Captain Marvel answers a shitload of questions posed by previous Marvel Cinematic Universe movies. But lots remain. Jenna Guillaume lists eight of the biggest.
Captain Marvel is here, and with it comes answers to some pretty big questions that have long plagued fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe – most importantly, how exactly Nick Fury lost an eye. But with the movie acting as both an origin story for Carol Danvers and a set-up for her entrance into Avengers: Endgame, there are still a bunch of questions left unanswered. Here are some of the most burning (warning: spoilers!).
1. Where the hell has Carol been for the last 20+ years?
This was one of the big questions that immediately arose when it was announced that Captain Marvel would be set in the ‘90s. If Carol Danvers is one of the most powerful superheroes in the MCU, why has she been completely absent from the multiple near-apocalypses and one actual apocalypse that occurred since Tony Stark first announced “I am Iron Man” back in 2008? Most fans were hoping Captain Marvel would reveal the answer to this, but it only sort of did. At the end of the movie, we see Carol going off with the Skrulls to help find a new homeland for them. But surely she hasn’t just been doing that for more than two decades? What exactly has she been up to in space all this time? Hopefully we get some answers in Avengers: Endgame, although we might have to wait until the inevitable Captain Marvel sequel.
2. Why hasn’t Nick Fury paged Carol before now?
This is related to the first question, but it’s almost more frustrating. In Captain Marvel, we see Carol give Fury the pager he used in the post-credits scene of Avengers: Infinity War, telling him to use it to contact her in an emergency. We also see that his time with Carol inspires Fury to create the Avengers Initiative (even down to naming it after her airforce nickname). So why – when Fury finally did assemble the Avengers, and New York was being invaded by Chitauri; or when Loki was threatening to take over Earth again; or Thanos was coming to literally destroy half the universe – did Fury never use that little pager to call Carol for help? Why did it take until he was actually being disintegrated himself before he tried to contact her? It seems like a lot of deaths and even more destruction could have been avoided if he had just beeped her.
3. What happened to the Skrulls?
One of the biggest surprises of Captain Marvel was that the Skrulls weren’t the villains, but actually an incredibly sympathetic race of space refugees. Ben Mendelsohn absolutely stole the show as the charming Talos, and he and his family fast became fan favourites. We need to know their ultimate fate – were they able to find somewhere safe to make a new home? Are they all okay? Will we ever see them again? Let’s hope so.
4. Did no one in SHIELD notice the Tesseract was missing?
The Tesseract – containing the Space Stone – is one of the most significant objects in the MCU and has shown up in many of its movies. Captain Marvel added to the Tesseract’s mythology by revealing that, after Howard Stark fished it from the ocean in Captain America: The First Avenger, SHIELD began experimenting with it as part of Project Pegasus – led by Dr Wendy Lawson, who was secretly the Kree Mar-Vell in disguise. As we learn, Mar-Vell used the Tesseract to power a new engine that could travel at lightspeed, and she then hid it in her lab which, by the time we see it in Captain Marvel, had been invisible and orbiting the Earth for about six years. That’s a long time for the Tesseract to be totally missing from SHIELD’s clutches. Was no one concerned, or looking for it? We see no evidence that this was the case in Captain Marvel, but it just doesn’t make a lot of sense.
5. What happened to Goose?
Perhaps the most important question. Goose is a Flerken who Fury takes a liking to, and who also comes in very handy when it comes to transporting the Tesseract, amongst other things. The post-credits scene of Captain Marvel showed Goose coughing up the Tesseract onto Fury’s desk. So, uh, what happened to him after that? Is he still chilling somewhere on Earth? Why have we never seen him with Fury before? Did he go back into space? DID HE DIE?!??!? He better not have. Goose must be protected at all costs!
6. Will we see Yon-Rogg again?
A lot of people assumed Jude Law would be playing Mar-Vell in the lead up to Captain Marvel. How wrong (and sexist!) we were. Law actually starred as Yon-Rogg, Carol’s captor-turned-mentor-turned-foe. Carol defeats him at the end of the movie and shoots him back into space to answer for his crimes. It seems significant that he’s left alive – will he show up in the next Captain Marvel movie? Or maybe even in an Avengers or Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 (whenever that happens)?
7. What does Marvel have in store for Monica Rambeau?
One of the best parts of Captain Marvel depicts Carol’s relationship with her best friend and fellow airforce pilot Maria Rambeau, and Maria’s daughter Monica. In the comics, Monica has powers of her own – she’s actually Captain Marvel before Carol, and was the leader of the Avengers at one point. Given Captain Marvel is set in the ‘90s, present-day Monica is in her 30s. It would only make sense for her to have a more prominent role in the MCU moving forward, becoming a hero in her own right. It is interesting to note that Maria Rambeau’s air force nickname in the movie is “Photon” – one of Monica’s aliases in the comics. Perhaps both Rambeaus will have a role to play in the future of the MCU.
8. How connected is Carol to the Space Stone?
We learn in Captain Marvel that Carol derives her powers from the Space Stone, thanks to a Tesseract-powered blast she’s caught up in. What we don’t know yet is what implications that holds for the fight against Thanos, and Carol’s role in it. Will she be able to hold the Space Stone? Perhaps even manipulate it without touching it? Will Thanos be able to manipulate her through it? One thing is for sure – it will be very interesting to find out.
