“Wacky and silly.” That’s how director Nia DaCosta described Captain Marvel sequel The Marvels in a pre-release interview in August 2023, months before the Marvel Studios movie — bringing together Avenger Carol Danvers (Brie Larson), teenage super-fan Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani), and astronaut Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) — bombed at the global box office that November. The Marvels made just over $200 million (against a reported budget of $307 million) and bypassed 2008’s The Incredible Hulk to become the lowest-grossing installment in the now 35-movie Marvel Cinematic Universe.

It’s also the movie that DaCosta, best known for the indie crime drama Little Woods and the 2021 Candyman sequel, says she didn’t set out to make.

“It was interesting because there was a certain point when I was like, ‘Okay, this isn’t going to be the movie that I pitched or even the first version of the movie that I shot,’” DaCosta said of The Marvels at the Storyhouse Screenwriting Film Festival in Ireland, according to The Playlist. “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.”