, something they can use right now, and the X-Men’s arrival signals a new direction for Marvel films.
The Marvels now playing in theaters.