Update: Following this article’s publication, Disney revealed what The Marvels cost, and it’s among the more expensive films in the MCU. The original article appears below as originally published.
The budget for The Marvels has been revealed, and it may just be the cheapest movie in Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) history.
According to Vanity Fair, The Marvels cost around $130 million to make. To put it in perspective, 2019’s Captain Marvel is estimated to have cost between $150 and $175 million. $130 million puts The Marvels more in line with Ant-Man, which cost around $130 million to make, and has thus far been the cheapest MCU movie. Unadjusted for inflation, the movie’s budget is lower than 2008’s Iron Man, the project that officially kicked off the MCU. None of those numbers include marketing and other costs that can result in a movie needing to make two or three times its budget to technically break even.
Related: New The Marvels Trailer Focuses in on Carol Danvers and Goes Intergalactic
It’s unclear at this time just why the budget for The Marvels is so low, though it’s not necessarily, as I’m sure it will be taken by some to indicate, a sign that the movie will be of low quality. Instead, it may be that Marvel Studios is getting strict with budgets following the relatively weak box office performances of Thor: Love and Thunder and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, both of which cost more than $200 million to make. Still, considering the fact the original Captain Marvel earned more than $1.1 billion at the box office, the relatively low cost of The Marvels strikes me as odd.
The Marvels sees Monica Rambeau, Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel, and Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel teaming up after their powers becoming intertwined, causing them to swap places when they use their abilities. If you’re unsure of what to watch before The Marvels hits, my suggestions are Avengers: Endgame, Captain Marvel, WandaVision, and Ms. Marvel, as all three are deeply tied to the project’s story.
Directed by Nia DaCosta, The Marvels is slated for release on Nov. 10.
