Captain Marvel is set to be Marvel’s most important movie of the year – and will introduce [REDACTED] to the MCU

There is no doubt that the biggest movie of 2019 is going to be Avengers: Endgame, which will be the culminating film of Marvel’s epic 22 film Cinematic Universe up until that point. It’s a movie that needs no introduction for the massive hype and anticipation fans have for it when it eventually drops on April 26^th.

However, while Avengers: Endgame is the biggest movie by a long shot, it might not be the most important movie that Marvel is releasing this year. That honour is likely going to the upcoming Captain Marvel movie starring Brie Larson. And it’s not just because it will be the first female-fronted solo film in the MCU, but rather because of how it could influence the future of Marvel as we know it – especially following the events of Endgame which we know will bring around an end to certain characters’ involvement in the franchise.

Firstly, Captain Marvel will represent a full circle of sorts as it tells the origin story of what inspired Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury to head up S.H.I.E.L.D, the organization responsible for bringing the superheroes together under the guise of The Avengers. This is obviously achieved from the film being set in the 1990s, predating the majority of the MCU outside of the first WWII-set Captain America film. Captain Marvel will also reportedly feature another appearance of the Tesseract from that film, so it could also connect some dots on this important Infinity Stone as well.

The movie though is mostly important because it is Captain Marvel who will form the centre of the next phase of Marvel movies, something which Kevin Feige confirmed in a recent interview with Screen Rant:

 Now Captain Marvel is about to take the lead and be the forefront of the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Marvel is not just merely talking the importance of Carol Danvers to the MCU, but has also unveiled a new featurette which further showcases Brie Larson preparation for this important role:

The MCU is expected to undergo major changes with Marvel willing to focus on more standalone stories rather than trying to build every movie into a combined narrative, something which the events of Endgame will probably make a possibility. However despite that, we do know Larson has signed on for a multiple movie deal (the length of which was initially revealed to be seven movies by The Hollywood Reporter, but which was then denied by Larson herself).

Captain Marvel though is also going to introduce audiences to a host of new characters and concepts which are likely to form the future of Marvel’s narratives moving forward. First up is the introduction of the Skrulls, a species that has the ability to mimic others. And with Captain Marvel’s past time period, it could potentially mean that other characters we’ve seen in previous movies could have been Skrulls in disguise all along, just like in the modern-classic Secret Invasion comic book crossover event (this is just being speculative – don’t read too much into it… yet).

Captain Marvel will also introduce us to the concept of the Supreme Intelligence, the alien Kree race’s 1-million year old “leader” comprised of the minds of their greatest intellectuals and leaders. Jude Law, who plays Kree Starforce commander Yon-Rogg, spoke about the Kree Supreme Intelligence in an interview with Screen Rant.

My character has a very particular relationship with the Supreme Intelligence which becomes revealed and is quite complex and ultimately very revealing of what it is that motivates him. I’ve kind of based him almost on… not a religious fanatic but he’s got a sort of Divine sense of purpose because of his relationship with this greater being.

Perhaps most crucially though, besides for shapeshifting aliens and hyper-intelligent alien demigods, Captain Marvel will also introduce one other big element. This could actually be a MAJOR SPOILER for Avengers: Endgame and how that film deals with the catastrophe at the end of Avengers: Infinity War, so turn back now if you don’t want to know.

SPOILER WARNING!

SPOILER WARNING!

It would appear that one of the reasons Captain Marvel is the most powerful person in the MCU is because she can time travel. Comic book fans will know that this is not an ability within her traditional power set, but her movie counterpart will seemingly be getting it. This could, of course, be one of the key weapons in helping save the world or even undoing Thanos’ tragic snap. This new power addition was let slip by Samuel L. Jackson in the same set of interviews:

She’s pretty much the strongest character — in terms of someone with powers are able to do things — in the Marvel universe. So, for Carol Danvers to be that person and for Brie to become that person, it’s gonna be a dynamite thing. I mean, [the Avengers] are up against some really, really tough odds right now — we saw throughout Infinity War — so now we know that we need something that’s as powerful as Thanos. And at some point, we’ll find out how powerful she is and all the things that she’s capable of. She’s one of the few people in the Marvel universe that can time travel, so…

What all this means though is that in whatever direction Marvel chooses to go in, Captain Marvel, much like The Avengers movies and the latter Captain America films, will be the key character which will bring everything together. So setting her up properly on the forthcoming movie is central to Marvel’s future plans and if they do a poor job with that, it will put their current plans in jeopardy.

No pressure Marvel.

Last Updated: January 9, 2019