With Carol’s New MCU Origin For ‘Captain Marvel’ Do We Really Need Mar-Vell?

Aug 4, 2017

Marvel will begin shooting Captain Marvel in January and we’re still trying to figure out the main details of the film along with how will it compare to the various comic book incarnations we’ve seen before.

A recent rumor coming from MCUExchange is indeed believable stating that Mar-Vell will be included. The only problem is that Mar-Vell’s role might be limited due to the new origin Carol Danvers will be receiving and her being the centric hero as confirmed by the people working on the film.

The site also alludes her comic book origin will stay in place, despite Nicole Perlman’s previous quotes hinting at the complete opposite.

Captain Marvel co-writer Nicole Perlman (Guardians of The Galaxy) had previously indicated that with Carol’s comic book origin being very similar to Hal Jordan’s Green Lantern they were planning on an extensive revamp for her MCU incarnation.

“But here’s the thing, if you were just going to do a straight adaptation of the comics, her origin story is very similar to Green Lantern. And obviously, that’s not what we want to do. There’s a lot of reinvention that needs to happen. And also, she’s her own person and she’s a great character. We have to be aware of what’s happened in other Marvel films and make sure that her particular storyline is unique and fun and also fits in within this world that’s going on at the same time.”

This indicated at the time that Mar-Vell’s direct hand in her origin and relationship to Danvers was a big question mark. This also seemed to be a hint that Mar-Vell’s cancer fight wouldn’t be used, which would, of course, be treading on ground already covered in Guardians Of The Galaxy with Peter Quill’s mother. A film which Perlman had previously worked on.

Mar-Vell is a non-blue skinned Kree operative observing humanity’s space travel advancement, who has an established/strained relationship with the Kree Empire becoming torn between two worlds. He encounters a powerful god-like being named Zo that granted him increased abilities making him one of the more powerful beings in the universe.

One thing we’ve been hearing is that Marvel had been considering taking Mar-Vell’s entire comic book canon (possibly origin elements as well) and folding it into Carol’s films. This talk is sort of supported by some concept art shown to press that invoked iconic Mar-Vell comic book cover artwork with Danvers fighting a giant Kree Sentry robot.

This wouldn’t be the first time this has happened, as Marvel Studios basically took the Nick Fury film (Nick Fury vs SHIELD story) they had been developing and combined elements into Captain America: The Winter Soldier to beef it up. Character alterations aren’t uncommon either, just look at how they tackled Bucky Barnes in Captain America: The First Avenger. A massive departure from his teen comic book counterpart.

Traditionally, Carol’s origin is directly tied to her boyfriend Mar-Vell and being gifted powers after an explosion of Kree technology. Considering it’s 2017, they will obviously attempt to give her a more independent and modern superhero origin along with separating Carol from Hal Jordan similarities in the process. It’s extremely possible, that pieces of Mar-Vell’s own origin could be combined into the Carol Danvers story for her MCU incarnation. They could always give Carol a Kree lineage which limits the need to have Mar-Vell such an integral part of the origin and allowing to have her own story.

Not to mention Nick Fury taking a secondary role as first reported by Omega Underground and then confirmed by Kevin Feige. Seeing Fury taking a larger role than previously seen might mean someone like Mar-Vell could take a backseat to other characters in the film.

We should still be wary on the Mar-Vell front. There were rumblings that Mar-Vell would be featured in Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.2 as Peter Quill’s father. This turned out to be false, as it was quickly debunked by director James Gunn and the film itself reaffirmed that with Kurt Russell playing Ego The Living Planet. So, we should be a little cautious with the cosmic side of things when it comes to rumors.

Not to say Mar-Vell won’t show up at all, I just believe the screenwriters want to give Carol an origin with some distance from Mar-Vell, without recycling previous origin elements we’ve seen and avoiding the Green Lantern similarities.

 

Another element of the rumor is that Carol’s absence will have to do with the Quantum Realm. Although we’re a little unconvinced her absence will be due to the Quantum Realm (taking the place of the Negative Zone?) which is directly tied to the Ant-Man films and Pym ended his experiments in 1989 years before the events of Captain Marvel in the 90s. It seems odd if nobody has access to this technology other than Hank Pym this will come into play in the film taking place years later. It’s also connected to the mystical arts of Doctor Strange and can be reached via Sling Ring.

The Quantum Realm is an alternate dimension only accessible through tremendous shrinking and mystical transportation using a Sling Ring or magical energy. Objects whose growth is manipulated by Pym Particles may gain access to the Quantum Realm if shrunk to a small enough level that transcends subatomic shrinking. In the Quantum Realm, space and time are believed to be irrelevant.

My main issue becomes why throw her into the Quantum Realm when outer space is simpler and this plot point is already being used for Janet van Dyne in Ant-Man and The Wasp?

There are other avenues to keep Danvers off Earth for twenty plus years.

The Kree-Skrull War (confirmed by Feige) being a giant reason to keep her busy for that amount of time, a cosmic conflict that has been taking place for thousands of years.The Kree as seen in Guardians of The Galaxy are active outside of the Quantum Realm and if Skrulls are embedded on Earth they’ve been around for ages.

The Quantum Realm does seem like a great entry point for things like the Atlas Foundation or Squadron Supreme, but I’m not entirely convinced it will be used for Danvers since her cosmic connections have been well established.

SIX THINGS WE WANT TO SEE IN CAPTAIN MARVEL 

 

 

SPACE COMBAT: Since we’ll see Nick Fury and SHIELD making a comeback in the MCU (Peggy Carter too?), it would be nice to actually see them on the offense for once. Plus, it gives us a chance to see Fury in a bigger combat role leading to massive space battles that could be extremely exciting since we’ve been stuck with mostly Earthbound action. Captain Marvel’s cosmic link allows for more fantastical action sequences with or without alien technology in the hands of humans. Plus, it would be neat to see Carol in a space dog fight since she’s a pilot.

 

SKRULL QUEEN: Cate Blanchett’s Hela will be our first main female villain in the MCU and we hope to see more in future films. One villain that could make sense for Captain Marvel is the Skrull Empress/Queen. While Fox might have rights to a bunch of the Skrull names like Empress R’Kill via the Fantastic Four rights, but someone like Queen Veranke could be fair game as she was introduced in New Avengers #1.

Veranke was also a key player in the Secret Invasion story which many assume could be an element of Avengers 4.

I’d love to see Eva Green in the Veranke role. Her credits include Casino Royale, Kingdom of Heaven, Perfect Sense, Penny Dreadful, Sin City: A Dame To Kill For, Dark Shadows, and 300: Rise of An Empire. Eva already has a Disney connection via Tim Burton’s live-action Dumbo which is currently shooting in London.

KREE VILLAINS THE LUNATIC LEGION: We know the Kree will have a presence in the film but having a villainous faction like the Lunatic Legion could give us some Kree villains without having the entire Empire involved since they’re a radical faction.

The Lunatic Legion was a group of Kree who held strict beliefs on racial purity and the dominance of blue-skinned Kree. The planned to overthrow the Supreme Intelligence, and another was the death of the Kree hero Captain Mar-Vell. The Legion experimented on the human; Robert Hunter and turned him into Nitro the “Living Bomb” and sent him on a mission to steal Compound 13. This resulted in the fateful battle between Nitro and Mar-Vell that led to Captain Mar-Vell’s cancer.

CLASSIC SHIELD UNIFORMS: One of the worst contributions to the MCU by Joss Whedon were the terribly basic looking SHIELD uniforms he ended up using in The Avengers. Instead, they should be recycling the unused Andy Park artwork (seen above) since he’s the lead artist on the film.

RETURN OF RONAN THE ACCUSER: Lee Pace’s Ronan looked great but was pushed into the background in Guardians, it would make sense to see him kicking around the Kree Empire before his exodus and alliance with Thanos.


RICK JONES: There’s also reason to believe that we might see Rick Jones take on a supporting sidekick role who ends up getting super powers himself via the Destiny Force and also becomes Hulk-like hero A-Bomb.

Captain Marvel begins filming on January 8th in Los Angeles with a release date of March 8th, 2019.

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