Captain Marvel is finally finally finally coming to theaters, and I’m seriously impressed with how much I’ve kept it together during the long, wintery wait.
BUT NO MORE.
Here are some of my most tremulous questions and the dearest hopes I’ve pondered as we all collectively prepare for Carol Danvers. (Add yours in the comments!)
1. Is Captain Marvel going to out-Top Gun Top Gun?
Are we entering a Zone of Danger? Despite Carol and Maria Rambeau being Air Force pilots (rather than Navy aviators as in Tony Scott’s tender love story), I sincerely hope so. Carol’s cat is named Goose, after all, and really all I want is for Carol to buzz past Nick Fury as he shakes his fist and yells “DAAAANVERS!!!!”. Or, alternately, for Carol or Maria Rambeau to serenade the other with a rendition of “(You’ve Lost That) Loving Feeling.”
2. Are we going to see hints of Monica Rambeau’s future?
Maria “Photon” Rambeau will be a main player here, and we know that her daughter Monica will be making an appearance, but will we get any hints about Monica’s future superheroic activities? Carol probably shows back up on Earth in the present day, right? When Monica will be all grown up and ready to save lives with her photonic powers?
3. What 90s songs are going to be included in the soundtrack?
We have heard tell the soundtrack is largely ‘90s songs. We have heard the Elastica in the trailers and TV spots. We have seen the Nine Inch Nails t-shirt. What other joys await? Tori Amos? A Bjork cameo? A deep cut from Nirvana’s Incesticide? (“Son of a Gun” may be too much of a banger to qualify, but…) PJ Harvey’s Rid of Me, played in its entirety during a space battle?
Okay, probably not that last one. But come on, movie. I loved Guardians of the Galaxy‘s Awesome Mix Vol. 1, now I’d like Awesome ‘90s Riot Grrrl Mix please and thank you! Will Bikini Kill make an appearance? Cause I’d like to hear “Rebel Girl.” How about “Pretend We’re Dead”—especially appropriate given the end of Infinity War. “Bruise Violet” off Fontanelle? Oooh, or a Team Dresch track? Or literally any track off of Hole’s Live Through This…which will be especially appropriate as we head into Endgame?
Or if we want to go a little later in the 90s, something from Sleater-Kinney’s debut?
Come on, Marvel. We know you can afford the music rights.
4. The De-Agening?
Will it work? Will it…not work? It only sorta worked in Civil War. Will it push us off a cliff right into the lush greenery of Uncanny Valley?
5. Coulson!
Phil Coulson is back, and he has the best of the Hot Topic Captain Marvel t-shirts.
6. GOOSE!!!
Can like 85% of the movie be Goose? None of the Avengers have pets and it’s driving me nuts. Where is Hawkeye’s loyal Pizza Dog? (Actually where are any of the animals on Hawkeye’s farm? Or crops for that matter? What does Hawkeye’s farm actually do?) Wouldn’t Steve Rogers have at least one rescue animal by now? Can’t Peter Parker have a fish or a turtle or something?
Leah Schnelbach wants it known that she would die for Goose. Come call her a maverick on Twitter!
My biggest question right now is “are all those review that say that Brie Larson’s acting performance is flat compared to everyone else in the movie mostly exxagerated?”
While there are almost no reviews that decry the entire movie (metacritic lists only a single negative review, which tells you it’s not going to bomb, no matter what some circles might say), there’s a lot of mixed ones and they all point out the same flaw: she’s not believable/relatable.
Of course, I’m going to see it on Friday. But I expected at least a Black Panther level of awesomeness – if not Avengers 3 -, and it might not be up to those expectations.
6(a): Is Goose really even a cat? Or is he something more sinister….
Current estimates put the opening weekend only $20 million (globally) short of Black Panther. Early reviews have ranged from “it’s good” to “[It’s] the Most Marvel Movie Ever” (an actual headline). The reviewers that I take seriously have said Larson is good-to-great in the movie. Reviewers who have never given a decent score to a comic book movie are predictably saying she’s “flat”.
Brie Larson is an Oscar-, BAFTA-, SAG-, and Golden Globe-winning actress (to name just the top four – she’s won upwards of 75 awards from other organizations and festivals) and it’s a Marvel movie, so you know it’s well-written and possibly a little formulaic. Any problems with the film won’t be with her.
I’m sure Larson will be fine, but it should be noted that even great thespians can be occasionally an awkward fit or flat out miscast in certain roles. Genevieve Bujold as Captain Janeway comes to mind.
I have already enboughtened a ticket for Sunday and eagerly await finding out the answers to all these questions and more.
You thought de-aging Tony Stark only kinda worked? Tough room.
How about a list of 90s songs I’d be happy NOT to hear? My concern is that we’ll get a steady diet of Jewel, Ace of Base and Divinyls, with a side order of New Kids on the Block. I’m 40, and I hated 90s music when it was NEW. It holds no nostalgia for me at all.
So Carol and Maria will have an undeclared love story? I’m ok with that. The love part, not the undeclared part.
@anthony Pero: I think a lot of people think of other stuff as 90’s music. I’m also 40 and I remember the music you mentioned getting heavy rotation, but also stuff like Alternative Rock and the Seattle bands, and so on. Not everything sucked musically back then.
@8:
Yeah, grunge was not my thing. It was the musical equivalent of the brutalism design trend. But then again, I was a vocal performance major and made the bulk of my income from music and touring in my 20s. I likely have radically different tastes than most.
The only music from the 90s I appreciated was the R&B scene. So if the went heavy with Boys 2 Men, Whitney Houston and Salt n Pepper, I could get behind that. The pop and rock scenes were atrocious.
I remain miffed that they didn’t cast the great Katheryn Winnick in the role, but I’m sure I’ll enjoy it anyway. I wasn’t wild about the ’80s songs they picked for GotG and am hoping some of your predictions come true for this. Elastica, Sleater-Kinney & Bikini Kill would be great, and anything by Miss Polly Jean Harvey would be totally awesome. Something from one of Liz Phair’s 1st 2 albums would be cool, but they probably won’t fit in an action movie.
I’ve seen a listing of a few of the songs in the movie as well as what type of scene they are played in (which I won’t spoil).
Salt N Pepa’s Whatta Man
Elastica’s Connection
Garbage’s Only Happy When it Rains
No Doubt’s Just a Girl
All of these except Whatta Man were released in 1995 (Whatta Man was 1994) so it’s a good bet that is the year the movie takes place. If earlier then someone didn’t do their homework.
I saw the movie earlier this week. I had read some of the reviews that it’s confusing or whatever. I was a little leery.
Honestly, it’s great. She’s relatable, but the character is also not there to please anyone. Maria is perfect. Their dynamic is perfect. Don’t sweat it.
I laughed. I enjoyed it. Make sure you stay for the two post-credit scenes.
2 PC’s, noted!
Also, OMG! Just a Girl and OHWIR are in my top 5 songs EVER so there’s that…
And I love (almost) all 90’s music… and music in general, to be honest. I haven’t encounterd a musical style I haven’t – appreciated.
NB: Style, not track. There’s a lot of chaff in most genres.
The use of Just a Girl in the movie is wonderful. I have Opinions about Monica Rambeau but honestly it was never gonna be enough for me unless they found a way to show her fully powered up and trying to keep Fing Fang Foom from putting someone in his pants. Also disappointing and probably not a spoiler: we don’t see the Supreme Intelligence tell someone cybernetic that they have to go because they’re a d*ck. Me? Obsessed with Nextwave? Is that possible?
I haven’t seen it yet, but I am looking forward to it – and now also hoping to here some good 90s music :) And also a lot of the cat :)
Film’s great and the cat is, in fact, very prominent.
People saying Larson was flat don’t know what they’re talking about. She’s understated, yes, but what the character is feeling is always crystal clear, even without the help of dialogue or musical cues.
@17. An argument could be made that making the character an amnesiac was a mistake. She is somewhat hard to sympathize initially because we don’t know who she is. Neither does she. This should not be laid at the actress’ feet.
Could also be argued that the twist, when it comes, is not much of a surprise, not worth making Vers a non-entity. Maybe there was a better way to tell this origin story.
Larson is not flat at all, she plays the character very well. Danvers is a professional, cool and in control, doing her job. When she has to be warm to Maria and Monica, she is, when she has to be friendly and playful with Fury, she is. When she has to be a badass, she is.
In the Blockbuster scene highlighted in the trainer, a True Lies poster is featured. Since that movie came out in July 1994 (thanks Google!), it is reasonable to assume True Lies got to video stores in either late 1994 or early 1995 – consistent with the dating projection in @12 above.
I enjoyed the movie quite a bit. I’d give it a solid A-.