Spoiler-Free Movie Review: CAPTAIN MARVEL

Comic book creators love captains. More than any other ranks, this is the one that has adorned an amazing amount of characters, from Captain America to Captain Atom, not forgetting Captain Britain, Captain Canuck, Captain Planet or Captain Caveman, and too many others to mention.

But the case of CAPTAIN MARVEL, who is featured in the new MCU movie that I will review in a few paragraphs, is an interesting one. The name has been shared by at least 6 comic book characters, 4 of them already in the rather crowded Marvel Universe. An exhaustive dissertation of their history and significance would require a tome in itself, and I will instead try to compact this history in a few words.

The first superhero to be branded with the name goes back all the way to 1939, as writer Bill Parker and artist C. C. Beck, working for Fawcett Comics, came up with a cape-wearing, super-strong flying superhero attired in primary colors that garnered record sales for its company. If it sounds like Superman, it's no coincidence. Taking a cue from its rival National Comics, Fawcett drew indeed inspiration from Superman with their own CAPTAIN MARVEL, whose source of power came from magic instead of ''science'', and whose tone was overall more humorous than the Last Son of Krypton's, but otherwise cut a rather familiar figure. Even the covers of their first appearances bore a certain similarity. By 1952, an exasperated National Comics went to court and ordered Fawcett to cease and desist with the adventures of the ''Big Red Cheese'', and that first Captain Marvel vanished until DC Comics acquired the rights and took over his destiny in 1972.

What did those car do to those people!? The covers for both SUPERMAN's first appearance in ACTION COMICS #1 in 1938, and CAPTAIN MARVEL's debut in WHIZ COMICS #2  in 1940 feature the two strongmen manhandling automobiles. 

The name itself proved too tempting to ignore and M. F. Enterprises, headed by artist and entrepreneur Myron Fass, released in 1966 six issues of a comic named CAPTAIN MARVEL, created by legendary artist Carl Burgos (Who had originated the original Human Torch in the 1939 first issue of MARVEL COMICS)  about an alien android with the rather unique ability to detach his head and limbs and govern them individually. Fass had an unhealthy tendency to infringe on trademarks and use names that were owned by other publishers, with bad guys named Dr. Fate, Plastic Man or The Bat. Even his young ward was named Billy Baxton, not far removed from Fawcett's Billy Batson who would turn into the original Captain Marvel when uttering the magic word ''Shazam''. This overall silly comic book, a personal favorite guilty pleasure, ended publication quickly, but The story goes that Fass was convinced to stop the adventures of his Captain Marvel by Marvel Comics themselves, who felt the name was a natural for them, and offered Fass a settlement of $4500 to acquire the copyright. Fass continued with his other more profitable endeavor of publishing the EERIE PUBLICATIONS line until its demise in 1981. 

Copyright infringement be damned, CAPTAIN MARVEL fears no one. Cover art by Carl Burgos and Leon Francho.

A year after Myron's attempt at owning that name, Stan Lee, assisted on art by Gene Colan, unleashed his very own CAPTAIN MARVEL onto the world in the pages of MARVEL SUPER-HEROES #12. This time, the good Captain was an alien warrior from the Kree Intergalactic Empire sent to Earth as an observer, in order to prepare an invasion. Not unlike the Silver Surfer before him, he switches allegiances after falling in love with the Human Race (We are so darn adorable) and becomes its protector. 

Cover art by Gene Colan for MARVEL SUPER-HEROES #12, featuring CAPTAIN MARVEL's debut. At the time, he was more of less inspired by DC's own ADAM STRANGE and FLASH GORDON.

The character received a major revamp with issue 17 of his own series in 1969 by the team of Roy Thomas and artist Gil Kane. Not only was he sporting a new costume, but a shared attribute with the Fawcett Captain Marvel, where a young man, in this case superhero groupie by excellence Rick Jones (who had previously spent time as sidekick to the Hulk and Captain America) would summon the superhero from the ether, or as it may be here, the Negative Zone. The revamp was only so successful, and the series was cancelled with issue #21. The character still thrived, Roy Thomas notably using him in his Avengers ''Kree-Skrull war'' story line in 1971, which prompted the series to be revived in 1972.

Taking a cue from C.C. Beck's CAPTAIN MARVEL, a young man, Rick Jones, summons a superhero out of nowhere, in this page by Gil Kane from CAPTAIN MARVEL #17 (October 1969)

But it was Jim Starlin who gave the good Captain a major shot in the arm, and fully exploited his potential when he took over with issue 25. The stories exploited further a cosmic setting, and tackling deeper, complex story-lines. The artist so defined the character that he actually killed him off in his outstanding THE DEATH OF CAPTAIN MARVEL graphic novel in 1982. That such a powerful being could be done in by something as mundane as cancer, and the fact that the character remained dead until now, is something rather unique in comic books, where death is usually far from being a finality.

A poignant original page from Jim Starlin's masterpiece THE DEATH OF CAPTAIN MARVEL, which launched the Marvel Graphic Novel series in 1982.

After his demise, the name was up for grabs, and many were the heroes to adopt it, if only temporarily. In 1982, New Orleans patrol member Monica Rambeau was the first to don the name, but was unrelated to the Kree warrior (And changed her name later to Photon, Pulsar and Spectrum). Eagle eyed viewers will notice that she appears as a child in the new movie in a semi-pivotal role.

The first female black super-hero to become a  member of the Avengers, and would even become for a moment their leader. Monica Raimbeau as CAPTAIN MARVEL in her second appearance in AVENGERS # 227 (January 1983). Cover by Sal Buscema and Brett Breeding.

In 1993, it was revealed that Mar-Vell had a genetically engineered son, Genis-Vell, who was also known by the names Legacy, Photon, and Captain Marvel. Confused yet?

Another Kree who crash landed on Earth in 2000, Noh-Varr, was first known under the pseudonym Marvel Boy, until he graduated finally to Captain Marvel himself, and then changed his name to The Protector.

The Captain Marvel featured in the film, Carol Danvers, is the longest running character to have followed in Mar-Vell's footsteps. The second issue of the adventures of Captain Marvel in 1968 featured a United Air Force Head of Security who would become Mar-Vell's ally and ultimately his successor of sorts when a lab explosion fuses her genes with the Kree hero, making her in fact a Human/Kree hybrid. 

Carol Danvers' introduction in MARVEL SUPER-HEROES #13 in 1968, in her meeting with Dr. Walter Lawson, Mar-Vell's secret identity.

She donned the name MS.MARVEL in the comic of the same name in 1977, and kept that moniker for years, becoming at time known as Binary and Warbird, to finally become CAPTAIN MARVEL by 2012 (although she had briefly adopted the name in 2005 in a n alternate reality story-line in the series HOUSE OF M).

Carol Danvers' many alter-egos through the years, namely MS.MARVEL, WARBIRD, BINARY and CAPTAIN MARVEL.

Danvers' story in comics is a complex one, and I wouldn't dare trying to condense it here. Suffice it to say that for a character that was meant as a feminist icon, from her name MS. Marvel, which was rather significant in the seventies where women were still defined either as Mrs or Miss, to the statement on the cover saying ''This female fights back!'', the character has had difficulties in her early days representing a truly feminist ideal. The skimpy outfit, often ripped to shreds on covers, her being raped in a rather infamous 1980 Avengers story-line, or this embarrassing moment from Ms. Marvel #7, all bear witness to a rather flawed, and masculine, view of a what makes a super-heroine.

''A man she will worship as a God.'' . Original Jim Mooney and Joe Sinnott artwork for MS. MARVEL #7 (July 1977). Chris Claremont's script can't be exactly described as empowering. Even in context, this is embarrassing.

A recent story-line from 2018 in THE LIFE OF CAPTAIN MARVEL actually establish a brand new twist on her origins, making her the daughter of a female Kree warrior and a human, in a plot very reminiscent of AQUAMAN's origin story, right down to the lighthouse keeper finding a stranded alien woman. Having part of her power and legacy coming from her own mother, and not specifically from the accident with Mar-Vell, helps to ground the feminist narrative a bit more strongly. There are also some interesting elements through her history, from a bout with alcoholism, her impulsiveness and her amnesia that, in the words of author Gerry Conway, helps to set a “parallel between her quest for identity, and the modern woman’s quest for raised consciousness,for self-liberation, for identity. In a way, that's intentional. Ms. Marvel, because of her name if nothing else, is influenced, to a great extent, by the move towards women's liberation. She is not a Marvel Girl; she's a woman. Not a Miss or a Mrs.- a Ms. Her own person. Herself ”. 

There is definitely a strong presence of that theme in Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck's film, where Brie Larson's Kree warrior Vers struggle with memories of a past she is unfamiliar with, and is on a quest to discover who she really is, a journey that may just help her tap into an unexpected power she possess. The feminist subtext couldn't be any clearer. The character's amnesia, which is never portrayed as being debilitating, is an engrossing engine that keeps the film going and gives it a lot of heart. The story by the directorial team and Geneva Robertson-Dworet does also carry a bit of political subtext that feels especially relevant these days, even though it can't keep all of its plot twists from being guessed way ahead of time. But it does contain a few good ones that may surprise longtime comic book readers.

The 90s settings is a fun way to exploit fully the ''ghosting'' technology that mapped younger versions of Kurt Russell, Michael Douglas or Robert Downey Jr.'s faces on their bodies in earlier installments of the MCU filmography, giving us a rather convincing thirty-something Samuel Jackson (as well as a twenty-something Clark Cregg) reprising his role as youthful and not quite as world-weary, agent Nick Fury. The technology, which also helped resurrect Peter Cushing for ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY, has never been used so extensively before, and open doors to not only actors being able to be younger for a whole film (Would SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY known a better fate if Harrison Ford would have played himself as a younger man?), but also for performers to be allegedly able to use body doubles when they have previous engagement. 

Brie Larson as Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury in a scene from CAPTAIN MARVEL.

Samuel L. Jackson and Brie Larson share great chemistry, trading banter all through the film, and making one wish for a reunion that may, or may not happen in the upcoming AVENGERS: ENDGAME. The supporting cast is equally strong, including an emotional portrayal by Lashana Lynch as Maria Rambeau (The aforementioned Monica Rameau's mother and Carole Danvers' best friend). It has to be noted that there is no love interest in CAPTAIN MARVEL. Carol Danvers doesn't need to be defined by her relationship to a man. Her closest bond is in fact with her best friend Maria Rambeau, her fellow fighter pilot, who tells her in a touching moment: "You were the most powerful woman I knew right before you could shoot fire from your fists". As for the rest of the stellar cast, Jude Law is serviceable as Vers' mentor Yon-Rogg, and both Ben Mendelsohn as the Skrull leader Talos and Annette Bening in a surprising dual role seem to have a lot of fun with their characters. 

Ben Mendelsohn as Skrull leader Talos and his shape shifting cohorts.

Speaking of the Skrulls, as a comic book fan, I have to admit I was overjoyed by the inclusion of one of the most ancient alien race in the Marvel intergalactic stable, and how close to their original design they were. The film goes in some interesting directions with the shape-shifting alien race, but one feels that their full potential have yet to be realized. And could the FANTASTIC FOUR be far away, now that one of their earliest foes have now entered the Marvel Universe? We know that they have now reverted ownership to Disney from Fox, and a reboot is most likely imminent.

The first appearance of the Skrulls in the pages of FANTASTIC FOUR #2, all the way back in January 1962.

CAPTAIN MARVEL is a worthy addition to the MCU menagerie of heroes, and will provide some much needed muscles in their upcoming conflicts, as well as opening up further the space frontier that was conquered by the GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY. It may be Marvel's first film featuring a female superhero as its main star, it may not be able to benefit from the cultural impact WONDER WOMAN had as a feminist benchmark in blockbuster superhero film-making, having come second in that particular game. Even though it did awaken hordes of insecure incels threatened by Brie Larson's statements about the lack of diversity at press junkets and her refusal to applaud when accused sexual harasser Casey Affleck took the stage at the 2017 Oscars. It could also be the fear of losing the hegemony of male dominated blockbusters, but let's face it, this is one monopoly that is in no danger of going away. Films like WONDER WOMAN and CAPTAIN MARVEL, or female leads like Rey and Jyn Erso in the recent STAR WARS movies are important role models for young women and girls who can look up to something else than princesses and Bratz. And not only little girls. I remember seeing a young boy miming using a bow and arrow coming out of the theater showing WONDER WOMAN, evoking the fierce Amazon Warriors from Themiscyra. 

''I’m kind of done with you telling me what I can’t do.'' Carole Danvers says at one point in the film, which is already raking in hundreds of millions. The message to insecure males couldn't be clearer.

Just smile, guys. You look so much nicer when you smile.

PS: The film deserves extra credits for the lovely tribute to Captain Marvel co-creator Stan Lee at the very beginning, which made this comic book fan a bit choked up. And his obligatory cameo will make one Kevin Smith very happy!