And Then There Was Captain Marvel

Every now and then a comic book company will create a character that they will spend decades screwing over in an effort to make its other comic characters look good in comparison. On the DC Comics’ side, it’s the Hawks (Hawkman/Hawkgirl/Hawkwoman) who are destined to always be killed and reincarnated and struggle to find each other over and over again. They are doomed to never have a happy ending. Marvel Comics has a character it has abused just as badly – that character is Captain Marvel.

Seven beings have called themselves Captain Marvel in the long history of that franchise, but the one that will finally make it to the big screen is Carol Danvers, who has been around since 1968. She is a former Air Force pilot, Security Officer and journalist. She is also a superhero who has had a rough time being a hero particularly when she has teamed up with other heroes who don’t have her back. She has more in common with Jessica Jones than anyone really should be comfortable with.

Like Jones, she was kidnapped and raped by her kidnapper. Whereas Jones was gone for eight months (with no one looking for her), Danvers was taken by her kidnapper with the blessings of the Avengers. Yeah, you read that right – the Avengers knowingly allowed her to be secreted with her kidnapper in another dimension for a year. Thankfully, that storyline ended with Danvers walking away from the Avengers after she freed herself, but not before calling them out for their crap.

Brie Larson as Captain MarvelI’m hoping the Carol Danvers we’ll see will be the version of Captain Marvel that emerged from that storytelling fiasco minus the alcoholism. I hope that she’ll be strong, confident and bad-ass as hell and I don’t care whether she sports the mohawk haircut and/or the helmet. It’s not important.

As badly as she has been abused by Marvel Comics, I cheered when it was announced that she was going to get a movie and that Academy Award winner, Brie Larson would play Carol Danvers. Captain Marvel has been part of the Avengers, S.H.I.E.L.D., the X-Men,  and the Guardians of the Galaxy. She is currently the strongest, most powerful human character in the Marvel universe. Note that I didn’t say “most powerful female character.”  She is the most powerful human character. Period.

I was concerned that a director for this movie had not been named yet and that its release date has been pushed back to March 2019. However, on 19 April 2017, The Verge reported that Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck would be co-directors for the film. That said, this is a movie that needs to made and I’m looking forward to seeing Marvel’s most powerful human character finally get the screen time she deserves.

Last year, Dan Casey (Dan Cave) released the below video, Captain Marvel: Everything You Need to Know!  It is the best tutorial on the character I have found to date.