By Josh Charlton 

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Captain Marvel has soared in as the 21st entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, featuring the first ever female lead in any Marvel movie. Brie Larson makes her first MCU debut as a fierce Kree warrior. Sharing the screen with Brie, Jude Law (Sherlock Holmes) appears as Star-Force leader Yon-Rogg. Clark Gregg makes a return as a much younger version of Agent Coulson, joined by Samuel L Jackson as Nick Fury.

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Directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck set us down perfectly on the alien world of Hala and throw us in with Vers (Brie Larson), and as Marvel’s first solo female lead, she is not here to mess around.

 

With Captain Marvel being set in 1995, you’ll have to figure out both Kree and Skrulls, as the film doesn’t wait around for you to take your place in Marvel History Class. Lee Pace makes a return as Ronan The Accuser, but without the psychotic genocidal trait, we necessarily saw in Guardians Of The Galaxy back in 2014. The Skrulls are led by Ben Mendelsohn (Ready Player One), who’s capable of shape-shifting to look like anyone across the entire multiverse, which doesn’t help Nick Fury and Agent Coulson throughout the movie when it comes to hunting down these out-of-space invaders. 

 

One way or another, the skrulls crash on earth searching for Dr Wendy Lawson to secure an all-important piece of tech that she’d invented. 

 

Vers, who’s struggling to recover old memories, learns that she was once test pilot Carol Danvers in the military alongside Maria and that Lawson was her boss. She connects with Nick Fury who’s been beautifully de-aged to fit in with his normal 2 eyed self from the 90s. 

 

When it comes to Captain Marvel, the movie gets a lot of unnecessary hate due to the fact of it being something different. Ever since 2008, we’ve been led by MCU projects with leading male characters. There of course isn’t a problem with that, but when something changes, or a something different is tried out, lots of people, and in this case Marvel’s fanbase, often have something to say. 

 

We of course can’t forget to mention the Skrull’s development with Nick Fury. Secret Wars is currently being filmed, and after the post-credit scene of Spider-Man Far From Home, it’s confirmed that we’ll be seeing an involvement with Fury and Talos, possibly even Goose…? Secret Wars is set to feature Nick Fury, Talos and the Skrulls, Monica Rambeau, and potentially Carol Danvers, if the rumours are true.

 

Back to Captain Marvel. 

 

The soundtrack of Captain Marvel has a similar nostalgic effect to Guardians Of The Galaxy. When it comes to directors adding soundtracks into movies, it’s not everyday that they fit as perfectly as Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck.  Filled to the brim with 90s tunes that everyone and their mothers know, it certainly doesn’t disappoint.

 

In short, is Captain Marvel top-tier Marvel Cinematic Universe? No. In fact, it’s far from perfect. As with any MCU movie, there are always ‘fans’ that have things to complain about. However, Captain Marvel is a fun addition to the MCU. It introduces key characters for phase 4, while still entertaining audiences, and Brie Larson is the perfect fit given her impressive wrap of acting work in the past.