Now that Avengers: Infinity War is one of the biggest movies of all time, it’s safe to start talking about what happens next in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Those fans who were smart enough to sit through the credits of Infinity War already got a taste of that thanks to the final frame showing the logo of Captain Marvel.
Captain Marvel will serve as the first female-led superhero film for Marvel, so a lot is riding on it. That movie will not only have to establish the character of Carol Danvers, but it will also need to show how she will eventually play into the events that happened in Infinity War. It’s already a given that she will play an important part in making things right again in the MCU, but fans still have no idea how she’ll make that happen.
Fortunately, Marvel fans already have some of the key details of things they can expect in Captain Marvel. This includes the setting and time frame: it’s already been noted that the movie will take place in the 1990s and that Carol Danvers is the first super-powered individual that Nick Fury met and recruited. Beyond that, though, all we have are rumors.
Here are 8 Rumors About Captain Marvel We Hope Are True (And 7 We Hope Aren’t).
True: Peggy Carter will return in Captain Marvel
One of the most beloved characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is Agent Peggy Carter, the woman who is responsible for organizing the first iteration of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Fans first met Peggy in Captain America: The First Avenger and fell in love with her sass and can-do attitude. She could take a villain down in high heels without even messing up her lipstick. Peggy proved so popular that she got two seasons of her own television show. But as she is a character from the 1940s, fans just haven’t had much of a chance to see her in the movies because of their modern day setting. There were some flashbacks and a dream sequence, and Steve Rogers learned of her passing in Captain America: Civil War. After that, though, it seemed like Agent Carter was long gone from the Marvel cinematic universe.
With Captain Marvel being set in the 1990s, Agent Carter should still be working with S.H.I.E.L.D.
That pretty much leaves Marvel with no excuse to include her in that film, even if it’s only for a few minutes. Fans would love to see Peggy still in her prime, training Nick Fury and Phil Coulson.
False: The film will digitally de-age Phil Coulson
Hollywood seems to have an obsession with CGI, especially when it comes to taking older characters and turning them into younger characters in the movies. Take Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, for example. That film used CGI to create a young Carrie Fisher’s face on an actress to make her appear like a young Princess Leia. Yes, it is possible, but it still doesn’t look right. The final result seemed a little weird and jarring, pulling viewers out of the movie because it just didn’t quite look right.
Captain Marvel takes place in the 1990s. That means that familiar characters, such as Nick Fury and Phil Coulson, would need to look younger. But using CGI to do this could seem off, especially if they have large parts in the movie. It would distract from the overall look and feel of the film, as well as pull moviegoers out of the story. Yet, rumors persist that this is exactly what Marvel wants to do, at least with Coulson.
Instead, most fans might prefer traditional makeup effects to make Coulson look younger: something that wouldn’t give viewers that weird Uncanny Valley feeling. So here’s a tip, Marvel: go for practical effects and not CGI.
True: Captain Marvel will eventually become part of an all-female Avengers
One thing that many Marvel fans clamor for is better representation for women in the movies. Fans keep begging for a solo Black Widow movie, and it looks like that might finally happen. The Wasp also got hbilling in the Ant-Man sequel, Ant-Man and The Wasp, while Captain Marvel will serve as the first female-led superhero movie by Marvel.
It’s no secret that there are rumors suggesting that Marvel has plans to create an all-female Avengers team and bring it into the Marvel cinematic universe.
This rumor makes sense because some of the male superheroes of the Avengers are either stepping down or getting too old to keep fighting: Tony Stark is no spring chicken anymore and Chris Evans’ Captain America will likely leave the cinematic universe after the second Infinity War movie. It also seems like Hulk just isn’t willing to fight anymore.
Black Widow and Scarlet Witch should stick around, and once Captain Marvel and The Wasp get better established in the MCU, a female Avengers team isn’t entirely out of the question.
There are also some strong female Wakandan characters that could become a part of that team: Okoye and Shuri. Add Valkyrie and Gamora, and that’s a team-up that fans will really want to see.
False: Captain Marvel is in an alternate MCU timeline
The problem with a franchise as huge as the Marvel one is that there are a lot of plot holes: things that Marvel didn’t think all the way through in earlier films within the MCU. Sometimes, Marvel just completely changes things to essentially retcon earlier plot points. Other times, Marvel just ignores that them completely. And once in a while, we actually get an explanation.
Here’s a major plot hole: the Kree-Skull war was huge and yet it has never been mentioned in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This includes Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which should have some knowledge of it, given that both Nick Fury and Phil Coulson were there: both characters will appear in Captain Marvel where the war is a major plot point. So why is this something that no one has ever mentioned? Did everyone just conveniently forget that it happened?
One rumor is that no one remembers the Kree-Skull war in the MCU is because it didn’t happen there. The rumor suggests that Captain Marvel actually happens in an alternate timeline. Then things get very “wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey” (to quote Doctor Who) and fans will get confused. Here’s hoping that’s not the case and that Marvel explains this plot hole with something that actually makes more sense.
True: A young Everett Ross will put in an appearance
Marvel fans got their first look at Everett Ross in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Captain America: Civil War. Ross is a CIA operative and once served in the Joint Counter Terrorist Center. He was one of the operatives asked to keep an eye on the Avengers, put in charge of keeping them under control after the Sokovia Accords. This put him into direct conflict with Captain America and Winter Soldier, especially after Winter Soldier supposedly committed a massive terrorist act - although Ross later learned that Helmet Zemo was actually the one responsible for that.
Ross appeared again in Black Panther: he suffered an injury from Killmonger, but Shuri healed him. He then helped T’Challa defeat Killmonger.
There is a rumor that a younger version of Ross will appear in Captain Marvel, as he mentioned in Black Panther that he once served as an Air Force pilot, which could’ve happened during the ’90s setting of Captain Marvel.
Why else would Marvel bring up the Air Force as his background if there were no plans to use him again?
With Carol Danvers also being an accomplished pilot, it makes sense that the two might know each other.
False: Captain Marvel will have an X-Men crossover
There are some Marvel fans who really want to see the Cinematic Universe expand and include the X-Men. There are others, though, that feel like the two properties should remain separate, even if Disney does get the rights to both franchises. It makes sense to keep the two universes separate, because if anything, Avengers: Infinity War had enough characters to deal with. Adding more might just confuse moviegoers.
However, that does not stop rumors that Captain Marvel might have an X-Men crossover event of some kind, probably because there’s a connection between Carol Danvers and the X-Men in the comics. There, Carol Danvers had her powers stolen by Rogue. After a fall-out with the Avengers, she allied herself with the X-Men. This happened during the time of the Dark Phoenix story, which means that many Marvel fans believe that with a new X-Men movie coming out based just on that story, a tie-in within Captain Marvel is possible. Basically, those fans believe that Captain Marvel will serve as an entryway point for the X-Men to become part of the MCU.
Let’s hope that doesn’t happen, though. These are two very separate universes with their own histories and stories. It would only create massive plot holes that would make the MCU even more confusing than it already is.
True: Carol Danvers origin story will be the same as in the comics
When it comes to the comic books versus the Marvel Cinematic Universe, origin stories tend to get twisted and changed to meet the demands of a modern audience. Most of these characters originate in times long past, so their stories get updated for the movies so that they make sense to the moviegoers of today.
There is a rumor that Captain Marvel might stay true to its comic book origin story.
In the comics, Carol Danvers was Ms. Marvel before she ever became Captain Marvel.
There are fans who believe that the Captain Marvel movie will start out with Danvers in that role, thanks to the announcement of Jude Law being cast as Mar-Vell, the first Captain Marvel. Those fans also believe that she will get her powers as she did in the comic books: from an explosion caused by a Kree device.
These are rumors that many fans could get behind: how long has it been since a movie stayed completely faithful to a character’s comic book origin? Not only that, with Danvers starting out as Ms. Marvel, that opens up other possibilities for that particular character. Who wouldn’t love seeing Kamala Khan take up that role at some point, as she did in the comics, and end up on the silver screen?
False: Captain Marvel has a seventh Infinity Stone
Things are already really confusing after the ending of Avengers: Infinity War. Thanos managed to get his hands on all six of the Infinity Stones, which gives him unlimited power to do with as wishes. In that case, he wished to rid the universe of half of its population in some misguided effort to save everyone. That ending leaves the second movie open to just about anything and Marvel will have to rely on some solid storytelling to fix the fact that half of the Avengers (including those with films scheduled for the future) are gone.
One fan started a rumor that might throw an even bigger wrench into everything, as well as create more plot holes. This rumor suggests that Captain Marvel actually has a seventh Infinity Stone that no one even knew about. The theory (as it is more of that than a rumor) posits that this has something to do with something that happened in Malibu Comics, which got absorbed by Marvel.
The comics do allude to another stone called the “Ego Gem.” The rumor is that this is what gives Captain Marvel enough power to help the Avengers overthrow Thanos.
There’s a problem with this, though: it just adds more confusion to what happened in Infinity War.
True: Captain Marvel will lead the Avengers in Avengers 4
At the end of Avengers: Infinity War, we see Captain Marvel’s symbol on Nick Fury’s pager. That sets up the story for Captain Marvel, as well as builds anticipation for the film that will explain her origin story. Captain Marvel will also probably set up how she plays into future events in the MCU, including the fourth Avengers movie.
The Avengers are in real trouble, especially considering that some of their strongest members are now gone thanks to Thanos making half the population of the universe disappear. That leaves the team in disarray (especially with Captain America and Iron Man still not getting along). They desperately need someone who can lead them to defeat Thanos and somehow restore the world to how it was before Thanos acquired all the Infinity Stones and snapped his fingers.
Enter Carol Danvers, aka Captain Marvel.
She has the leadership skills necessary to get the team back on the mission and help them find hope after losing half of their members.
It only makes sense that she would become the new leader of the Avengers, as it’s been made clear that she will play an important part in how the team takes down Thanos.
False: Captain Marvel time travels to the future for Avengers 4
There is a lot of speculation involving what will happen in the fourth Avengers movie. There is no doubt that Captain Marvel will lead into that film and explain how Carol Danvers plays into the story of how the Avengers finally defeat Thanos. Fans know they will eventually take down the bad guy, because that’s how these movies play out, but no one really knows how.
Fans already know that Captain Marvel has a 1990s setting, but they have no idea how that plays into how Carol Danvers gets involved in what’s going on in the modern day version of the MCU. Many fans believe that Captain Marvel will somehow time travel to the future to help the Avengers take down Thanos.
Time travel is possible in this universe, as demonstrated by Doctor Strange, but it’s not a power that Captain Marvel ever possessed.
There are some fans who believe that Fury’s communication device that he used to contact her was a time travel communication device; that he was somehow trying to get in touch with Captain Marvel in the past.
Fans believe this will explain her absence in previous Avengers movies, but it’s more likely that absence was due to her traveling across the cosmos, as she does.
True: Rick Jones could appear in the film
There is one Marvel character who still has not made a debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That character is Rick Jones, someone who spent time as a sidekick to Hulk, Captain America, and the original Captain Marvel (Mar-vell). In the comics, he played an important role in stories involving the Kree-Skull war, as well as the Destiny War. He even eventually gained superpowers, allowing him to learn things faster than an average human being.
With Captain Marvel revolving around the Kree-Skull war, it makes sense that Rick would put in an appearance in the film.
The film cast Jude Law as Mar-vell (who was the first Captain Marvel), so it makes sense that Rick would serve alongside him and Carol Danvers as she becomes the new Captain Marvel. A casting call recently appeared for the following:
“[UNKNOWN MALE] Supporting Lead Male (35-59) Intelligent, but can throw a punch. Open ethnicity. Sounds like he may be tied to a well-known character.”
There is nothing there indicating who this character really is, but there’s been speculation that it is Rick, which would make sense, at least considering his comic book ties. However, Rick was much younger in the comics, so this is possibly just a rumor.
False: Skrulls debut in X-Men: Dark Phoenix, rather than in Captain Marvel
Although Captain Marvel will feature the Kree-Skull war, there is a persistent rumor that the Skrulls will first appear in a different movie - one supposedly not connected to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That movie is X-Men: Dark Phoenix. If that happens, then it’s a sure sign that Marvel has plans on bringing the X-Men into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The Skrulls are generally the bad guys in Marvel comics and their war with the Kree is legendary in Marvel comics history.
There are already plans to show the Skrull-Kree war onscreen in Captain Marvel, so why would Marvel want to introduce them in a movie that’s not really tied into the MCU?
Sure, there are fans who won’t to see that X-Men and MCU crossover finally happen, but it only complicates storylines throughout both universes.
There are specific things that happened in the history of the X-Men. There are other specific things that happened in the history of the Marvel cinematic universe. Many of these things would collide and create a mess of plot holes that Marvel would have a hard time writing explanations for. It might seem cool to have the X-Men fighting with the Avengers, but those plot holes would give most Marvel fans a real headache.
True: Events in Captain Marvel will lead into events on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
For the past few seasons, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has taken a break from trying to fit itself into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The first few seasons seemed bogged down by those details, so writers decided to take S.H.I.E.L.D. away from the goings-on of the world. However, it now seems that S.H.I.E.L.D. may experience direct effects of what happened in Avengers: Infinity War as the series mentioned Thanos and the disintegrations in recent episodes.
What’s even more interesting, though, is that the series hasn’t mentioned the Kree-Skull war, but we know that this war will become an important part of what happens in Captain Marvel - and S.H.I.E.L.D. will almost certainly be involved. Fans also know that two important S.H.I.E.L.D. agents will turn up in the Captain Marvel movie: Phil Coulson and Nick Fury.
The series has referenced the Kree several times.
Will what happens in Captain Marvel play into something that happens on S.H.I.E.L.D.? Or will it explain why the agents don’t seem to have any memory of the Kree-Skull war? Most importantly, though, how will Captain Marvel’s appearance in Avengers 4 affect what happens on the TV series?
Here’s hoping that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. gets another season so that these events can play into what happens on the series.
False: Black Widow will show up in Captain Marvel
Although fans really seem to want an all-female Avengers team, the Captain Marvel movie isn’t the place where that should happen. Also, Black Widow is one of the most underrated members of the Avengers, although fans keep begging for her to get her own solo movie. If the rumors are true, Black Widow could appear in Captain Marvel.
There are fears of what might happen if Black Widow does turn up in Captain Marvel’s movie. Does that mean that Marvel is just satisfying its fanbase by giving them more of Black Widow without actually giving her a solo movie? Sure, there are discussions going on about the Black Widow movie, but would Marvel use that as an excuse for not getting around to it? It’s already taken them this long to even consider it, after all.
Also, this is Captain Marvel’s movie and it should just focus on her.
Ultimately, Captain Marvel is set in the ’90s. Black Widow was still a kid then.
How would she even play a part in what happens from there? It just doesn’t seem like it would work out well, so here’s hoping that Marvel pays attention.
True: Fans will finally learn how Nick Fury lost his eye
For as long as fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe can remember, Nick Fury has worn an eyepatch, but besides some vague allusions to it in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, we have no idea what happened. Yet, on-set photos of Fury show that he doesn’t have the eye patch, reminding fans that he was not born like that, but that something happened that caused him to lose his eye.
Now fans realize that Fury had two perfectly good eyes in the ’90s. Does that mean that they will finally find out what happened to Fury’s other eye? If anything, Captain Marvel is the perfect film to finally give some answers about that. Marvel already stated that Captain Marvel is the first superpowered human he ever met, so does he get entangled in some kind of event that results in the loss of his eye?
Although the movie is not about Fury, fans would really appreciate filling in that bit of backstory that they always wondered about. As long as the focus of the film stays on Carol Danvers, a little bit of extra information about the mysterious Fury would make Marvel fans really happy.
What’s your favorite rumor about Captain Marvel? Let us know in the comments!
- captain marvel Release Date: 2019-03-08 The Avengers 4 Release Date: 2019-04-26 Ant-Man 2 Release Date: 2018-07-06
