Carol Danvers in a nutshell
Carol is an Air Force test pilot whose life changes after an accident involving an experimental engine powered by the Tesseract. She wakes up as Vers, a soldier of the alien Kree with energy blasts in her fists and only fragments of her memory. Captain Marvel is set in the 90s, long before the Avengers exist, and follows her as she pieces her old life back together with a young, two-eyed Nick Fury along for the ride.
Her power level is the headline. She can fly through space, absorb energy and take on whole warships alone. Yet the film's real story is smaller: a woman who has been told all her life to control herself and finally decides that nobody else gets to set her limits.
Her appearances from first to latest
- Captain Marvel (film, essential): the origin story and her ties to Fury.
- Avengers: Endgame (film, essential): she joins the fight against Thanos.
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (film, recommended): a short mid-credits cameo by hologram.
- Ms. Marvel (series, recommended): a brief appearance in the closing moments of the season.
- The Marvels (film, recommended): her first full team-up as a lead.
Five titles, one of them a cameo, is not much screen time for someone this powerful, and that is on purpose. Carol spends most of the MCU's timeline away from Earth, which the films use to explain why she was not around for earlier battles.
Big moments without spoilers
The connection to the wider saga starts before she ever shows up on screen. The post-credits scene of Infinity War ends with a pager carrying her insignia, and Captain Marvel's own mid-credits scene links straight into Endgame. In Endgame she arrives as the heavy hitter the team was missing, though the film keeps her role tight.
The Marvels changes her story more. Her powers become tangled with those of two other heroes, so the three swap places every time they use them. That chaos forces Carol to work as part of a team and to face mistakes she made during her years in space.
Allies and friends
Nick Fury is her oldest friend on Earth, and their buddy-cop energy carries much of the first film. Ms. Marvel (Kamala Khan) is a teenager from New Jersey who idolizes Carol and ends up fighting beside her, which makes for some of the warmest scenes in The Marvels. Monica Rambeau, the daughter of Carol's best friend Maria, is the third member of that trio. Valkyrie shares a short but memorable scene with her as well. And then there is Goose, the "cat" who is far more dangerous than he looks.
Brie Larson as Captain Marvel
Brie Larson gives Carol a dry, guarded sense of humor that fits a character who has been lied to about her own past. She plays the cocky pilot and the cosmic soldier as the same person, which helps the jump between the two settings feel natural.
Before the MCU, Larson was best known for the drama Room and the indie film Short Term 12. She also appeared in Kong: Skull Island and as a rock singer in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.
Recommended viewing order
- Captain Marvel
- Avengers: Endgame
- Ms. Marvel
- The Marvels
Ms. Marvel is optional for Carol herself, since she only appears at the very end, but it introduces Kamala, who is a co-lead in The Marvels. WandaVision does the same job for Monica Rambeau, so it is worth adding if you want the full picture of all three heroines. Short on time? Captain Marvel and Endgame give you everything the Infinity Saga needs from her.