The Marvels Musical Planet Scene Was Originally Longer, And Iman Vellani Loved It [Exclusive]
About halfway through Nia DaCosta's new superhero film "The Marvels," Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) takes her new super-powered compatriots Monica (Teyonah Parris) and Kamala, a.k.a. Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani) to a distant planet called Aladna, a blissful ocean-covered paradise overseen by the ultra-handsome Prince Yan (Park Seo-joon). Aladna is in trouble and Captain Marvel has come to warn the Prince of an approaching supervillain. The good Captain also failed to mention to her companions that she is, in fact, married to Prince Yan, making her a very famous member of this planet's royal lineage.
The joke about Aladna is that its citizens speak only in song. All of their conversations seem to be presented in rhyming couplets and are set to music that bleeds in from the walls whenever they wish to start speaking. Yes, Captain Marvel sings her intentions to Prince Yan. Indeed, the entire introductory scene on Aladna is a prolonged and energetic musical number, a rare sight in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Luckily for Ms. Marvel and Monica, who are not so musically inclined, Prince Yan is bilingual and can speak to them without singing.
It's been well publicized that "The Marvels" was recut and extended sequences were re-shot during production, so it should come as no surprise that the musical sequence was originally envisioned as being much longer and more elaborate. Vellani, whose character is an excitable Captain Marvel fan, admitted in a recent interview with /Film's own Ethan Anderton, that she had some very real excitability over the musical scene and was upset to see that some of it had been cut for the film's theatrical release.
The Aldana dance sequence
When asked about the cut and/or reshot scenes for "The Marvels," Vellani was forthcoming, saying:
"There's a longer version of the Aladna dance. I am a musical theater nerd, and I loved it. They sent me the song, and it's so good. Then we had a week or two of filming the Aladna scene, when Carol and Monica and Kamala arrived for the first time, and they started bringing on the song. That thing goes for a couple minutes, and it's a long take that our incredible camera operator [...] Simon, he's amazing. Literally, at one point, he's like walking backwards, and then they put him into a harness, and now he's doing an aerial shot of this entire dance sequence."
The Simon in question is most likely Simon Jenkins, credited as the Crowd Third Assistant Director. The dance numbers involved dozens of people, and while the choreography wasn't as extensive or elaborate as, say, a "Step Up" movie, it still likely required a great deal of rehearsal and wrangling to pull off. Jenkins was likely the one in the harness, dangling above it all, assuring the utmost visual clarity.
Vellani, like many, wanted more. She said, "I wish they would release the full version of the dance." It's entirely likely that the full dance number will be included in a home media release at some point. Indeed, it's likely that audiences will eventually see all of the film's original footage on a Blu-ray rather soon.
Vellani didn't say which musicals were her favorites and her professional acting career to date has solely involved her playing Ms. Marvel for Marvel Studios projects. Perhaps someday, she'll be given the opportunity to perform in her favorite musicals.
Is Vellani a Sondheim fan or a Gilbert & Sullivan follower?