The Marvel Studios formula is now the most recognisable in Hollywood, amassing each of its individual franchises into one behemoth that has proved unmatchable at the box office. It’s now arrived at the stage where what was once the designated origin story, the first hero film within each Marvel franchise, is now a thing of the past. Black Panther and Spider-Man, the two heroes to have most recently debuted in the MCU, were introduced as side characters within an expansive chapter of the Captain America saga, and you’ll have to look back to 2016’s Doctor Strange for the last time the series anchored a film around an unknown quantity (and even that was made familiar by Benedict Cumberbatch rehashing his Sherlock shtick, but with an American accent).
Characters are now initially introduced via their broadest characteristics, be it T’Challa’s status as a member of royalty, or the MCU iteration of Peter Parker harbouring a social awkwardness unequalled by previous depictions of the character. They rarely debut in their own films anymore, so have to be boiled down to their essence before we get proper introductions in their individual installments. Due to this film’s positioning within the series timeline, Brie Larson’s Carol Denvers is the first hero in three years to get a feature film without a prior introduction elsewhere.
More crucially, this uphill struggle to sell such a previously unknown character has been amplified by an inexplicably reactionary fringe of fanboys who have responded negatively to an interview the actress gave, which has been misinterpreted to levels beyond parody. The fate of the MCU doesn’t rest on the shoulders of Captain Marvel, exactly, but it’s the first film in the cinematic universe for quite some time that actually has something to prove to audiences.
An Intriguing Idea not Fully Realised
Which is why it feels so disappointing that Captain Marvel falls short of the mark. Comparisons with Wonder Woman will naturally abound, but directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck have aimed to do something more challenging than the textbook female empowerment story this could have been, introducing their hero in the midst of an identity crisis and leaving her a blank slate searching for the truth behind the memories that haunt her. Their vision for this origin story is clear, with the subtext about a woman taking charge of her own narrative instead of following the one set for her ringing loud and clear throughout.
But Boden and Fleck are workmanlike directors, and not auteurs of the Ryan Coogler variety who can keep their original vision fully intact despite the constant interference from Kevin Feige and the powers that be. A bolder superhero movie about defining the very nature of being a superhero via memory, closer in spirit to the complexities of Noah Hawley’s Legion series than a typical caped crusader affair, is compromised via ill fitting MCU trademarks; an abundance of pop culture references, a plot more concerned with nods and winks to other stories than firmly establishing an original story for the hero at the centre, and most dispiritingly of all, somewhat flat characterisation of its central protagonist.
We’re introduced to Carol Denvers somewhere in the far flung reaches of the galaxy, a human who has gained alien powers and joined the Kree military race, led by Yon-Rogg (Jude Law). But her life in their dystopian, Blade Runner reminiscent world comes to a halt when a mission to stop the rival Skrull race leads her back to planet earth, circa 1995. Haunted by memories of a past career in the air force and a traumatic incident she can’t remember, her search for her missing backstory is caught within the centre of an intergalactic conflict. With the help of SHIELD agent Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson), she tries to solve the issues both personal and extraterrestrial. Easier said than done, when members of the Skrull race are seamlessly blending in with humanity – and even taking the position of Fury’s boss at SHIELD (Ben Mendelsohn).
It’s about time Marvel introduced a female hero to lead a film in their roster, but it’s a shame that she hasn’t been matched up with directors who can hold their own weight against the studio machine. Captain Marvel is caught between a more interesting variation on the origin story outlined above, and a more corporate, run of the mill product where you can feel the distinct identity of Carol Denvers being undermined by how generic the film surrounding her is. Marvel fans will love it, of course, but the casual audiences who made Black Panther such a cultural phenomenon are unlikely to be as invested.
Marvel’s First Female Superhero Needs Better Characterisation Than This
Unfortunately, one of the central problems with Captain Marvel lies within how the film is unsure of how to characterise Carol Denvers – a byproduct of not being able to settle on a specific tone. The opening seconds establish her via traumatic memories, initially throwing us in the deep end as if we’re watching a sequel to an earlier, unseen adventure, but we never learn anything substantial about her while wading through past significant life events. Brie Larson is an excellent actress, but it’s hard to not wish the material was meatier and worthier for a performer of her calibre – she’s awkwardly caught between an introspective character study pondering identity within a grander storytelling context, and a broader caricatured hero delivering punning lines and ass-whoopings by the bucketload.
Larson is convincing in both of these modes, but they don’t make for easy bedfellows, and lead to an overwhelming feeling that we’re witnessing a compromised version of what this story was intended to be. For a plot involving a shape shifting alien race who can only determine a true identity via memorising specific character details, there’s an alarming lack of distinction to the characterisation of the central heroine.
You can tell an earlier draft of Captain Marvel dealt with the theme of female empowerment in a more imaginative, thoughtful manner than a film such as Wonder Woman, never overtly tying its thoughts on memory and how it intersects with identity directly into a statement on gender. But these complexities aren’t shared in the film as a whole – as funny as it is to see Carol get her revenge on a man who tells her to “smile more”, it feels forced as opposed to empowering, making a broad joke out of an aspect which is handled subtly elsewhere. But at the same time, the film needs more broader moments of empowerment on this level for later moments to be effective; the on the nose needle drop of No Doubt’s Just a Girl during a fight scene would likely be much more powerful had Carol’s struggles and character been given more than a cursory glance, or had her gender ever been relevant within the drama.
The Marvel formula means that there are plenty of joys to be had even within a not entirely satisfactory product. You get a murderer’s row of character actors hamming it up, including Ben Mendelsohn finally getting a chance to find some new ground within the villain roles he’s become typecast in. The film opens with a Stan Lee tribute, and his cameo this time might be his most meta yet – and, from what I can tell, the first (and sadly, only) time he’s unambiguously playing himself within this universe. Most surprisingly, the jukebox soundtrack, a staple of Marvel movies, also holds more than mere superficial weight.
A scene where Carol doubts her identity is soundtracked by Nirvana’s Come As You Are, while the film’s close plays out to Hole’s Celebrity Skin – just like Courtney Love struggled to be in charge of her own narrative in the immediate years after Kurt Cobain’s death, so too does Carol struggle with her search for finding her character within a past she doesn’t remember. Courtney Love eventually managed to make herself heard over the adversity to become a rock icon in her own right, and that’s exactly why her song provides a perfect send-off to a narrative about, at its essence, refusing to be defined and confined by how others have made you out to be.
Captain Marvel: Conclusion
If Captain Marvel becomes a heroine for young girls, and the film satisfies even a fraction of the neck bearded nerds who have created a backlash sight unseen, then it will be regarded as a triumph. For me, it ranks somewhere in the middle tier of the MCU offerings, lacking a distinctive vision like those of Ryan Coogler or Shane Black in the top tier, but having more ideas within than lesser offerings (like the inaugural Thor outings), even if it struggles to communicate them, and reconcile them with broader, crowd pleasing elements.
This outing may be more of a Meh-vel than a Marvel for me, but I’m confident that a film worthy of the hero at its centre will arrive sooner rather than later.
What did you think of Captain Marvel? Who is your favorite female in the MCU universe? Let us know in the comments below!
Captain Marvel arrives in UK and US cinemas on March 8, 2019. For all international release dates, see here.
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