Endgame – Righting A Wrong: Carol Danvers

Unlike the previous entries in this series, this article is more about missed chances than things that were done wrong.

It was always going to be difficult to strike the right balance with Captain Marvel in this movie, what with all the controversy surrounding Brie Larson and Endgame having been filmed before the character’s solo outing was. The directors played safe and crafted the movie with as few scenes of Carol Danvers as possible – she only appears in the very beginning and the very end, being completely absent for the time heist, apparently owing to concerns in far off parts of the galaxy. At the time, this seemed like the right decision to me, as I had gone into the film fearing such an overpowered character overshadowing fan favorites like Captain America, or Thor. However, on retrospection, I feel that the movie could have used Carol in a larger capacity to benefit her character development and her future place in the MCU.

It is no secret that the solo Captain Marvel film was not the best received MCU movie. I too was not a fan of the movie, and saw it only as yet another filler between Infinity War and Endgame – in fact some aspects of the movie (not related to the actor Brie Larson) actually angered me. But with time, I’ve gotten a new perspective on Carol’s character and arc, and I’ve begun to warm up to her (though I may never forgive how Fury’s eye was handled). And considering her role in the future of the MCU, it was necessary that we saw her interacting more with the Avengers. In my opinion, the best way to introduce a new character like her without much friction was to show her working smoothly with other established characters. We saw the Russos make an attempt for this with Thor’s line, “I like her.” But the movie failed to deliver on this, and chose to keep her away till the final battle, and even then, she did nothing significant except destroy Thanos’s ship.

I guess this as good time as any to comment on the scene where all the female characters assembled on one corner of the battlefield to create a very impressive splash page. Though I did like the scene a lot inside the theatre, once you think about it, it sticks out like a sore thumb. Why would human characters like Shuri come to the protection of Captain Marvel, who is without doubt the most powerful person in the scene, after perhaps Thanos?

What the movie could have done better was to follow up on Thor’s relationship with Carol, not in a romantic way, but as two inter-galactic warriors who seems to have spent their entire lives in battle. Another character that Carol could have had a good relationship was Tony – would not his gratitude for saving him have blossomed into a nice friendship? The comics show Tony and Carol as friends, and eventually rivals. She seemed to have some rapport with Natasha too, but that wasn’t explored either. I realize that the movie would have had to be even longer to accommodate these changes, but I’m sure I could think of a few scenes that were unnecessary and could be cut out entirely (that is material for a different article).

Something her solo movie did not deal with was Captain Marvel’s weaknesses. This makes sense since her first movie was about her breaking out of her constraints. Endgame could have introduced her proverbial Kryptonite, perhaps delving deeper into the Kree tech that was used to control her. This would have enabled the filmmakers to use her for longer in the movie without her seeming too overpowered, especially in the final battle. But I don’t know if the agendas that the character seems to be pushing will allow for such a “weakening” plot point (they fail to realize that characters with weaknesses are always more interesting and relatable).

A few extra scenes would have thus made for a more rounded character and would have made fans less apprehensive about Carol Danvers being the new face of the MCU.