Movies

How Captain Marvel points the way forward for Marvel Studios

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Published on March 8, 2019 08:10PM EST

It took 20 movies and nearly 11 years for the Marvel Cinematic Universe to get its first female-led film, but at long last, Captain Marvel has arrived. And according to producer and Marvel mastermind Kevin Feige, the movie and its titular hero will be pointing the way forward for the franchise once its current era wraps up with Avengers: Endgame.

“Captain Marvel is about to take the lead and be at the forefront of the entire Cinematic Universe,” Feige says. While it’s unclear exactly what that means, a new deep-dive video from EW and The Take sheds some light on the subject, exploring the ramifications Carol Danvers and Captain Marvel have for the MCU.

For one thing, Carol’s origin story is a sly reversal of the typical arc for Marvel heroes. As the video points out, a superhero movie usually follows its protagonist acquiring their powers and learning to master them. But when we meet Captain Marvel, played by Brie Larson, she’s already in control of her abilities. Instead, the movie traces her attempt to recover her lost memories and reconnect with her past life as a human. As Larson puts it, “[Danvers] starts off being incredibly tough and strong, but it’s really the vulnerability and the heart that comes into play that brings her closer to herself.”

The video also suggests that this journey of self-discovery is symbolic of a reckoning for the MCU itself, a sort of illustration of the franchise’s attempts to atone for and correct some problematic decisions made in the past. Between this movie and last year’s Black Panther, Marvel is taking some encouraging steps. If Feige is to be believed, there will be many more to come down the line.

Watch the full video above, and be sure to check out past videos from The Take on A Star Is Born, Roma, and Bohemian Rhapsody.

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