Why Are People Freaking Out About Captain Marvel?

Captain Marvel has been a topic of conversation this week and a lot of people have been making a big deal about her. Extra caught up with Brie Larson on the awards circuit and asked about her Marvel future. When the actress said, "I don't have anything to say about that," chaos ensued on social media. But, does that small aside really mean there won't be anymore Captain Marvel in the MCU? Is Captain Marvel 3 not happening anymore? Well, the first one is hysterically unlikely and the second one is cloudy at best right now. Here's why everyone is freaking out about Captain Marvel.

First, a little recent Marvel history. The Marvels underperformed against projections as a result of numerous factors. (Launching during a dual actors and writers strike that cut promotion off at the knees, Marvel Studios seemingly pivoting on marketing the movie three times, and of course, a summer at the movies that saw all but a handful of films underperform as a result of those strikes paired with some corporate-gouging-influenced inflation to boot.) Mix all of that into the constant observer-led navel gazing about the theater system and the picture starts to take shape.

One thing that didn't help The Marvels was its close proximity to Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Secret Invasion. Both of these Marvel Studios efforts weren't well-received by critics or fans in the way a majority of the studio's output tends to be. So, there was just an ill-wind all around. An absolutely tough hand for director Nia DaCosta to maneuver through. (The movie is the highest-grossing box office performance for a Black female director) Still, the path forward isn't as clear as it might have been two years ago.

The Idea Of Superhero Fatigue And The MCU

As a larger part of the conversation around these movies, critics have decried "superhero fatigue" as evidence for the recent swaths of underperformance. Such tidy explanations fails to explain why a majority of last year's blockbusters failed to take hold. (In this area, the continued effect of the pandemic, streaming habits and numerous worldwide real-world events might loom larger than a lot of observers are willing to admit to themselves.) Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was universally beloved. Black Panther's sequel managed more than 800 million in this post-reopening climate. Spider-Man continues to print money.

Clearly, this idea of superhero fatigue is selective at best and disingenuously deployed at worst. Last November, Disney CEO Bob Iger pointed towards executive oversight when pinpointing what happened with The Marvels. "The Marvels was shot during COVID," Iger told onlookers at The New York Times' DealBook Summit. "There wasn't as much supervision on the set, so to speak, where we have executives [that are] really looking over what's being done day after day after day."

That first part is true and might be the most important part of the statement. Keep in mind how many media reports there have been about pivots, of projects being shuffled due to the ongoing health emergency. Is it any wonder things may have felt disjointed. Also, Marvel Studios probably should have ushered in a team-up movie before Phase 4's end because of the fans' constant outcries for it. They underestimated how impatient a lot of them would become in "The Multiverse Saga."

So, What's The Path Forward?

Well, to be brief, cohesion. Deadpool & Wolverine just broke the record for most trailer views ever. That movie is set to move The Multiverse Saga right along. (You don't put a Secret Wars comic book in the trailer if you don't plan to speed things up expeditiously.) They're also putting more characters together. Daredevil is coming next year with all the familiarity you could imagine. Captain America: Brave New World would be a natural place for some more appearances. Later this year, Agatha is poised to bring back mid-pandemic favorites from the Marvel show literally everyone watched. So, getting the band back together is the move.

Ms. Marvel star Iman Vellani told The Direct that getting these people together and establishing connection is the way forward. She's assembling a group of Young Avengers as we speak. There's virtually no way Marvel Studios doesn't have one of the strongest Avengers on-hand whenever Secret Wars gets rolling. So, buckle up and mute some words on Twitter because the ride is not over yet.

"I don't know. I don't know if it's about just getting bigger and bigger and bigger. Because then, like, what's left? You know, I think it's just about making the audience care about their characters," Vellani told the outlet. "And I think they've established so many wonderful characters in the last phase of the MCU that it would be nice to see them all again and see them team up."

"I think, because there are so many new characters people want to like, start shipping people together and be like, 'Oh, seeing Kamala and like the Red Guardian together,'" the actor Continued. "Like imagining all these pair-ups, and I think that would definitely pay off. It'll be like, you know, the next Avengers."

The Marvels Is Now Streaming On Disney+

In The Marvels, which arrived in theaters on November 10th, Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) has reclaimed her identity from the tyrannical Kree and taken revenge on the Supreme Intelligence. But unintended consequences see Carol shouldering the burden of a destabilized universe. When her duties send her to an anomalous wormhole linked to a Kree revolutionary, her powers become entangled with that of Jersey City super-fan, Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) aka Ms. Marvel, and Carol's estranged niece, now S.A.B.E.R. astronaut Captain Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris). Together, this unlikely trio must team-up and learn to work in concert to save the universe as "The Marvels." 

The Marvels will also see the franchise returns of Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Saagar Shaikh as Aamir Khan, Zenobia Shroff as Muneeba Khan, and Mohan Kapur as Yusuf Khan. New cast members include Zawe Ashton, Park Seo-joon, and Shamier Anderson. Produced by Marvel Studios, The Marvels is directed by Nia DaCosta with a script from DaCosta, Megan McDonnell, and Elissa Karasik.

Where do you think Captain Marvel will show up next? Let us know down in the comments!