I’m not going to blog about the Super Bowl. Not tonight. Instead the sound you hear is the thud of the latest captain marvel trailer smacking heavily into futility. Hear me: This is not an important movie. Captain Marvel is being retconned as the world’s most powerful Avenger and it is the latest in a series of painful MCU retcons that simply do not work.
This film is being sold as Marvel finally standing up and having a powerful female lead. Well, that is a bloody insult to all of the existing kick ass women of the MCU. Take Guardians of the Galaxy for example. Gamora is absolutely the powerhouse there and the conflict between her and her sister guides a great deal of what we appreciate about the series. I can say the same for any number of women in the MCU without limiting myself to the big screen. Captain Marvel simply isn’t good, so stop trying to sell her as powerful and important and meaningful or as a moment for women on screen. She is none of that. She’s a shameless cash grab retconned to lead the next wave of MCU.
Why am I so averse to this film? It feels poorly constructed. Captain Marvel MCU borrows heavily from the comic adventures (including the fantastic four stuff that we won’t get into) and from the Agents of Shield lore. However it does so in a way that makes the movie about her journey to remember her true self as though it is an origin story in reverse. This could be interesting if not for the fact that every scene makes her look like an emotionless robot. We already have a robot Avenger and he has emotions. He also has a partner that is way more powerful, btw.