Dr. K's Waiting Room

Released: 8 March 2019
Director: Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck
Distributor: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Budget: $152 to 175 million
Stars: Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Jude Law, Lashana Lynch, and Annette Bening

The Plot:
It’s the mid-nineties in the MCU and, across the galaxy, Kree super soldier Vers (Larson) is embroiled in a war against the shape-shifting Skrulls. When the Skrull campaign brings Vers to Earth, she encounters a young Nick Fury (Jackson) and embarks on a journey to recover a mysterious light-speed craft that also reveals the truth about her past as an Air Force pilot.

The Background:
Thanks to a 1953 lawsuit over Fawcett Comics’ superpowered champion, Billy Batson/Captain Marvel, Marvel Comics acquired the trademark to the name “Captain Marvel” in 1967. Originally a superpowered Kree warrior, Stan Lee and Gene Colan’s often-underused Mar-Vell famously died from cancer in 1982 and was followed by a number of successors, with easily the most prominent being Carol Danvers, who become a top-tier female superhero. Although development of a Carol Danvers-led Captain Marvel script can be traced back to 2013, and she very nearly made it into Avengers: Age of Ultron (Whedon, 2015), the critical and commercial success of Wonder Woman (Jenkins, 2017) undoubtedly influenced Kevin Feige’s desire to produce a strong, female-led superhero film for the MCU. After a number of challenges regarding her powers, delays, and potential meddling from some less-than-progressive executives, Brie Larson was joined by directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck and the film finally got underway. The script made alterations to the character to avoid comparisons to the Green Lantern Corps and present a different type of origin story. Since Carol was pushed as the MCU’s most powerful character, and we live in a disappointingly intolerant world, Larson faced an undue and sickening amount of backlash, though all involved were determined to present Carol as someone who draws strength from her femininity. With Samuel L. Jackson also cast, complex de-aging techniques were used to render him twenty-five years younger in place of a body double, and the film was dedicated to the legendary Stan Lee, who died during production. Despite the best efforts of misguided haters to scupper the film, Captain Marvel’s $1.128 billion made it a big hit at the box office; reviews also largely praised the film, particularly Larson’s performance and the blend of nuance, action, and emotion in the narrative. Captain Marvel went on to make an impression in Avengers: Endgame (Russo and Russo, 2019) and cameoed in adjacent spin-off series Ms. Marvel (Various, 2022) before returning to screens in a sequel.

The Review:
Captain Marvel is another of Marvel’s colourful characters who I know very little about; Mar-Vell was long dead by the time I started reading comics and I believe the mantle was in the hands of Monica Rambeau when I got into the medium. Still, I was somewhat aware of Mar-Vell and his time sharing a body with perennial sidekick Rick Jones, and I knew of Carol Danvers as she was occasionally mentioned as being in a coma (or something similar) following an encounter with the X-Man Anna Marie/Rogue, but I wasn’t very familiar with the character prior to the announcement of Captain Marvel. This wasn’t much of a problem for me as I was interested to see a powerful female hero introduced in her own solo movie and I had expected that the film would set the stage for bigger things in the MCU since we were right on the cusp of Avengers: Infinity War (Russo and Russo, 2018) at the time and Marvel’s then-recent acquisition of 20^th Century Fox had my imagination running wild over the possibilities of introducing the shape-shifting Skrulls to the MCU. I can fully understand the argument that Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) should’ve led the first female-orientated superhero film in the MCU given that she was already an established Avenger by 2019; hell, I would’ve liked to see a film centred around her, Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Nick Fury, and Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) that explored into their pasts and the formation of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division (S.H.I.E.L.D.), especially after the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier (Russo and Russo, 2014). Sadly, it took some time for Black Widow to get her own solo film, but I didn’t mind Captain Marvel beating her to that accolade as she was framed as being a game-changer in the MCU hierarchy and it made some narrative sense given how the MCU was pushing towards cosmic adventures in Phase Two and Three.

Captain Marvel starts with Carol out in the galaxy with no memory of her true identity and already a formidable superpowered warrior. Believing herself to be a Kree soldier named “Vers”, she sees herself as a peacekeeping hero in an increasingly chaotic universe and wouldn’t question her past if she didn’t possess a broken dog tag that gave her her name or dream of a life she doesn’t remember. This uncertainty about her true past and nature makes her powers dangerous and unpredictable; under the tutelage of Yon-Rogg (Law) of Starforce, she is pushed to overcome her weaknesses and be a stoic, unflinching soldier. Vers and Yon-Rogg have a mutual respect for one another and enjoy regular sparring sessions, but he’s riled by her cavalier attitude; she would rather make flippant remarks and wind him up than learn to control her strange energy-based powers, a formidable ability she believes was bestowed upon her by the Kree but one that Yon-Rogg feels she is overly reliant on and which she’s told can be removed from her at any time. Despite the volatile nature of her powers, her impulsive nature, and her offhand attitude towards authority, Vers is a key member of Starforce; led by Yon-Rogg and commanded by the Supreme Intelligence (Bening) – the artificial intelligence that governs Kree society – the team is comprised of sniper Minn-Erva (Gemma Chan), marksman Att-Lass (Algenis Pérez Soto), powerhouse Bron-Char (Rune Temte), and swordsman Korath (Djimon Hounsou). While Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace) is seen as more of a blunt instrument, bombing targets from afar with his mighty fleet, Starforce goes in at ground level for high-risk infiltration missions. Vers’ dedication to her team and the Kree is without question until she’s captured by Skrull soldiers and subjected to their mind probe, which provides glimpses of an entire life on Earth in which Carol fought to earn her rightful place in the sky as an Air Force pilot. Although initially believing that the Skrulls have implanted false memories into her head, she’s nonetheless left stranded on Earth after escaping their ship and forced to join forces with a young Nick Fury to locate an experimental light-speed engine and its creator, Doctor Wendy Lawson (Bening), a recurring figure in Vers’ dreams, before the Skrulls. Along the way, Vers is stunned to discover that her dreams are memories of her former life on Earth, one that was suppressed by the Kree, and is devastated to learn that the dogma she’s devoted her life to has all been based on a lie.

It’s great to see Coulson back in the MCU; while I appreciated that his death was a significant emotional trigger to galvanise the Avengers, I always felt like he’d been offed too soon, but equally disliked that his death was undone in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013 to 2020), even if that show is now considered non-canon. Coulson doesn’t have a huge role here; he’s simply a fledgling S.H.I.E.L.D. agent still earning Fury’s trust and is mostly relegated to comedy relief, but it was nice to see him and get a sense of how he entered Fury’s inner circle. When the Skrulls attempt to order S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to take in Fury dead or alive for colluding with Vers, Coulson immediately senses something isn’t right and chooses loyalty over orders, something which no doubt Fury kept in mind in the years since. It’s even better to delve into Fury’s past; rather than being the all-knowing director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Fury is an active field agent whose perception of the world is upended by Vers, who confirms the presence of alien life (and antagonists) and thus sets Fury on the path to preparing Earth’s defences. A pragmatic and proactive individual, Fury is careful about who he trusts but stands against injustice in all forms; naturally, he’s dismissive of Vers’ claims of an alien invasion since he’s never encountered aliens or superheroes before but he dedicates himself to assisting the Skrull refugees once the truth is uncovered. This mission takes him not only across the country but into space, giving Fury a crash-course in advanced technology and introducing him to the vast and dangerous cosmic threats out in the galaxy through artifacts like the Tesseract. However, as great as it is to see a younger, far less jaded Nick Fury in action, he’s a bit too much of a goof at times. I’m happy for him to go ga-ga over a cute kitty cat, for example, but randomly singing, laughing, and joking seems contrary to his character and I can only assume that he saw some serious shit between this movie and The Avengers/Avengers Assemble (Whedon, 2012). Also, yes, I was a little disappointed that Fury lost his eye from an errant scratch from Goose (Reggie, Archie, Rizzo, and Gonzo), this weird cat-alien “Flerken” that swallows objects whole using tentacles, rather than this injury either being left a mystery or attributed to something a little less comedic.

Thanks to the Kree, Vers (and the audience) believes that the shape-shifting Skrulls are the film’s antagonists; depicted as terrorists who can assume the form of anyone they see, they can only mimic ( or “sim”) the most recent memories of their hosts, raising Fury’s suspicions about S.H.I.E.L.D. director R. Keller (Mendelsohn). Their invasive probing of Vers details they plan to acquire Dr. Lawson’s light-speed drive to aid in their warring ways, but it turns out that Talos (ibid) and his wife, Soren (Sharon Blynn), are actually refugees who were being aided by Dr. Lawson (actually renegade Kree scientist Mar-Vell), who wished to spirit them to safety after the destruction of their home world at the hands of her race. As Keller, Talos adopts a very strait-laced and bureaucratic demeanour but, in his true Skrull form, he’s much more laidback and speaks with an Australian twang that makes him an affable personality. There’s a tragedy to Talos, who simply wants to be reunited with his people and escape the conflict, and he’s depicted as a simple man driven to extremes in order to free his people, though the blood on his hands is nothing compared to the oppressive nature of the Kree. After being subjected to the Skrull mind probe and finding herself stranded on Earth, Vers’ dreams manifest in real life as her memories bubble to the surface and, seeing a link between her dreams and Project: Pegasus, Vers and Fury head to Louisiana to meet with Captain Maria Rambeau (Lynch), the last person who saw Dr. Lawson alive. Vers is stunned when Maria and her young daughter, Monica (Akira Akbar), recognise her as their old friend, Captain Carol Danvers, an Air Force pilot presumed dead six years ago. Despite being shocked at her wingman’s return, Maria and Monica fill in some of the gaps in Carol’s memory, revealing she was a test pilot for Dr. Lawson, a woman she greatly admired (hence why the Carol sees her when she communes with the Supreme Intelligence). Carol’s entire life philosophy turns on its head when Talos and Soren play black box audio of her plane being shot down, revealing she was charged by Dr. Lawson to carry on her work and ended up being supercharged when she tried to keep the energy core out of Yon-Rogg’s hands. Although robbed of his prize, he chose to take the amnesiac Carol as compensation and indoctrinate her into the Kree way of life in order to manipulate her powers to expand their ruthless campaign against the Skrulls.

The Nitty-Gritty:
Captain Marvel balances a few different genres really well; it starts as a space-epic and, whenever cosmic elements arise, very closely echoes the look and feel of the Guardians of the Galaxy films (Gunn, 2014 to 2023); when Vers crash-lands on Earth and teams up with Fury, it becomes a road trip, buddy-cop take on Thor (Branagh, 2011) as Vers is a super powerful fish-out-of-water. Also, this is a nostalgia trip back to an era very close to my heart, the good old nineties; as such, period accurate fashion, arcade machines, and many references to the Grunge music scene are commonplace. These elements are sometimes a bit in your face (Vers crashes into a Blockbuster, walks around in a Nine Inch Nails t-shirt, and struggles to navigate the thankfully long forgotten realm of dial-up internet) but, generally, they act simply as a backdrop and framing device. Using the nineties is a nice change of pace as well, since all the nostalgia seems to revolve around the eighties these days, and explores a previously unknown time in the wider MCU. For the most part, all these elements come together really well; despite all the negativity I read about Larson and her being a stoic, unemotional robot in the trailers, Vers is actually a very emotive and charming character who makes jokes and quips at the expense of her teammates (and to the frustration of Yon-Rogg) and has a very dry sense of humour most of the time. Larson also expresses Carol’s conflicting emotions about her past and the revelations she uncovers really well, turning sadness and guilt into focused anger. Honestly, I shouldn’t even have to be commenting on this, as trailers are just that…trailers, they show only glimpses of a movie and the characters so to judge Larson completely on the trailers is laughable, especially considering there are plenty of trailers in the MCU that show characters just frowning or being stoic and serious.

Although I enjoyed seeing the return of Korath and Ronan, their characters don’t get much screen time and I do feel like the film missed a trick by not swapping Bron-Char out for Ronan to expand his character and his prejudices more. I’m not massively upset about this as the focus is on Carol rather than Starforce, but again it feels like they could’ve just had Vers, Yon-Rogg, and Korath be an elite three-person team and had more time to develop their characters instead of pushing four of them to the side. On the plus side, I was very surprised by how well the Skrulls came off, especially as their characterisation is very different from the source material; although they can still shape-shift and are clearly capable of defending themselves, the Skrulls are recast as oppressed and clearly innocent parties in the Kree/Skrull war. Although this initially seemed to lessen the Skrull threat in the MCU, we’ve since seen that antagonistic Skrulls do exist so, while my prediction that they would be an ongoing threat throughout Phase Four wasn’t quite on the money, they’re still portrayed as a surprisingly nuanced race. I’m no Jude Law fan but he did pretty well in this role; he played the smarmy, self-assured leader of Starforce very well and I enjoyed the playful chemistry between him and Vers, which borders on respect, attraction, and frustration due to her impulsive nature and his more pragmatic sensibilities. Carol’s relationship with Fury is somewhat similar; she enjoys toying with him and boasting of the Kree’s reputation as “noble warrior heroes” but he’s so intrigued by aliens that he willingly joins her in her investigation into Project: Pegasus despite the constant injury to his left eye. Similarly, Vers chooses to rescue Fury when the Skrulls target him despite Yon-Rogg’s orders, thus establishing a trust between the two that sees her return to Earth to answer his emergency call and her first concern being his welfare.

Although much of the action takes place on Earth, Captain Marvel is full of impressive visual and practical effects; Starforce (and Captain Marvel) reap the benefits of this through some fantastic costume design, which translates Captain Marvel’s outfit to the big screen in immaculate detail and even includes some nods to her other colour schemes when she decides to abandon her Kree colours. Although the Flerken’s effects are a little dodgy, the perfect balance between practical and visual effects bring the Skrulls to life and transform the actors into distinctly different characters, and the progression of de-aging technology is frankly astounding even now (even if Jackson’s age is betrayed during his more active moments). Between the road trip and detective work, there are some pretty solid action sequences; thanks to Goose’s true nature as a weird Lovecraftian alien-monster and Maria’s piloting skills, Carol’s allies are able to contribute to the finale, which sees Fury acknowledge Talos as a friend and ally and Maria take on Minn-Erva in an awesome dogfight sequence that takes more than a little inspiration from Independence Day (Emmerich, 1996). The opening sequence on the foggy world of Torfa shows how ruthless Starforce are when engaging the Skrulls and perfectly establishes the latter’s ability to mimic the appearances of others, and we even get to see just how capable and tenacious Vers is when she resists the Skrull mind probe and fights them off even with her hands and feet bound. Indeed, it should be no surprise that the titular heroine benefits the most from the action sequences; not only does Carol done a fantastically comic accurate suit but she’s capable of some amazing feats with her cosmic powers, which allow her to fire energy blasts, fly, and make her superhumanly durable. Her tenacity for chasing down her enemies is one of her most defining characteristics; highly suspicious of all since she’s been conditioned to believe the Skrulls are her mortal enemy, she has no compunction about attacking old women in broad daylight, leading to a fun action sequence on a train. Even before Carol obtained her unparalleled cosmic powers, she was a skilled enough pilot to engage with a Kree starship but, once she unlocks her true power, Carol makes short work of her former teammates with her concussive energy blasts and cuts through Ronan’s entire armada like it was nothing, effectively establishing her as one of the most powerful superhuman forces in the MCU.

After having her memory jogged by the black box recording, Carol leads Talos to the cloaked ship in Earth orbit and it’s discovered that the energy core that allowed Mar-Vell to create her light-speed energy is none other than the Tesseract. More importantly, Talos is finally reunited with his wife and child but their lives, and those of the other Skrull refugees, are immediately threatened by Yon-Rogg and Carol’s former Starforce teammates. Thanks to an inhibitor chip suppressing her cosmic powers, Carol’s forced into a confrontation with the Supreme Intelligence where the xenophobic brutality of the Kree is exposed for her to witness, and to fight against. The Supreme Intelligence’s attempts to break Carol’s spirit only galvanises her when she realises that every time she ever got knocked down, she got back up for more, and this fighting spirit spurs her to reclaim her human name, break her bonds, destroy her inhibitor chip, and finally realise the full extent of her powers, which sees her adopt a golden hue almost akin to a Super Saiyan. Having witnessed the awesome extent of Carol’s true power, Yon-Rogg attempts to goad her into battling him on equal ground but, in a fantastic subversion of expectations, she simply knocks his ass down and refuses to rise to the bait. Finally reconciling her past with her present, Carol ships Yon-Rogg back to the Kree home world and vows not only to end their warring ways but also to find the Skrulls a new home away from further conflict. Before heading out into the galaxy, Carol bids farewell to Maria and Monica and hands Fury the modified pager device seen at the end of Avengers: Infinity War, for use “in emergencies only”. His eye opened to impending cosmic threats, Fury begins outlining defensive measures for the world, dubbing it the “Avenger Initiative” after Carol’s call-sign, which brings the MCU full circle and emphasises Carol’s influence in the wider MCU. As for post-credits scenes, the first is a mid-credits scene in which Carol drops in on the survivors from Avengers: Infinity War and the second is a relatively lacklustre sequence in which Goose coughs up the Tesseract on Fury’s desk.

The Summary:
There was a lot of toxic backlash surrounding Captain Marvel when it first released; I’m not entirely sure what the perception of Brie Larson and her performance is now as it’s been a while since we’ve seen her in the MCU, but I was pleasantly surprised with how her solo film turned out. As a mixture of the first Guardians of the Galaxy and Thor, Captain Marvel separated itself not just by introducing a strong, new female hero into the MCU but in its nineties setting and shedding new light on Fury and Coulson’s early S.H.I.E.L.D. days. I thought Brie Larson was great; she played Vers as an arrogant and proud warrior and contrasted this wonderfully with Carol’s more conflicted but no less determined humanity and I enjoyed her interactions with her supporting cast, which showed her to be a very nuanced character fully capable of cracking jokes, smiling, and applying herself in a fight. Obviously, Captain Marvel is framed primarily as a female-led film with a feminist agenda about females being powerful and independent but it wasn’t as in your face as some haters would have you believe; Vers is mostly portrayed as an equal among men, especially on Earth, and is only ever seen as less due to her inability to control her powers and emotions. This is primarily beaten into her by Yon-Rogg, a character who isn’t exactly a bastion of emotion and righteousness, and gives her an oppressive male force to rally against but it’s telling that the Supreme Intelligence takes the form of a strong, manipulative, and ruthless woman, with both attempting to force Carol into bending to their will by trying to degrade and control her. I enjoyed that Captain Marvel framed itself fun buddy-cop movie with science-fiction influences and action sequences but also that it told a relatable story of a strong-willed female overcoming the odds and standing up against injustice, whether it’s against her or a race of shape-changing refugees or pits her against one of the galaxy’s most formidable armadas and I really hope Marvel double-down on Carol’s importance to the hierarchy of the MCU, especially on the cosmic side of things.

My Rating:

Great Stuff

Did you enjoy Captain Marvel? What did you think to Brie Larson’s performance and Carol’s characterisation in the film? Were you surprised that the Skrulls were changed to be a less antagonistic threat? Did you see Yon-Rogg’s heel turn coming? What did you think to Carol’s power level and seeing her go full Super Saiyan at the end? Would you have liked to see a little more from Ronan and Starforce? Were you disappointed by the way Fury lost his eye and what did you think to the film’s de-aging effects? To share your thoughts on Captain Marvel, whatever they may be, drop them below or leave a comment on my social media and be sure to check out my other Captain Marvel content.