'The Marvels' is the Cheapest Movie in MCU History

It hasn’t even been released yet, and The Marvels (2023) is already breaking records for the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Hollywood in general.

Marvel has had an interesting year. While two of its projects, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023) and Secret Invasion (2023), have had their worst reviews of all time, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023) was critically acclaimed and one of the biggest box office hits of the year. And while it isn’t part of the MCU, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) also proved to be a massive critical and box office success.

That being said, there is one final movie that will decide whether Marvel Studios had a good year or not: The Marvels. The follow-up to Captain Marvel (2019), The Marvels stars Brie Larson as Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel, Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau, Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, and Zawe Ashton as the villainous Dar-Ben.

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Despite featuring actors and characters from beloved previous entries like WandaVision (2021) and Ms. Marvel (2022), multiple people online are still saying that the film will flop. And those haters got more ammo today when the budget for The Marvels was revealed during an interview with Vanity Fair.

‘The Marvels’ Has the Smallest Budget Ever in the MCU

The Marvels definitely has the pedigree to be a successful film at the box office. However, doubters emerged when it was revealed that the film has the lowest budget in the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe at $130 million.

While this still looks like a ton of money to any average person, this is nothing compared to other Marvel Studios films. For example, the film’s predecessor, Captain Marvel, cost around $152-176 million. Meanwhile, the average cost for the entire MCU is around $200 million. The most expensive movie for Marvel to make was Avengers: Endgame (2019), which had an estimated budget of $356-400 million.

This may seem like Marvel Studios doesn’t have any faith in The Marvels, but that is hardly the case. In fact, there are plenty of reasons why the movie is costing the studio so little.

Why a Low Budget Isn’t a Bad Thing

First, something that was increasing the budget for previous films was the need to follow COVID guidelines. The Marvels is one of the first Marvel Studios movies to be filmed post-COVID, meaning it didn’t have to pay more to meet those restrictions. On top of that, a lower budget often means the film had fewer reshoots, meaning the director (Nia DaCosta) and visual effects team were able to get what they wanted the first time around.

Finally, The Marvels is reported to have an incredibly short runtime. Since there was less move to shoot, it naturally cost less money. On top of that, this short runtime means that there can be more showings at movie theaters and more repeat viewings if the film is popular enough.

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While this all seems incredibly negative, especially if you were to look online, one exciting statistic surrounds this movie’s budget: it is the highest-budgeted film ever helmed by a Black woman. The previous record was held by A Wrinkle in Time (2018), which had a budget of $100 million.

Hopefully, The Marvels will outperform that movie at the box office.

‘The Marvels’ is in Good Company

While The Marvels is officially the lowest-budget film in Marvel Studio’s history, it is not the only movie holding onto that title. The upcoming film shares that honor with none other than Ant-Man (2015), starring Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, and Michael Douglas.

While Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is one of the most disappointing movies from Marvel Studios, the first Ant-Man movie was one of the most surprising. It was a hilarious heist film that separated itself from every other MCU film with hilarious iconic moments, like that giant Thomas the Tank Engine. To this day, it is considered one of the most underrated films from Marvel Studios.

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Despite having a budget of only $130 million, Ant-Man went on to make about $520 million. That means it made more than enough money to be considered a commercial success.

For The Marvels to financially succeed, some experts believe it needs to make at least $400 million, slightly more than three times the budget. Seeing how the previous film, Captain Marvel, made over $1 billion, it seems like there is a good chance this can happen. Ultimately, The Marvels has the opportunity to be a much-needed win for Marvel Studios.

Are you excited about The Marvels? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!