Carol Danvers becomes one of the universe’s most powerful heroes when Earth is caught in the middle of a galactic war between two alien races.
The character of Carol Danvers a/k/a Captain Marvel, inherited her superpowers much like Bruce Banner, by accident. I won’t go into details as that element of her story is revealed about halfway through the movie but it makes for an interesting comparison. She was not born with her powers, like Thor, but acquired them in a selfless act of bravery, much like Bruce Banner. In her first solo outing as the enigmatic Captain Marvel, Brie Larson lights up the screen with charisma, magnetism, and pure, unadulterated enthusiasm.
It is 1995 and we are first introduced to our titular character, Vers, who is a warrior and member of Starforce on the planet of Hala, the homeworld of the Kree Empire, a technologically advanced alien race. She has recurring nightmares of encounters she experienced on a far-off planet called Earth but she has never been there. Along with her commanding officer, Yon-Rogg (Jude Law), and their platoon of soldiers, they embark on a mission to rescue one of their undercover spies from their sworn enemy, the Skrulls, a shapeshifting race of aliens, but in the ensuing firefight, she is captured by them and endures a deep memory probe where more recollections of Earth begin to surface, in particular, a woman named Dr. Wendy Lawson (Annette Bening) of the U.S. Air Force. Vers manages to break out of the Skrulls’ spaceship in an escape pod which crashlands on Earth inside a Blockbuster video store and as a result, attracts the attention of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg).
After a brief conversation in which she informs the two men that she is from another world and is in pursuit of a group of Skrull aliens who can shapeshift, one of the Skrulls opens fire on her and she quickly sidesteps Fury and Coulson and chases after the shooter who has taken on human form. She winds up on a speeding train with Fury and Coulson in their car in hot pursuit. Fury receives a phone call from Agent Coulson who states that he is still in the parking lot of the Blockbuster store and when the Skrull who is camouflaged as Coulson realizes this, Fury grabs the wheel and the car crashes, killing the Skrull. Eventually, Fury and Vers meet up at an old bar in the desert where she tells him about her story and in particular, Dr. Wendy Lawson. He takes her to a secret military base in the mountains where Lawson was once stationed but they are quickly apprehended and locked away in confinement. Combining their wits, they manage to escape and as Vers’ memories of earth gradually come back to her, she realizes that she was a pilot in the Air Force and makes her way to Louisiana with Fury to meet up with her old Air Force colleague and best friend, Maria Rambeau (Lashana Lynch). There, with the help of Maria, a lot of her hazy memories come into focus and people she thought were friends and those she always knew as enemies show their true colors and as she assumes her true identity, she prepares for battle as Yon-Rogg makes his way to earth to claim something he states is rightfully his and will stop at nothing to achieve his goal.
Although there have been plenty of strong female characters throughout the Marvel Universe, Black Widow, Scarlet Witch, Valkyrie, Maria Hill, Captain Marvel is the first to receive her own feature film and undoubtedly, in its ensuing success, Marvel would be wise to follow it up with more female-led adventures. With the Disney/20th Century Fox merger, other properties, such as the X-Men, means that future Marvel movies can now incorporate characters from that universe, including Storm, Jean Grey, Rogue, Mystique, and Lady Deathstrike, to name but a few. Brie Larson is fearless in her portrayal as the superhero who some say will square off against Thanos in “Avengers: Endgame,” but because I’ve never read any of the Marvel comics, I have no idea how that will play out and eagerly await its release on April 26th. Samuel L. Jackson is in top form as Nick Fury and we finally get to see how he lost that left eye. Clark Gregg is criminally underused but his onscreen presence reminds us how sorely he has been missed since his demise in “The Avengers.” Jude Law and Annette Bening perform admirably, both chewing up the scenery as they go but make no mistake, “Captain Marvel” belongs squarely to Brie Larson. She is confident without being cocky, self-reliant, but at times, conflicted, as she tries to understand the person she thinks she is, the person she once was, and the person she has yet to become. I for one, cannot wait to see her next adventure and make sure to wait for two post-credit scenes, one that directly links to “Avengers: Endgame.” “Captain Marvel” most certainly lives up to her name.
In theaters Friday, March 8th
