[Analysis & Review] Captain Marvel [Impressions & Trivia]
It’s been a while! It really has been a while!
Things at university got busy with job hunting and research and so on, but that has settled down, so posting resumes! Cannot wait to see Endgame!!
*Warning:
I’ll be writing analysis, predictions and the like. And there are spoilers for the MCU up to now as well.
Contents
[Analysis & Review] Captain Marvel [Impressions & Trivia]
For reference
Impressions & review
So much fun!! A first film really is a hard thing to pull off. Most of them end up going the same way: a hero with almost no power gets power, agonises over it, and on top of that the other characters have to be introduced and the world explained, and then a villain shows up and gets beaten. Not that there is anything wrong with that — it goes that way because it is the classic shape and the classic shape works. This one, though, was made inside the framework of the MCU, so it never had to give up running time to explaining the world or introducing characters, and that was great.
MCU moments came thick and fast too, which was lovely. The Tesseract turning up again genuinely surprised me. And it being the source of the power, of all things…. Then Fury and Coulson, the prototype Quinjet, the Kree and the Skrulls and Ronan and the rest — I think it is precisely because twenty films had piled up behind it that they could build a first film no other movie could make.
An upbeat story, which was another thing that worked. Fury and Goose’s back-and-forth had me laughing. And the way Talos is handled really did surprise me. I was sure he was pure evil, but he turned out to be a thoroughly good bloke. Not long now until Endgame… what on earth is going to happen…
The opening
The opening of an MCU film would normally be the Avengers lineup and so on, but this time it was different. It turned out to be a tribute to Stan Lee, who passed away in November 2018. There were off-camera shots from the sets in there as well, with the crew’s feelings poured into it, and it was lovely.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, out around the same time, paid tribute to Stan Lee as well.
How it ties into the earlier films
The Tesseract
The Tesseract showing up this time is a surprise. Its role in this film was
· the reason Captain Marvel ended up with superpowers
· the source of the new engine Dr. Mar-Vell was researching
Those two.
Let me lay out the Tesseract’s timeline in the MCU for a moment.
- 1. The six Infinity Stones come into being at the same moment as the universe
- 2. Thor’s father Odin puts the Tesseract into storage on Earth
- 3. Red Skull takes it from an old church, but it ends up sinking into the Arctic. Stark’s father Howard recovers it, though, and it stays in SHIELD’s keeping for decades afterwards (the first Captain America)
- 4. It comes to light that Dr. Mar-Vell had been researching the Tesseract at a laboratory in Earth orbit (this film)
- 5. Nick Fury introduces Dr. Selvig to the Tesseract (the first THOR)
- 6. Thanos tries to have Loki take the Tesseract back and fails. After that it is kept on Asgard (the first Avengers)
- 7. Asgard falls. In the confusion Loki collects the Tesseract (the third THOR)
- 8. Thanos takes it. In the end it disappears off somewhere along with Thanos… (Infinity War)
Laid out like that, the Tesseract really is the item that represents the MCU. I want to keep in mind that it was the cause of Tony facing death for the first time in his life and changing enormously as a person, and the cause of Steve Rogers being dragged into the fight. And in this film it is the source of the power of Captain Marvel, who carries MCU Phase 4 from here, so it somehow feels like Tony and Steve are handing things over to Carol Danvers.
Where the name Avengers comes from
So the Avengers Initiative — the origin of the name Avengers, in other words — turns out to come from Carol Danvers’ Air Force call sign, “Avenger.”
Iron Man 2
There is something called “Project Pegasus” in this film, and it actually gets a brief mention in a deleted scene from Iron Man 2 as well.
Guardians of the Galaxy
Talos and Korath were both in the first Guardians of the Galaxy (GOG from here on).
The Kree around the time of this film, going by the way they persecute the Skrulls, are clearly an extremely warlike empire. In GOG, though, Ronan and his lot brand the Kree Empire spineless for signing a peace treaty with Xandar, and throw in with Thanos. Both of them end up dead as a result, sadly… Maybe a second Captain Marvel or something will show what becomes of the rest of them?
The ship Ronan is on in this film is the same model as the Dark Aster, the ship he flew in GOG.
Nick Fury and Phil Coulson
This film gives us Nick Fury, and Coulson back when he was still a probie.
He dies once in Avengers, and in the show Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. he is brought back by Fury’s hand using Kree blood.
That Kree blood idea probably comes from Fury hearing, in this film, that Carol Danvers recovered after being given a Kree blood transfusion.
The difference from Coulson, though, is that Carol’s blood is blue after the transfusion, while Coulson’s stays red.
The reason for that is probably that the Kree blood was only ever playing the part of a kind of catalyst in bringing him back. Anyone who watched the show will know this, but Coulson’s resurrection was done by transfusion plus a machine hammering away at pressure points in his brain, so I think that is what led to the difference in blood colour.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is here
The bit midway through this film where Carol and Fury are let go was great. That must be what gave rise to the trust in Coulson.
Next up, Nick Fury. This is a story from roughly twenty years ago, so he looks incredibly young. The effects work is amazing.
There is a quick parody of Pulp Fiction, the best known film of Samuel L. Jackson, who plays Nick Fury, and that got a laugh out of me.
And then an astonishing fact….
“The last time I trusted someone, I lost an eye.”
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Captain America: The Winter Soldier revealed that he is blind in his left eye. That is where he says the line above, and most people probably assumed he lost it fighting an enemy in this film. On top of that, he does injure his face in this film when he crashes a car on purpose — but that time the wound is around his right eye.
So why was he blind? Because Goose the cat scratched him lol
He apparently has not told anyone around him about it, so the story has grown in the telling, and Coulson and the rest seem to believe he lost the eye for some suitably epic reason.
Other bits
https://fictional-flying-machines.fandom.com/wiki/Quinjet
The prototype of the Quinjet, which turns up all over the Avengers films and the shows, makes an appearance. The white one above.
And the pager Fury used at the end of Infinity War, the previous MCU film, gets properly paid off here as well
Marvel’s three great empires
Marvel has a set of colossal empires known as the three great empires.
As the image above shows, those three are the Kree, the Skrulls and the Shi’ar. I don’t know much about the Shi’ar Empire, so this time let me explain the Kree and the Skrulls, both of which turn up in the film.
This is the Shi’ar Empire.
The Skrulls
For reference
The Skrulls are an alien race with the power to transform, able to take on the appearance of other people.
https://www33.atwiki.jp/studentx/pages/458.html
They had built a mighty empire across the galaxy, but their territory took catastrophic damage in “Annihilation,” their invasion of Earth failed in “Secret Invasion,” and they are in decline now.
As that says, the Skrulls are shapeshifters, and my impression is that they use it mostly for attacks that sow confusion.
And when it comes to the Skrulls, the famous one is the Super-Skrull in the image below, who copied the powers of the whole Fantastic Four.
And because the Super-Skrull belongs to the Fantastic Four, 20th Century Fox held the rights to him. And as this film makes clear, the rights to the Skrulls as a concept currently sit with Disney.
As you will all have noticed, Disney bought 20th Century Fox, so a screen version of the Super-Skrull, or of that great story “Secret Invasion,” looks like something to hope for from here on
“Unless Kevin Feige (president of Marvel Studios) is sitting on a finished script somewhere, it looks like no new heroes (from Fox) will be turning up until 2021 at the earliest.”
https://www.frc-watashi.info/skrulls-x-men-captainmarvel
And, a little disappointingly, an X-Men appearance looks like it is going to take time, going by the quote above.
So the Skrulls have always been the villains, which made it a surprise to find them on the victims’ side in this film. But as Talos says himself, not every last one of them is good (the same goes for the Kree), so evil Skrulls turning up later on is surely a certainty.
The Kree
For reference
The Kree’s background in the comics is below
https://www33.atwiki.jp/studentx/pages/654.html
The Kree Empire, one of the three great empires of the universe. A warrior state with no shortage of soldiers who will stake their lives on a mission, and technology far beyond Earth’s.
Fundamentally at odds with the Skrulls.
Decisions for the species are made by the Supreme Intelligence, an organic cyborg artificial intelligence.
In the crossover “Annihilation: Conquest” they were attacked by the Phalanx and took catastrophic damage, but drove them off with the heroes fighting alongside them.
In “The Black Vortex” their homeworld Hala was attacked by J’son, former emperor of Spartax, and was finally destroyed.
When it comes to the Kree, the ones who come to mind in the MCU are Yondu and company! More recently they have become the main villains in the show Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., so their presence keeps growing.
In the films too they are hostile to the Skrulls, and going by this film alone it looks like a one-sided persecution of the Skrulls.
Pink Kree
The Kree are known for their blue skin, but there are also some with skin so white they look almost human. The reason is that mixed-blood Kree grew in number as the Kree Empire colonised one planet after another. They are called Pink Kree, and they apparently have better physical abilities than other Kree. In this film that would be Yon-Rogg.
The Supreme Intelligence
The one who reigns at the top of the Kree Empire is the Supreme Intelligence. Below is the comics background.
A vast organic artificial intelligence that rules the Kree Empire, one of the galaxy’s great empires.
https://www33.atwiki.jp/studentx/pages/894.html
It takes the form of an enormous green face.
It cannot survive unless it is constantly submerged in culture fluid inside a huge beaker.
It holds every piece of knowledge in the galaxy, calculates possibilities from it in an instant, and passes instructions to the Kree leadership — effectively the ruler of the Kree.
That said, when it appears in the comics it often finds itself defied.
It was destroyed in “The Black Vortex,” but there appears to be a seed for producing the next-generation Supreme Intelligence.
In this film it is a colossal computer, and when it talks to someone it apparently appears in the form of the person that individual respects and trusts most.
How it ties into what is coming
Avengers: Endgame
The trailer makes this clear enough, but it looks like she picks up Fury’s SOS, comes back to Earth, and takes on Thanos alongside the Avengers. In terms of raw strength she is on Thor’s level, so I have extremely high hopes. She also looks like a good match for the Infinity Stones, so it would be great to see her shine there too.
Captain Marvel 2
Let’s assume there is a second film. And let me sum up what it would have to cover. And this is only my guess, but I think the next one sits on the timeline between the first Guardians of the Galaxy and this film.
- Why the Kree Empire had turned pacifist enough to sign a peace treaty with Xandar by the time of the first Guardians of the Galaxy. Probably Carol and the others take down the Supreme Intelligence in the next one?
- Talos and his people finding somewhere they can rest
- Settling things with Yon-Rogg and the rest
- Ronan showed an interest in Carol, so a rematch is a certainty
Something like that, I’d say. Ahh~ I really do want to see it already!!
Beyond that, I reckon the Avengers films from Phase 4 onwards will do Secret Invasion, with the Fantastic Four joining in as well, and a fight against the Super-Skrull, who copies the powers of all four of them and can use every one of them at once.
What Secret Invasion is
A major crossover from 2008. An important story that shaped the Marvel world for several years afterwards.
https://www33.atwiki.jp/studentx/pages/421.html
The Skrull Empire’s long-prepared invasion of Earth begins all at once, and war with the heroes breaks out.
Being shapeshifters, the Skrulls had already swapped themselves in for a great many heroes before the invasion started.
With nobody sure who they can trust, the heroes are forced into a desperate fight.
If it goes as far as shapeshifting into Iron Man or Captain America and the rest to throw everyone off, that would be even hotter! Looking forward to what comes next!
The characters
Carol Danvers / Vers / Captain Marvel
Played by Brie Larson
Nick Fury
Played by Samuel L. Jackson
Goose
Talos
Played by Ben Mendelsohn
Yon-Rogg
Played by Jude Law
Korath
Played by Djimon Hounsou
Ronan the Accuser
Played by Lee Pace
Maria Rambeau
Played by Lashana Lynch
Monica Rambeau
Played by Akira Akbar
Minn-Erva
Played by Gemma Chan
The Supreme Intelligence
Played by Annette Bening
Dr. Wendy Lawson / Mar-Vell
Played by Annette Bening
Phil Coulson
Played by Clark Gregg
Passenger on the train (Stan Lee) — played by Stan Lee
