Note: This article was originally published by Charles Murphy at MCU Exchange on August 2, 2017.
The excitement around the SDCC announcement that Captain Marvel would be a period piece taking place in the 1990s was absolutely tangible. From the time period to the involvement of the Skrulls, people were absolutely blown away but also left asking a lot of questions. We reached out to our most trusted source who helped us out with the Children of Thanos and Nomad stories and were able to land a few details that should hold us over until Marvel Studios is ready to give us more info.
In 2014, Badass Digest revealed that Carol Danvers would make her debut in Avengers: Age of Ultron. The introduction, they reported, would be an end of the movie cameo that would include Ms. Marvel among the new members of the Avengers. The site included a disclaimer that while it was possible, it was just as possible that the studio was a little concerned about introducing such a major character in a short cameo.
Avengers: Age of Ultron did debut a new team of Avengers (which we never saw in action, by the way) but there was no Carol Danvers. With her own film having been announced in the time between the initial report and the premiere of the film, it seemed Marvel Studios chose to hold off and give her an introduction more in line with her high profile. The reports, however, were confirmed and Marvel even went as far as to shoot VFX plates for her entrance into the New Avengers facility, but those shots were ultimately used on Scarlet Witch’s arrival in her new costume. Kevin Feige explained his decision in keeping Danvers out of the film:
“There were drafts that maybe people somehow got their hands on and read early on that included some characters – maybe others, but certainly one, which is why it’s dangerous to read scripts early on, and talk about them early on…
[Captain Marvel] was in a draft. But to me, it would have done that character a disservice, to meet her fully formed, in a costume and part of the Avengers already when 99% of the audience would go, ‘Who is that?’ It’s just not the way we’ve done it before.”
And so Carol Danvers’ introduction to the MCU was put on hold as the minds at Marvel Studios went to work on how to best introduce her, but what was revealed was that Captain Marvel would have been a fully formed, known quantity as a superhero at the time. Now, we at the MCU Exchange have exclusive details on how Kevin Feige, Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck will bring Meg LeFauve and Nicole Perlman’s script to the screen and we think you’re going to love it!. As noted above, it is still very early in the process (they won’t film until winter 2018) and all of this is subject to change, but what we currently know sounds absolutely amazing.
Brie Larson’s absence from the filming of Avengers: Infinity War has people asking just where the most powerful of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes was when they most needed her. While it was widely believed that Carol wasn’t in the fight because she hadn’t been powered up yet, we now know that’s not the case; however, if she’s been a superhero for 20 years so you think she would show up when the fate of the entire cosmos was at stake!
So where has Carol been all this time? We are told that the comments by Marvel Stuido’s physics consultant, Dr. Spiros Michalakis, about the Quantum Realm playing a major part in Captain Marvel have an awful lot to do with where she’s been and why she sat out the events of Infinity War. With Captain Marvel releasing between Infinity War and the as-yet-untitled Avengers 4, we believe we have an answer to Danvers’ location and see her return to join the fray in Avengers 4.
Long time members of the Carol Corps are going to love the way the story pays homage to her long history. We know the Kree will have a large presence in the film and, according to the source, the film will absolutely include the Kree hero Mar-Vell! It’s well-established in Marvel Cinematic Universe mythology that the Kree have been to Earth before, so we aren’t surprised to find out that Mar-Vell might have been on Earth in the past to observe and report on the activities of humans especially given that film’s plot is expected to be driven by the longstanding Kree-Skrull war.
Though we don’t know if we’ll be seeing him on Earth as Dr. Lawson, we are told to expect to see a version of the Psyche-Magnitron accident from the comics and that accident will be responsible for altering her DNA and giving her powers. Furthermore, we are told that her unique half-Kree/half-human DNA will be used to explain why she hasn’t appeared to age since her disappearance, meaning they won’t need to age/de-age Brie Larson. Just like Thor and the Asgardians before her, Carol won’t necessarily age in the MCU.
Additionally and in somewhat of a surprising move, the earliest drafts of the script include references to her functioning as Ms. Marvel and that there will be a version of her early Ms. Marvel costume seen onscreen. Marvel Studios have been great about updating classic looks that respect the mythology without causing too much controversy and we expect something similar will be done here.
We’ll keep working with our source to find out more, but Marvel Studios has been on lockdown for a long, long time but this is a genius move by Marvel Studios. With the film being set in the 90s it gives them the opportunity to do a lot of things in the 20 years that have passed and also deal with the repercussions of those events.
