One unique aspect of The Marvels was the inclusion of a horde of Flerkittens — the offspring of the cat-shaped alien Goose — and the cast and crew of the Marvel Studios film enjoyed filming with the adorable animal actors as much as the audience loved watching them.
In an interview shared on Marvel.com, The Marvels executive producer Mary Livanos revealed that featuring Flerkittens in the film was a major goal, particularly after fans responded so well to 2019’s Captain Marvel introducing the original Flerken, Goose, to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Once the kittens were actually on the set, though, they caused their share of trouble: “Flerkitten days were exhilarating, truly the best thing ever, and also incredibly stressful,” said Livanos. “They were tiny and sweet, and terrifyingly unpredictable.”
Director Nia DaCosta agreed that having kittens around was good for lifting spirits during production. “We had so many kittens, it was so cute, so many adorable kittens on set and that was really fun and even the grumpiest crew members would be like, ‘where are the cats?’”
Herding cats to the tune of Cats
DaCosta was also behind the soundtrack choice for a big Flerkitten scene, in which the kitties are needed to help evacuate everyone on board a spaceship by using their power to temporarily swallow people without harming them. The chaotic moment is set to “Memory,” from the musical aptly titled Cats, sung by Barbara Streisand. “Using ‘Memory’ was really important to me,” said DaCosta. “I was like, are they going to let me keep this? And they did. It was great.”
It probably didn’t hurt that Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige loves cats. As The Marvels star Brie Larson explained, “Kevin always wants more Goose so obviously we’re gonna get more Goose. We get a lot more Goose, like infinity Gooses.”
In The Marvels, Larson‘s Carol Danvers leads a new team which includes Iman Vellani‘s Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel and Teyonah Parris‘ Monica Rambeau. The movie serves as a sequel not only to Captain Marvel, but also to Ms. Marvel, the 2022 miniseries starring Vellani. The character of Monica, meanwhile, was introduced as a child in Captain Marvel. Parris took up the mantle as an older Monica in the 2021 miniseries WandaVision.
The Marvels is playing in theaters now.
