#THIS SAGA IS SO BADASS??? WHAAT???

[woolysstuff]

Epic underworld saga.... I'm never going to be the same again

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

So watching Endgame, one of the only serious issues I had with the film is the fact that for all she was hyped up as some serious part of the way to fight Thanos, to the point she was front and center in advertising and got her own Happy Meal toy and everything, Captain Marvel doesn’t do all that much, and in fact, every single thing she does could have easily been done by another character.

Tony and Nebula need rescuing? Kraglin’s out in space, have him save them and get him integrated into the plot - it makes him appearing and delivering the godsend needed to beat Thanos that is Howard the Duck WITH A GUN more sensical. Thanos’ ship getting blown up? There’s like literally every single hero ever on that battlefield, pretty sure one of them could handle that, not to mention her blowing up a ship is incredibly boring as it is what we just saw her do in the disappointing climax of her own film. Someone needs to get the Gauntlet from Spidey to Tony? Watch Nando v Movie’s video on how it could have been done way better and in a way that turns the narm charm of the girl power scene into honest-to-god awesomeness. The long and short of it is: LET NEBULA HAVE THE MOMENT SHE DESERVES.

For most of this three hour film, Carol sits out by being off in space helping other planets. Frankly, this all makes the stinger of Infinity War incredibly unsatisfying, and it makes the stinger of Carol’s own movie unsatifying. Now, I don’t think her movie is a groundbreaking masterpiece or anything - it’s a solid film that struggles to stand out in a crowd but features a lot of good ideas, good chemistry bewtween Larson and Jackson, and a greaat character in Talos - but it really did build up Carol as being important to the mythology of the franchise. This movie... just doesn’t deliver.

And on that note, Carol’s own film portrayed her as a much nicer person. In Endgame, she is a lot cockier, arrogant, and even kind of a jerk. While she was a bit no-nonsense in Captaian Marvel, I never got the sense she was mean, or rude, or arrogant, and she had really great chemistry with about everyone she met with. Here, though? She seems really cold, distant, and rude. She doesn’t even introduce herself to Spider-Man! Literally the sweetest boy in the franchise and she doesn’t even tell him her name after he introduces himself! And the fact there is a huge universe-threatening battle going on is no excuse because Steve, one of the faces of the Infinity Saga, introduced himself to Groot in the previous film during a similarly huge battle.

And I think therein lies the biggest issue: Carol is supposed to be the face of the post-Infinity Saga MCU. I’m fine with this. Like I said, I liked her in her own movie, Brie Larson is a good actor, and I think with more time she could really excel in the franchise. The issue is she feels really shoehorned in to the Infinity Saga, a last-minute addition to a plot that was fine without her. I’ve seen some people say they would have rather had Adam Warlock to be more in line with the comics, but that would have been pretty bad too. I like how the films are not beholden to the comics, how they draw inspiration without showing me the same things I’ve already read. And Warlock actually falls into the same problem Carol has: there is absolutely no stakes beyond “oh wow look I’m a strong space dude, gonna fight Thanos.”

That’s my biggest issue with Carol’s role: she has absolutely no stake in this beyond Fury getting dusted. Every other hero in this story is one we have spent multiple movies getting to know, getting to care about, and this is why when they lose at the end of Infinity War and when some of them die, we care, we feel for them, we want to see them kick Thanos’ ass. Carol has had one okay film. She has not interacted with Thanos whatsoever. And the only people she could conceivably care about, we have no idea of their fates. Monica? Talos? The other Skrulls? We don’t hear anything about them when she shows up. What is her motivation beyond just being Space Superman? I just don’t understand her role when there is no clear reason. I suppose you could argue doing good for the sake of doing good or just being a hero, but this is a fictional narrative, not real life. When you throw a character into a narrative in a role that is supposed to be important, there needs to be a reason. You don’t just toss in super powerful characters willy-nilly and then do nothing with them. Again, would have had the same problem if they threw in a guy who hasn’t been properly introduced solely for the sake of fanservice and slavery to a comic, but bungling is bungling no matter what.

 Frankly, they should have held off on introducing her until Phase 4, where she could properly shine as the star that we need now that Tony and Steve are out of the picture. As it stands, though, she honestly feels really underwhelming and almost like a deus ex machina that never even fires off. I’m confident this will change in the future, but really, she should have debuted later. 

I think a lot of the blame can be placed on the heaad of Ike Perlmutter, the racist, sexist jackass who used to oversee Feige and the films and who flat out said women and black people could never draw in audiences like straight white male heroes, and who really wanted an Inhumans movie. Perlmutter is the reason for a lot of the messiness in the early MCU, and him getting booted over to the TV department is whaat led to the more creator-driven films from the likes of Gunn, Waititi, and the Russos. He’s the reason Terrence Howard, Natalie Portman, and Joss Whedon all left the MCU, due to all his meddling, and whether you agree those people should have been there or not, I don’t think it’s a good look to defend the tyrannical bigoted meddling of a guy who has no comprehension of what audiences want. The point I’m getting at is: Captain Marvel is a character who feels like she should have debuted in Phase 1, and because of this they hastily slapped her into the story to right the wrongs of the past. It just ended up being messier than intended.

Still, this is a minor issue. Endgame is still my favorite movie, a film I admire greatly, a film that does a great job at wrapping up and paying tribute to the first ten years of the MCU and all the characters we’ve come to love in it. I look forward to what they do in the future, and I pray they can make Captain Marvel as badass and important as I know she can be.