Teyonah Parris Defends ‘The Marvels’ and Asks Fans to Give the Film a Chance
Since The Marvels crashed and burned at the box office last fall, fans and critics alike have sifted through the wreckage to determine what went wrong.
While the prevailing theory is that Marvel suffered from audience “superhero fatigue” and was the product of a Marvel Studios that was stretched too thin, these explanations do not tell the full story.
Even though the film was a clear-cut box office bomb, The Marvels has been well received by audiences who discovered the film on streaming. In fact, in the wake of films such as Madame Web, The Marvels has been held up as a fun, if not well thought out, movie.
Teyonah Parris Talks ‘The Marvels’
In a recent interview with People Magazine, The Marvels star Teyonah Parris discussed the failure of The Marvels and the state of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) as a whole.
Reflecting back on the film’s opening, Parris reminded listeners that The Marvels opened just as the Hollywood strikes were coming to an end. The timing meant that the film’s stars could not do publicity for the movie.
“I haven’t actually done a full press run where I get to engage one-on-one, in person, face-to-face with fans,” Parris said. “I wanted to be a part of that and feel that.”
In response to the reaction to The Marvels and the discourse surrounding the film, Parris believes there was a lot of noise from people who never even saw the movie.
“I think there was a lot of talk, and people hadn’t seen it. So that’s frustrating, when people comment on things they haven’t actually experienced,” Parris added. “There’s a lot of people who put a lot of their time, spirit and talent into bringing this forward.”
Parris Hopes the Film Gets a Fair Shake
While Parris doesn’t believe that everyone has to be a fan of The Marvels, she does wish they would give the film a fair chance.
“I would hope that people would give it a fair shot by just seeing it or trying it,” Parris said. “If you don’t like the first 10, 15 minutes, fair enough. Your time is precious. But we make these films so that it can be an escape from your real world in a moment for levity and joy and fantasticalness.”
The Marvels is streaming now on Disney+.