The Marvel Sci-Fi Blockbuster On Disney+ That Gives The MCU Exactly What It Needs

Look, it’s not as though Captain Marvel bombed at the box office. It was the first female-led superhero film to make more than $1 billion and was the fifth highest grossing film of 2019. It was also written and directed by women. At the same time, Rotten Tomatoes only has this film at a 79 percent positive for critics, and 45 percent for audiences!

Because I noticed a similar phenomenon with Disney Pixar’s Brave, it got me thinking that these negative reviews are not about the film itself but about a resistance by some to a strong, empowered female character who doesn’t need romance or authority to find her way in the world. 

Brave was the first Disney movie I let my oldest daughter watch when she was little. And when I took to the internet to share how much we loved this movie, I noticed the rampant hate over a “bratty” young girl who rejected her supposed role. In Brave, Merida rejects the tradition that says she must marry a son of one of the other clansmen and instead chooses to go her own way. We see a similar arc with Captain Marvel, and I suspect the hate comes from the same place. 

Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) enters the scene of Captain Marvel already more powerful than those around her know how to understand or control. As we watch flashbacks of Carol’s memories, we see she has always been a self-assured, confident female pushing against limitations and expectations.

She has been told since she was a little girl that girls can’t race, can’t run, can’t climb, and that the “cockpit” is named that way for one reason and one reason only.

While Captain Marvel has its theme and overarching storyline of Carol arriving on Earth from the planet Hala in pursuit of the supposed villains, the Skrulls, the movie is really about so much more.

When she arrives on Earth, she discovers that she’s not actually from Hala, but that she’s human, and that she’s been powerful since long before she absorbed the energy core that made her the most powerful being in the MCU. 

She unites with Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) to understand what the Skrulls are after and why the Kree are so determined to take them down. Throughout the film, Carol is an unstoppable force who just keeps moving forward, true to her nature, whether she bleeds red or blue.

For Captain Marvel, it wasn’t about gaining confidence or believing in herself. Instead, it’s about learning to channel her powers in ways that work for her and for those she wants to help.

This is far different from any other story we’ve had in the MCU, and it’s certainly brand new for a female-centered story.

Yes, we also get humor, deep emotions, a plot twist, and hope for the future, but at its heart, this film is everything the MCU needs, and we need even more of it. 

GFR SCORE

Here’s to “difficult” women, “brats,” and “bossy” girls. May we continue to write, direct, and produce films that bring them into the center of the story because Captain Marvel is just one of many women who truly do run the world alongside the good men who encourage, support, and love them. Stream Captain Marvel on Disney+ the next chance you get. It’s more than worthy of the full 5 stars out of 5.