Today, the world first got a glimpse of Brie Larsen as Carol Danvers, a.k.a. Captain Marvel, as well as some of her allies and enemies via Entertainment Weekly’s cover and release of ten exclusive images. Donning the famous red, blue, and gold suit, Larsen looks ready to take on the galaxy — and even take down Thanos (Josh Brolin) when she returns to Earth for Avengers 4.
Here’s everything you need to know that was released today by Entertainment Weekly; check back later in the week for more information as it’s released.
The first big reveal is that Captain Marvel isn’t an origin story, per say. When we first meet her, Carol already has her powers and knows her strengths; she’ll be zipping around the universe with Starforce, an elite Kree military team.
What are the Kree, you may ask? The Kree, first seen in the MCU with Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace, who’ll make an appearance as the villain in this film) in Guardians of the Galaxy, are a race of aliens that made their original Marvel appearance in a Fantastic Four comic back in 1967. Mar-Vell, the original Captain, is Kree. They’re most famous for creating the Inhumans and for their war with the Skrull that nearly decimated Earth.
The Skrulls, headed up by a green Ben Mendelsohn who plays Talos, are one of Marvel’s most famous villains. They can shape-shift like nobody’s business, which means that anybody — and we mean anybody — can secretly be a Skrull. Mendelsohn himself will be moonlighting as an agent of SHIELD while he’s not off plotting domination.
If you’re looking for a great introduction to the Skrulls, check out the animated series Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, where they’re the central baddies for the first half of season two (and you’ll never guess which Avenger is secretly a Skrull there…).
We get our first look at some of the members of Starforce, including a totally badass looking Gemma Chan as Minn-Erva and Djimon Hounsou as Korath (another returning face from Guardians of the Galaxy). We also get our first look at Jude Law as the mysterious commander of Starforce. Rumors and speculation said that he’d be playing Mar-Vell, but EW avoided mentioning his character’s name. Could he be playing a new character? Or are they keeping his name under wraps until closer to the film because his character is a spoiler? Time will tell.
The film will be a period piece set in the 1990’s, one of the few Marvel films not set in the present day. Carol already is rocking a Nine Inch Nails t-shirt, so expect a nineties fashion comeback after the film is released (on International Women’s Day nonetheless!).
a million women around the world just dumped their boyfriends simultaneously pic.twitter.com/Pa2bpQsbAy
— Dana Schwartz (@DanaSchwartzzz) September 5, 2018
Another nineties throwback? A younger Samuel L. Jackson, de-aged via CGI and playing a two-eyed Nick Fury. We’ll also be seeing Clark Gregg’s Coulson and Cobie Smulder’s Maria Hill, since you can’t really have SHIELD without our favorite agents. Another Earthling playing a big part is Maria Rambeau, played by Lashana Lynch. Maria is a close friend of Carol’s, and her daughter Monica could play a bigger role in the MCU going forward.
So what does this all mean? The Skrulls could be a setup for the next ten years of the MCU, serving as the overarching villain in the same way that Thanos was the big bad for the MCU’s first ten years. The shapeshifting could lead to some major reveals down the line, and we could have more galactic shenanigans even if we’re losing both the Guardians and Thor following Guardians 3 and Avengers 4. There’s a whole cosmic collection of characters who can team up to fight the Skrulls, especially with Marvel potentially gaining the rights to the Fantastic Four and X-Men.
What else is there to tell about Carol? Well, from Larsen’s description, she sounds like she’s going to be awesome and very, very human. Larsen told EW that Carol “can’t help but be herself. She can be aggressive, and she can have a temper, and she can be a little invasive and in your face. She’s also quick to jump to things, which makes her amazing in battle because she’s the first one out there and doesn’t always wait for orders. But the [not] waiting for orders is, to some, a character flaw.” She sounds like the kind of woman that’s going to, alongside Okoye, Shuri, and Hope van Dyne, lead the MCU into a brave new world of female representation.
It’s also important to note that this film features Marvel’s first female director. Captain Marvel is co-directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, and they’ll be leading the MCU’s most powerful hero to her cinematic debut.
All in all, Captain Marvel already looks like a triumph and a sign of a brave new future for the MCU that will last long after the dust (pun intended) settles after Avengers 4. There’s a new Captain in town, folks, and we’re ready to follow her into battle.
(via Entertainment Weekly; Image: Marvel/EW)
