Captain Marvel

Dir: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck

2019

****

Captain Marvel is one of those Marvel characters I never quite got into as I found the character largely uninteresting. Originally, the character was a clear copy of Superman and DC Comics sued Marvel successfully because of it back in the early 50s. The character was a cheap nothing superhero with the same name as the comic, an idea probably thought up in very little time and with very little development. Undeterred (and in competition with DC) Marvel managed to gain the trademark Captain Marvel in the late 1960s but to retain their trademark, they had to publish a Captain Marvel title at least once every two years, leading to a number of ongoing series, limited series and one-shots featuring a range of characters using the Captain Marvel alias. It is fair to say that the origin story for the character is a messy one. The first Captain Marvel created by Stan Lee and Gene Colan in 1967. This character is an alien military officer, Captain Mar-Vell of the Kree Imperial Militia, who is sent to observe the planet Earth as it is developing technology to travel into space. Mar-Vell eventually wearies of his superiors' malicious intent and allies himself with Earth, and the Kree Empire brands him a traitor. From then on, Mar-Vell fought to protect Earth from all threats. He was later revamped by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane. They exiled him to the Negative Zone by the hands of the Supreme Intelligence and the only way Mar-Vell could temporarily escape was to exchange atoms with Rick Jones by means of a special wristband called a Nega-Band. He was also given superpowers and his Kree military uniform was replaced. The process of the young man being replaced in a flash by the older superhero was a nod to the original Fawcett Captain Marvel, which had young Billy Batson saying the magic word "Shazam" to transform into the hero. That’s another story and not one I’m going to explain here. The comic didn’t sell well so Marvel allowed Jim Starlin to conceptually revamp the character, although his appearance was little changed. Starlin freed Mar-Vell from the Negative Zone and turned him into ‘a cosmic champion’, the "Protector of the Universe" appointed by the cosmic entity Eon. Together, Mar-Vell and Rick continued to battle against evil, most notably battling the Death-worshipping Thanos. However, comic sales remained low so Marvel gave him inoperable cancer, the supposed result of an earlier exposure to toxic nerve gas during a battle with Nitro. He died from this cancer on Titan in the presence of the Marvel Universe's superhero community, as chronicled in Marvel's first large-format graphic novel, The Death of Captain Marvel, published in 1982. Captain Marvel was then resurrected, sort of, the very same year. Roger Stern’s version saw New Orleans police lieutenant Monica Rambeau suddenly posses the power to transform herself into any form of energy she desired from out of nowhere. She soon found herself as leader of the Avengers but she later ceded the Captain Marvel name to the original Captain Marvel's and changed her name to Photon. That was until Genis-Vell adopted the same name. After a rather unimaginative and confusing chapter in comic-book history, Genis-Vell and Monica decided she be called Pulsar from then on. Genis-Vell then became the next Captain Marvel and Monica became Spectrum. It’s all very confusing. Genis-Vell was the genetically-engineered son of Mar-Vell and his lover Elysius, created from the late Mar-Vell's cell samples and artificially aged to physical, if not emotional, maturity. Genis, like his father, wears the Nega-Bands, possesses Cosmic Awareness and is, for a time, bonded with Rick Jones. Although the pair do not get along at first, they eventually become good friends. Genis goes insane and threatens to destroy the universe. After dying and resurrecting himself Genis-Vell joins the Thunderbolts under the name Photon. The next Captain Marvel was Phyla-Vell, Genis-Vell's younger sister. She was created when Genis, an only child, recreates the universe and, in doing so, creates various anomalies which result in his mother being restored to life and his sister coming into existence. Phyla-Vell appears in the Annihilation event, fighting alongside Nova’s United Front in an effort to stop the destructive armies of Annihilus. She becomes the new Quasar after the original one is killed by Annihilus. Phyla has superhuman strength. She can fire energy blasts, fly, and act like an "energy sponge", absorbing any energy attacks directed at her and returning them as energy blasts. Phyla also has cosmic awareness and is a proficient fighter. Phyla later became an avatar for Oblivion, and renamed herself Martyr. She died to save her comrades in the Guardians of the Galaxy. Khn'nr, who first appeared in Civil War: The Return, was the next captain Marvel. He was a Skrull sleeper agent who was bound with Mar-Vell's DNA to lock itself into Mar-Vell's form and given technological replicas of the Kree Nega-Bands. However, his mental conditioning was botched, causing his personality to be erased leaving the Mar-Vell persona dominant. You really do need to be a super-fan before you could really follow or indeed appreciate the character and I don’t think many people were. It wasn’t until Carol Danvers, AKA Ms. Marvel took over as Captain did the character really take off. Danvers became a ‘superhero’ after her DNA was fused with Mar-Vell’s during an explosion. She pre-dates all the other versions of Captain Marvel, which makes me wonder why this film wasn’t called Ms. Marvel, as this would have saved much confusion among those of us who know what is what in the Marvel Universe. It is understandable but still frustrating that most of the character changes are made for film audiences that haven’t read a single Marvel comic – even more frustrating when it is they who make uneducated comments regarding time-lines and of a sexist nature. I remember the uproar from non-fans a few years ago when Thor was temporarily a women. The non-fans didn’t understand the story but instead just read the headline in some newspaper and decided that the liberals and feminists had gone too far this time. Thor was actually trapped in Lady Sif’s body temporarily and actually, back in the day he was turned into a Frog and remained one for far longer than he was ever a women. Anyway, I digress, the history of Captain Marvel is messy and it is hard enough keeping track of all the other characters so it never really appealed and I wonder whether others felt the same. There are hundreds of cool female superhero characters, so the sex of Carol Danvers had nothing to do with it. I also dislike prequels, especially those that are shoe-horned into a series already in full stride. I think the character deserved a little more than that but then again Danvers has the least interesting origin story and when it comes to superhero films, origin story is key. It is why Black Widow, a real fan favorite, is yet to have her own film. The end of Avengers: Infinity War is devastating, so when Captain Marvel came along in such a ‘oh, we forgot to mention’ manner it was a bit of a cheap trick from Marvel. How else they could have introduced her I don’t know, truth is this was probably the best way. I went into the film with little enthusiasm if I’m being honest. Thing is, you had to see the film in order to fully understand Avengers: End Game. They got away with it with Black Panther and made an amazing origins film but Captain Marvel/ Carol Danvers are totally shoe-horned into the MCU here. However, I’m not sure the hardcore fans have much to complain about. It’s not a stand alone film but it is perhaps bigger than any other Marvel character has enjoyed. I like how not too much was made of this being a female superhero either, as it doesn’t matter, she’s as good as the male superheros and really doesn’t have to explain as much. As original screenwriter Nicole Perlman said, “We've been talking a lot about archetypes and what we want this movie to be about and just how to write a strong female superhero without making it Superman with boobs ... we'll catch ourselves and say, 'Wait a minute, what are we saying here about women in power?' Then we have to say, 'Why are we getting so hung up on that? We should just tell the best story and build the best character.” Marvel Studio went with the most current version of Ms. Marvel and added all the interesting but less confusing elements of Captain Marvel from over the years. The film is not the Shazam/Green Lantern bastard we would have feared had the film been announced ten years ago. It fits nicely into the MCU and is probably the most satisfying prequel I have ever seen. So it features Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury, making one think initially that the character couldn't stand on her own merit but this version of Fury is very different and somewhat fitting. The thing with Marvel – more so than DC – is that all of Marvel’s characters meet at one time or another and it feels like these stories make more sense now because of it. It gives the film a sense of authenticity, rather than it being for commercial reasons. The re-introduction of Agent Coulson is a treat for fans but it is also clever continuity. I love that the film is set in the 90s, an era full of dodgy superhero films, so it is nice to now have a good one with the decade as a backdrop. Like I say, I had no real enthusiasm but I trusted in Marvel and they impressed and entertained me once more. My only criticism is that it was fairly predictable, something a prequel will always have an issue with. I thought Brie Larson was perfect in the lead role and I liked Ben Mendelsohn’s performance very much. The 90s version of Fury is brilliant and all in all I liked everything about it. I feel happy that Ms. Marvel will fit in well within the End Game story line as Black Panther did in Infinity War but beyond that, this felt like a classic superhero film but without any of the usual flaws. It is also, quite purposely, a great 90s film with loads of 90s references. It won me over quite easily and made what was an uninteresting character to me, rather compelling.