Director Nia DaCosta Addresses Criticism About Her Early Departure From ‘The Marvels’

The release date of The Marvels is fast approaching, but with the Marvel Cinematic Universe mired in uncertainty, the film has been plagued by doubt and delays. Now, director Nia DaCosta has addressed criticism that she received for leaving the production early to work on another film.

Jake Hamilton, interviewing DaCosta for his YouTube channel Jake’s Takes, asked about DaCosta’s supposedly controversial departure from the film. Earlier this month, Variety published an exposé on Marvel Studios, in which an unnamed source stated that “If you’re directing a $250 million movie, it’s kind of weird for the director to leave with a few months to go.”

However, while interviewing DaCosta, Hamilton pointed out that it’s not unheard of for directors’ productions to overlap, citing Steven Spielberg leaving Jurassic Park early to start working on Schindler’s List.

DaCosta’s response was enlightening.

“For me, personally, it was literally just that [Marvel] moved [the release date of The Marvels] four different times, and so instead of being a two-year process, which I was deeply committed to, it became a three and a half year process …. They knew the entire time that I had an obligation, a green-lit movie with people who were waiting for me, and I pushed that, and I pushed it again, and then I pushed it again, and then eventually we all knew like, okay, if this gets pushed again, I’m not going to be able to be in L.A. to do the rest of this in person. So we just figured out a way to do it remote.”

DaCosta also explained how she worked with the rest of the crew to finish the film. “We figured out the best process,” she said. “At the time that I left to go to London to start prep on my next film, everyone was so clear about what the film was that we wanted, everyone knew what I wanted, so it really wasn’t the dramatic sort of thing that people think it is.”

DaCosta added that directors finishing one production while beginning another “happens quite a bit” in the film industry, despite the judgement coming from Marvel’s anonymous source.

The Marvels opens in theaters this Friday, November 10.

(featured image: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)