Knowing anything about Marvel Comics is to know Captain Marvel is not one to be trifled with, and the MCU version of the character made that very clear in Avengers: Endgame. Brie Larson, the actress who portrays Captain Marvel for Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios, never truly put her full power on display in her origin story, in 2019’s Captain Marvel, but that changed when Thanos came around.
Paged by Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) as he flaked away following Thanos’ snap at the conclusion of Avengers: Infinity War, Captain Marvel appeared with impeccable timing during the legendary all-out war against the Mad Titan and his intergalactic army, effortlessly destroying one of his gunships as it rained down hellfire on the Avengers, the Guardians of the Galaxy and every other good guy and gal.
There was Carol Danvers, in all of her splendor, glowing with the power granted to her by the Tesseract (the Space Stone), meaning she is technically one of the most OP characters in existence — seeing as her powers come from an Infinity Stone. As she nearly punched Thanos into submission, he was forced to detach the Power Stone from the Infinity Gauntlet to punch her with it using his one free hand; or it would’ve been game over for Gamora’s adoptive dad.
It was mostly in that instant that Larson realized Captain Marvel needed to be nerfed to remain viable to the MCU and its audiences, lest she run the risk of having precious few who could challenge her. Speaking from SpaceCon 2025 in San Antonio, she explained why Feige turned Danvers down a bit in The Marvels, where she teams with Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) and Kamala Khan a.k.a. Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani).
“I think it’s an important message for people to realize that even the best of us have limitations, and not one person can do everything. I, as a human being, don’t want to feel like I’m the difference between the world collapsing and being alive again. We need everybody. It takes all of us and all our superpowers to make this planet what it is.
“You don’t want a character who has no flaws. It got to the point where if Captain Marvel is in a fight, she’s going to win every single time. Every time. And so, it felt like her biggest challenge then would be learning to lean on other people. And I think that’s real. I think if you’re a real can-do person, it can be really hard to trust someone else.”
Sisterhood of the Traveling Marvels
Credit: MovieStillsDB
The current MCU version of Captain Marvel is now less One Punch Man and more a part of the larger collective of Avengers and their allies, something one wouldn’t have necessarily thought possible if they were trying to imagine Danvers in The Marvels through the scope of the original Captain Marvel film, or through that of her comic arc, where she often flexes her cosmic muscle with little to no help from others. Instead, Larson sought to soften Captain Marvel, despite the character being hardened by loss and having disappeared from Earth to fight wars in other galaxies — leading to the sisterhood approach that defines The Marvels.
“In this case, you’re trusting two women that your heart is connected to. It’s like they’re her sisters. And so, it feels really vulnerable. You want to step in, but every time she tries to step in, they literally switch places and the other person has to handle it. I thought that the whole metaphor of it was really special and incredible, and I just really liked sharing that type of responsibility with them.”
While it has neither been announced nor confirmed that Larson will reprise her role as Captain Marvel in Avengers: Doomsday, it feels mostly improbable she won’t play some part in trying to defeat Victor von Doom and his rumored variants (it’s giving Kang the Conqueror, yes?). Then again, she was absent from Avengers: Infinity War, somewhere fighting the aforementioned wars on other planets, so maybe her return is entirely tied to Avengers: Secret Wars, where her abilities would most certainly be needed again… nerfed or not.
Captain Marvel and The Marvels are both currently streaming on Disney+.
Release Date
November 10, 2023
Runtime
105 minutes
Director
Nia DaCosta
Writers
Megan McDonnell, Elissa Karasik, Nia DaCosta
Producers
Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Matthew Jenkins, Jonathan Schwartz
Prequel(s)
Captain Marvel
Brie Larson
Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel
Teyonah Parris
Monica Rambeau