Captain Marvel post-credit scenes explained (spoiler-light)
The first extra plays after the opening block of credits, and it jumps far ahead of the film's own story. It is set in the grim aftermath of Avengers: Infinity War, with the surviving Avengers trying to work out what Nick Fury's old pager is for, when someone answers the call. If you have not seen Infinity War, this scene spoils its ending, so watch in release order if that matters to you.
The second extra waits until the very end. It returns to the nineties for a quick, funny moment with Goose and an object the MCU has been chasing since The First Avenger. It is pure comedy, but it also explains where that object ends up before The Avengers.
| Extra scene | When | Connects to |
|---|
| Mid-credits | After the first credits block | Avengers: Endgame |
| End-credits | After all credits | The Tesseract's path to The Avengers |
Where to watch Captain Marvel
In the US, Captain Marvel streams on Disney Plus. Elsewhere it depends on your country, so check the watch box on this page for current options. The film runs 124 minutes, just over two hours. Because it needs no setup, it also works as a standalone pick for a night when you do not want to commit to a whole saga.
When to watch Captain Marvel: timeline or release?
On a chronological watch, Captain Marvel follows Marvel's Agent Carter, the series about Peggy Carter's postwar life, and leads into Iron Man, the film that launched the MCU. It is the only Infinity Saga movie set in the nineties, so it fills a gap of several decades between the World War II stories and Tony Stark.
Release order puts it much later, in Phase 3, a few weeks before Avengers: Endgame. That placement was deliberate, because Carol Danvers is a key player in the Avengers' finale. Newcomers often like seeing it early, since it explains how Fury got the idea for the Avengers. Rewatchers sometimes prefer release order, because several jokes and references land better once you know the later films. Our Marvel watch order for beginners walks through the trade-offs, and the Infinity Saga in order list shows exactly where it falls in both orders.
What to watch before Captain Marvel
Nothing is required. The film is an origin story set before almost every other MCU title, so you can start with it. The only real exception is the mid-credits scene, which makes the most sense if you have already seen Infinity War.
Captain Marvel explained (spoiler-free)
A soldier named Vers fights for the Kree, an alien empire at war with the shapeshifting Skrulls. She has incredible powers but almost no memory of where they came from. When a mission goes wrong, she crash-lands on Earth and teams up with a young S.H.I.E.L.D. agent named Nick Fury. Flashes of a life she cannot remember keep pulling her toward the truth about who she was.
It is a buddy movie as much as a space adventure. The banter between Carol and Fury, plus a scene-stealing cat called Goose, gives it a lighter tone than most Phase 3 films. Underneath, it is a story about who gets to define you, and the answer Carol finds is her own.
How important is it?
We rate it essential. It introduces Captain Marvel, one of the strongest heroes in the universe and a major figure in Endgame and The Marvels. It also gives Nick Fury a real backstory, including how he lost an eye, and it explains the pager he uses at the end of Infinity War. The Skrulls introduced here return in Spider-Man: Far From Home and Secret Invasion. Phil Coulson appears too, as a rookie agent years before the events of Iron Man.
Cast and characters
Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden direct. Brie Larson plays Carol Danvers, known to the Kree as Vers. Samuel L. Jackson returns as Fury, digitally de-aged for the whole film. Ben Mendelsohn plays Talos, a Skrull commander who is much more than he first seems. Jude Law is Yon-Rogg, Carol's Kree mentor, and Annette Bening plays both the Supreme Intelligence and Dr. Wendy Lawson. Djimon Hounsou is back as Korath from Guardians of the Galaxy.
