If you follow me on social media, you may be aware of the fact that I’ve been waiting for Captain Marvel to arrive on the big screen for a long time. Out of the countless comic book characters there are, Carol Danvers was the story I wanted to read. I started with Captain Marvel Volume 1: Higher, Further, Faster, More by Kelly Sue DeConnick. The first issue had me hooked. Danvers loves Star Wars and can go toe to toe with Tony Stark in wit. Carol Danvers is me, I am Carol Danvers. So I kept reading and bounced around to different time periods and continue to read her new comics today. Of course, I loved the movie. It’s safe to assume that I would. Here is my Captain Marvel movie review from a comic readers perspective.
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Brie Larson brought a character that I love to the screen flawlessly. Her snarky grin and fast wit shine. The filmmakers were able to share Danvers’ story well beyond her transformation into Captain Marvel. Her story is more than her abilities to photon blast or fly. Her childhood and career before that event indeed make Carol Danvers who she is in this story. I couldn’t have asked for a better origin story.
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It’s about time
Marvel continues to create fantastic origin stories to introduce characters that play essential roles in the team like Avengers. While the MCU houses many amazing female characters, up until this point, they have supported their male counterparts in different ways. Black Widow to Iron Man, Nick Fury, and Captain America. Scarlet Witch with Quicksilver or Vision. The Wasp to Ant-Man. The Dora Milaje to Black Panther. All amazing, bad-ass women, all supporting other men in the franchise. Captain Marvel is historic in the MCU because she not only stands alone in her story, but she also likes it that way. Don’t get me wrong, I was also a massive cheerleader for Wonder Woman because it was about damn time, but even her movie had a love interest to progress the plot. I’m so glad they turned away from this and really made this film all about Carol Danvers.
Carol Danvers knows she is Earth’s mightiest hero at the end of the day. That confidence has been present for her whole life. She continues to get back up when she is down. Nothing holds her back. For the same reasons it is essential to bring Black Panther to the big screen, representation matters. As a mother of two little girls, I was drawn to reading Captain Marvel comics together with my daughters. She is a character we need on the screen. Strong female characters with her own problems that she overcomes ON HER OWN! Can I get an amen?
True to the roots
A touching tribute to Stan Lee takes center stage as the Marvel scroll starts to roll. The crowd cheered for the poignant moments that span Lee’s cinematic cameo history. I’m so glad that there was a brief moment in Lee’s cameo that Carol paused. While it was a brief moment, as a fan, I feel that brief moment was more of a pause in the flow of the story for you to truly appreciate Stan Lee to the fullest.
Kelly Sue DeConnick makes a cameo in the train station with her fiery red hair. I knew the moment her hair flashed across the screen who she was. DeConnick’s run of Captain Marvel is one of my favorites and played a pivotal role in the translation to the big screen. One of the first images of Brie Larson on the set of Captain Marvel is of her reading that first issue. The aspects of Carol and her days in the Air Force or NASA are important to her character and DeConnick helped shape that aspect. We get Goose (Chewie) in all his Flerken glory. He is definitely a scene stealer.
The story blends characters from the comics like Katherine (Kit) aka Lieutenant Trouble with Monica Rambeau in the film. In the comics, Monica Rambeau was known as Captain Marvel before Carol Danvers took on the name. She teams up with Carol Danvers as an adult as Spectrum. I love that we see her as a kid though in the film. One of Carol’s alluring qualities is her soft spot for children. This story makes me wonder if they are setting Monica up for some possible Young Avengers action much like Cassie in Ant-Man and The Wasp mentioned.
Lashana Lynch plays Danvers longtime friend Maria Rambeau (Monica’s mother). She is strong and plays a pivotal part in Carol’s origin story within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I hope we get to see more of her in the future. You can tell that she is Danvers’ rock.
It’s incredible to me that we can go back in time for characters that we already know and love and build on their stories. Seeing Nick Fury and Phil Coulson at the beginning of their S.H.E.I.L.D. careers is excellent. The aging technology is truly remarkable. Even Ronan the Accuser got a little younger. The same goes for the morphing ability of the Skrulls. Ben Mendelsohn plays Talos, the Skrull leader that has infiltrated Earth. Skrulls are not pretty to look at, but their morphing ability to look and sound like anyone they see is pretty cool to see on camera.
The ’90s soundtrack to my childhood
Throughout the movie I found myself jamming out to some of my favorite songs. There were also times that I kept giggling at the fact that technologically speaking, we’ve come a long way. Loading snarky comment….damn, dial-up connection failed. How did we live like this!? I’m just glad they didn’t have to load a 3.5 floppy disk. There were so many great throwbacks that I can’t wait to go back and pick them out frame by frame. Aside from the obvious Blockbuster, there were Smashing Pumpkins band posters, The Right Stuff VHS movies which co-director Ryan Fleck has said was a big influence on this movie. These little things sprinkled throughout the film are a fun feast for those that like to get nostalgic.
We already have plans to see the movie again…and again I’m sure a few times. I love seeing amazing movies in a large scale format. IMAX is next. High Further Faster!
Captain Marvel is in theaters March 8th.
[…] the most excited new members is Teyonah Parris, who portrays Monica Rambeau. She was first seen in Captain Marvel as a child, and it has already been confirmed that she will join Carol Danvers in Captain Marvel 2. […]