Nia DaCosta Says She's Had "More Freedom" On 'The Marvels' Than Any Of Her Previous Films

While many film fans probably didn’t hear Nia DaCosta’s name until it was announced that she is going to direct “The Marvels” (aka “Captain Marvel 2”) for Marvel Studios, the filmmaker was already an exciting up-and-coming filmmaker thanks to her indie breakout, “Little Woods.” And speaking to EW about her career, up to now, and how her first features compare to her upcoming superhero blockbuster, DaCosta might surprise you with why she’s so excited to work with Marvel Studios.

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For those unaware, “Little Woods” stars Tessa Thompson and is a drama about drug addiction and family issues. It’s a heavy film dealing with serious topics. And DaCosta’s new film, “Candyman,” a slasher film, is also steeped in darkness and serious trauma. So, as she explained in the interview, not only is it nice to work with Marvel Studios on “The Marvels,” it’s actually nice to work on something that isn’t so “traumatizing.”

“It’s a lot less traumatizing to work on for sure,” DaCosta said about working on “The Marvels.” “But this movie also deals with specific, personal, sometimes sad things. But no, it’s been nice to work in a different world for sure.”

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“The Marvels” is the pseudo-sequel to “Captain Marvel,” the billion-dollar blockbuster from 2019, which follows the story of Brie Larson’s superpowered character. However, what makes “The Marvels” different is that it will also feature characters such as Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani) and Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris), both of which have deep ties to the Captain Marvel legacy in the comics.

And though Marvel Studios has been known to be hands-on with its productions, DaCosta has nothing but nice things to say about her time working on this new film.

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“It’s amazing,” says DaCosta. “[It’s] more [freedom] than I’ve had on anything. It’s great because we’re all just comic-book nerds who want to make a great comic-book movie.”

More freedom than anything she’s worked on before? That’s a bold, somewhat shocking statement to make about a $200 million blockbuster from one of the biggest studios on the planet. But hey, we’ll see how it works out when “The Marvels” hits theaters on November 11, 2022.