In 2019, "Captain Marvel" introduced us all to Brie Larson's fighter pilot turned superhero Carol Danvers, and, apparently, we were all delighted to meet her. The film made $1.1 billion at the global box office and even managed a very respectable 79% on Rotten Tomatoes. Larson's new hero was, it seemed, a welcome addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which at that point was yet to enter the nadir that has been the last few years for the franchise.

The sequel to "Captain Marvel," however, has now come to represent that nadir. 2023's "The Marvels" was, as /Film's Jeremy Mathai wrote in his review, a cosmic disappointment that could barely get off the ground. By the end of its theatrical run, "The Marvels" had become the lowest-grossing MCU movie ever, grossing just shy of $200 million globally. That's bad enough for a film that constitutes part of the biggest blockbuster franchise in history,...