Did Nia DaCosta crash The Marvels? The director responds

The departure of the filmmaker, during post-production of the latest Marvel, caused a lot of talk.

Last week, a large paper of Variety lifted the veil on the chaotic behind the scenes of the MCU. The Hollywood media investigation revealed in particular that the filmmaker Nia DaCosta had left The Marvels while the film was still in post-production. A departure that would have been frowned upon internally. “When you’re directing a $250 million film, it’s a bit strange for the director to leave when there are still a few months of work left.“, reports the source of Variety.

The director of Candyman did not, however, slam the door of The Marvels. She had to go to London to prepare for the shooting of her next film, Hedda, with Tessa Thompson. And leaving a film still in post-production isn’t such an unusual practice in Hollywood. The most famous case being that of Steven Spielberg, who left to start Schindler’s List while his teams finished Jurassic Park, in 1993. In the superhero industry, this practice also exists. In 2011, Joss Whedon filmed like this A lot of noise for nothing while the first film Avengers was not finished.

The difference is that the tide has turned for Marvel. And hit the studio, in a phase of decline after the Infinity War/Endgame peak, which became fashionable. Add to that the interview where DaCosta explained that The Marvels was primarily a Kevin Feige film and you get all the ingredients for a new drama around the MCU.

Questioned by YouTuber Jake Hamilton, Nia DaCosta wanted to set things straight before the release of the film. According to her, the reality is very far from what was reported in the press.

“There is energy and criticism around Marvel no matter what, so I’m not surprised. The question is above all that they postponed the release of the film four times. Instead of it being a two-year project, to which I was deeply committed, we went to 3 and a half years. From the beginning they knew that I had an obligation, a film which had received the green light and for which I was expected. I rejected it several times, but after a while we knew that I could no longer be present in Los Angeles. We found a way to work remotely. And when I left for London, what we wanted to do on the film was very clear to everyone. So it wasn’t nearly as dramatic..”

This attempt to put out the fire, however, comes a little late, while The Marvels is about to hit the cinema with very bad predictions. The latest in the MCU could start under $50 million at the US box office, a catastrophic score for a film which cost 250 million excluding marketing costs. Deprived of its stars to ensure promotion, due to a strike in Hollywood, the film could weigh heavily on the future of Marvel.