Captain Marvel (Boden & Fleck) 2019

There was plenty of buildup to this film, especially given the mysterious symbol we saw on Nick Fury's pager at the end of Infinity War. That backstory arrives with Captain Marvel, aka Carol Danvers, aka Vers (Brie Larson).

This film jumps around a lot so you have to pay attention. Between flashbacks that Vers has when she is living her life on the Kree homeworld of Hala. We get introduced to her special forces team leader Yon-Rogg (Jude Law) along with a familiar face in Korath (Djimon Hounsou) who we last saw tracking Star Lord at the beginning of Guardians of the Galaxy. We are also informed of the evil nature of race of shapeshifters called Skrulls.

Once Vers crash lands on Planet C-53 (Earth) through the roof of a Blockbuster video store (ask your parents kids), she meets up with Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) who has both eyes and Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) who has more hair. They help Vers in her search for her former identity and why she has memories of events on C-53 that she was involved in.

Vers eventually realizes her true identify as Carol Danvers and pushes back against her Kree "brethren" when she realizes that they may not be all they claim. She meets up with a fellow Air Force pilot named Maria Rambeau (Lashana Lynch) and her daughter who urge Danvers to use her superpowers to fight the good fight, even if that means not siding with the Kree.

We will not know about Oscar nominations for Captain Marvel until the next batch of nominees are announced in January 2020, but I expect this one may be passed over in favor of Endgame for things like Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Editing, and Best Sound Mixing.

It seems late in the game to be introducing new characters leading up to Endgame, but Captain Marvel is absolutely essential before that film. While she does not have an enormous role in terms of actual screen time in Endgame, it is important to understand what she's been through before seeing her show up in that film in response to Nick Fury's page in the end credits scene of Infinity War.

8 out of 10

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