Nia DaCosta makes her mark on Marvel history with ‘The Marvels’

By JAKE COYLE
AP Film Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Director Nia DaCosta is the first Black woman to helm a Marvel movie. She’s also, at age 33, the a youngest filmmaker to so. “It just happens to me,” the filmmaker says in an interview. DaCosta, one of Hollywood’s fastest rising directors, was drawn to “The Marvels” to create what she calls “a really crazy, sci-fi space opera” that was wacky and tonally different from most Marvel Cinematic Universe films. It’s loosely a sequel to 2019’s “Captain Marvel,” which surpassed $1.1 billion worldwide. By any measure, “The Marvels” is one of the fall’s most anticipated titles. “The Marvels,” starring Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris and Iman Vellani, opens in theaters Friday.