How does body swapping work in “The Marvels”?
Bringing back one of the MCU’s strongest superheroes for a solo film always requires a bit of creative sensitivity to keep things interesting. After all, you can’t pit Carole Danvers against the franchise’s biggest villain this early in the game, no matter what Quantumania Maybe it made you believe. NO, The wonders thinks outside the box.
Enter: body swap or location swap if we’re feeling petty. We were first introduced to the phenomenon in the post-credit scene of the Disney Plus series Ms. Marvel, although we didn’t have a name for it yet. We see Kamala Khan’s single bangle glow purple on her wrist, and then, just as she shakes it off, she is thrown through her closet door, where Carole Danvers appears in her place.
Trailer for The wonders informed us about what was going on. Since Carole, Kamala, and Monica Rambau have light-based powers, they somehow end up in an entanglement, causing each to swap places with the other whenever they use them.
This concept may sound simple at first glance, but it has raised some questions among confused fans. In an official clip, we see Carole and Kamala using their powers without swapping places.
So is the phenomenon just a cool, cinematic storytelling device or does it actually happen whenever they use their powers?
What is body swapping all about and how does it work?
Although Why Carole, Kamala and Monica swap places is unclear, the mechanics of the mystery have been elucidated thanks to a short international TV advertisement. In the trailer, we hear Monica say that she, Carole, and Kamala swap places not only when they use their powers, but also when they use them at the same time.
This would explain why in further trailers like the one above we hear Monica screaming “switch” during what appears to be a fight scene. Assigning such a set of rules to the limitations of the trio’s body swapping not only eliminates the confusion, but also allows for some nice fight sequences that aren’t completely littered with swaps every millisecond.
The gap means the trio can take control of their predicament at any time, but will run headfirst into combat if one can’t just watch on the sidelines while the other fights. All three must use their skills simultaneously, which means they must hone this new phenomenon to their advantage. We are confident that this will happen in the third act of the film.
Body swapping isn’t just an entertaining narrative device to advance the story. According to producer Mary Livanos, the Switcheroo could be part of a larger multiversal issue that could come to fruition at some point in the upcoming Avengers films.
The wonders Premiere in cinemas on November 10th.
