The Marvels ending explained: What happens to Monica Rambeau?
The latest entry in the MCU has just arrived – and the ending could have major repercussions for the future of the franchise.
![the-marvels Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani), Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) and Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) in The Marvels looking skywards, confused](https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2023/10/the-marvels-f900964.jpg?quality=90&resize=980,654)
*WARNING: CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE MARVELS*
The Marvels sees Brie Larson reprise her role as Carol Danvers, AKA Captain Marvel. This time, she's joined by Kamala Khan/Ms Marvel (Iman Vellani) and Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris), with the trio finding that every time one of them uses their powers, they instantly swap places.
Eventually, they work out that this has something to do with Kree warrior Dar-Benn (Zawe Ashton), who has an identical 'Quantum Band' bangle to Kamala and harbours a major grudge against Carol.
You see, Captain Marvel is referred to as the Annihilator on Dar-Benn's home planet of Hala, which is in the midst of an ugly civil war that started when she destroyed the Kree Supreme Intelligence - and Dar-Benn is now desperately stealing natural resources from other planets.
After some planet-hopping, which takes the heroic trio to some very surreal places, they eventually face off with Dar-Benn once and for all.
Unfortunately, The Marvels has claimed the title for worst opening weekend in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s 32-film history.
Against the backdrop of low box office tracking, reports of long-term issues in the MCU project and the cast being unavailable for promotion due to the now-resolved SAG-AFTRA strike, the film made just $47m (£38m) in its first weekend in the US, making it the lowest opening for any film from the MCU.
The film serves not only as a follow-up to 2019’s Captain Marvel and Ms Marvel, but also paves the way for the future of the franchise. Read on for a full explanation of what happens.
By entering your details, you are agreeing to our terms and conditions and privacy policy. You can unsubscribe at any time.
The Marvels ending explained: what happens to Monica Rambeau?
![Teyonah Parris plays Monica Rambeau in The Marvels Teyonah Parris plays Monica Rambeau in The Marvels with her hand outstretched, using powers](https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2023/11/Teyonah-Parris-plays-Monica-Rambeau-in-The-Marvels-5141b9b.jpg?quality=90&fit=700,466)
After Nick Fury, Kamala's family and the various SABER workers are safely transported back to Earth via the unconventional transport method of being swallowed by Flerken, a battle between Dar-Benn and The Marvels ensures.
Dar-Benn manages to get her hands on both Quantum Bands, and tries to use these to drain the Earth's sun of light so she can use it to save Hala – even though the heroes reiterate that Captain Marvel has enough power to relight Hala's sun on her own.
More like this
Sadly for Dar-Benn, her attempt to use the Quantum Bands causes such a mammoth explosion that she instantly dies - and even manages to rip a hole in space-time, causing an incursion.
Obviously, the heroes now have to stop the incursion, so Captain Marvel and Ms Marvel use their powers to ensure that Monica is able to fly out and fix it.
Yet, although she is successful, she ends up trapped on the other side of the incursion - and is now seemingly stuck in an alternate universe.
![Zawe Ashton plays Dar-Benn Zawe Ashton plays Dar-Benn using the bangle with purple energy coming out of it](https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2023/11/Zawe-Ashton-plays-Dar-Benn-6b29ddb.jpg?quality=90&fit=700,466)
Kamala and Carol are obviously devastated by this, but they eventually return to Earth – after Captain Marvel has first restored Hala's sun – and get back to superhero business, which for Kamala means hunting down some new allies in her age group, starting with Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld).
Who was Monica's mother at the end of The Marvels?
But if you thought that was it for Monica, think again. In a mid-credits scene, she wakes up in a hospital and appears to be reunited with her mother Maria Rambeau (Lashana Lynch).
Only, something's not right – and soon someone else walks into the room... it's Hank McCoy/Beast! That's right, Kelsey Grammer is back to reprise his role from the X-Men films, and in his conversation with Maria, he mentions Charles Xavier.
And if that wasn't enough of a bombshell, Maria then looks very confused when Monica refers to her as mum. In other words, she has no idea who Monica is - and this is a completely new, alternate universe...
This definitely won't be the last we see of Monica!
We asked a panel of pop-culture enthusiasts the great geek question of our time: Marvel versus DC – who is the king of superhero cinema? Watch the full debate show to find out who came out on top.
The Marvels is now showing in cinemas. Check out more of our Film and Sci-Fi coverage, or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to see what’s on tonight.
Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only £10 – subscribe now and celebrate the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who with a special issue of Radio Times. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.