The Marvels director Nia DaCosta shared an unexpected upside of working in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In an exclusive interview with Vanity Fair, DaCosta revealed how directing the latest MCU installment has earned her more praise from the Hollywood power players than any of her past work.
“I realized it wasn’t ever gonna be about how much power I amassed or how many great movies I made, or if I won awards, it was always just going to be the people that I surrounded myself with,” DaCosta said. “The thing that I’ve been most surprised by lately is how much respect I’m getting from these middle-aged white dudes that I work with.”
DaCosta had previously mentioned the support she received from MCU veterans such as James Gunn and Taika Waititi when she agreed to direct The Marvels. The director explained how the outpouring of respect by her peers was different from the experience she had directing the Candyman reboot in 2021. She recalled moments on set where industry professionals made comments about “things that are super inappropriate, that you would just never say to anyone else because they were so specific to my gender, my race, my age.”
What was The Marvels director’s biggest challenge?
While DaCosta found plenty of upside to directing an MCU movie, she still found the task daunting. Having previously directed several independent films before Candyman, DaCosta found that the biggest challenge as a director was handling The Marvels’ heavy use of special effects. “Sometimes you’d be in a scene and you’d be like, ‘What the hell does any of this shit mean?’ 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,’” DaCosta recalled.
Directed by DaCosta, The Marvels continues the story of the events from Captain Marvel and 2022’s Ms. Marvel series on Disney+. Its premise finds Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) investigating an intergalactic wormhole when her powers get entangled with Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) and Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) to the point where they swap bodies. The film co-stars Zawe Ashton, Gary Lewis, Park Seo-Joon, and Samuel L. Jackson.
The Marvels is scheduled for release in theaters on November 10.
