The Marvels earned a mere $206.1 million at the worldwide box office last year, a far cry from the $1.1 billion made by its 2019 predecessor, Captain Marvel.
The sequel brought together Carol Danvers, Kamala Khan, and Monica Rambeau for a fun, albeit forgettable, team-up. Reviews were mostly positive, but its poor box office performance will likely result in Marvel Studios moving away from sequels to movies which are guaranteed hits
Talking to People, Teyonah Parris shared her take on The Marvels' financial failings.
"I think there was a lot of talk, and people hadn't seen it," the actress says. "So that's frustrating, when people comment on things they haven't actually experienced." She added, "there's a lot of people who put a lot of their time, spirit and talent into bringing this forward."
"I would hope that people would give it a fair shot by just seeing it or trying it. 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."
"You do not have to like something, but give it a chance by actually seeing it and forming your own opinion," Parris continues. "And if you did, then that's fair. That's how you feel, and I cannot take that from you."
The Marvels played into the "superhero fatigue" narrative that came after a hit-and-miss 2023 for the genre, but the WandaVision star believes it comes down to, "people [wanting] good movies...and if there's superheroes and there's passion and there's storytelling, and you're not giving it to me by numbers, I think people are here for it."
"I think we say that because it's easy to just say, 'Oh, superhero fatigue,' but I think we want - because I watch them as well - I want good stories with great characters, and that mean something and have something to say."
"I think that you're going to have people who have something to say about everything," she adds. "What I try to do is remember the work that I put into it, the heart that I put into it, the crew who've given over a year of their lives to make this happen, their excellence, and what it felt like to just be around good people who are super, super talented."
In recent weeks, the narrative surrounding the movie does appear to have changed somewhat as the fans who skipped the sequel in theaters decided to watch it at home. Still, that came too little, too late, and Captain Marvel, Ms. Marvel, and Spectrum will likely be relegated to supporting roles in the MCU moving forward.
The Marvels is now streaming on Disney+.