CAROL DANVERS/CAPTAIN MARVEL MOVIE REVEALS! Part 2

Some of the things mentioned in this post can be found in these items:
     
Just a quick reminder, this is Part 2 of a blog post based on the following:

First, EW hits us with a brief but juicy cover story

But even more interesting is this: ten photos from the movie

And ScreenRant listed all the "reveals."


In my previous post I talked about how the current Entertainment Weekly article about Brie Larsen and Marvel's upcoming Captain Marvel has revealed, and not revealed, certain key details about Carol Danvers' costume and Jude Law's character.

I don't need to go over every detail of the movie that is revealed by the article and pictures, but I do find certain things particularly interesting....

3. Ben Mendelsohn's role
Pretty much all the initial speculation about the role to be played by Ben Mendelsohn was that he would play Yon-Rogg, Mar-Vell's initial adversary in Marvel Comics. This article, however, reveals that he will be playing a Skrull villain named Talos who disguises himself (through the physical morphing ability shared by all Skrulls) as a supervisory S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. EW released an interveiw with the actor on September 7th in which he waxed enthusiastic about the movie and his delight in playing villainous roles. He also explained why the Skrulls speak Australian. It's amusing. Go read it. I'll wait.

But for those of you who stuck around, I will continue.

I thought Mendelsohn would have made a good choice of Yon-Rogg. Not only does he have a lean, angular, middle-aged face that is within acceptable esthetic parameters of the character as drawn by at least two artists (even if not so much as drawn by two others, and you can see pictures of him here), he has already played a similar role.

I am not too familiar with Mendelsohn's body of work, but I have seen Star Wars: Rogue One more than once. In it Ben plays an imperial fleet officer with a cold heart, an ulterior motive, and a mean streak that can be self destructive when he does not get his way. Sound familiar? Well, if you read the first year or three of Marvel's Captain Marvel starting in 1967 it would. That is pretty much describes Yon-Rogg to a T.

But now it is revealed that he will not be Yon-Rogg, and all the click-baiters who bit on that are going to have to eat their digital hats. Besides, the plot is going to be different that Carol Danvers' origin in the comics, but more on that later.

4. Lashana Lynch's role
A while back I wrote a list of things that ought to be in Marvel's Captain Marvel movie on one of those write-your-own-article quasi-clickbait sites (I have forgotten the name of it and can't find a link to it, dammit!). In it I said that one of those things should be something relating to Monica Rambeau.

For those of you unfamiliar with Ms. Rambeau, she was the black, female Captain Marvel. After Mar-Vell died in 1982 graphic novel The Death of Captain Marvel, Marvel Comics needed a new character to keep the "Captain Marvel" trademark alive. Being as the name is not gender-specific, and there weren't many black character around, a black female character was created.

She was originally a New Orleans Harbor Patrol officer facing the "glass ceiling" at her job. An explosion of inter-dimensional energy (of course) gave her the ability to transform into electro-magnetic energy ie: light. She got the name because someone had been calling her "Mon Capitan" (though she was a lieutenant) and after she survived the explosion, a Mexican security guard who had both heard this and witnessed the explosion passed into unconsciousness mumbling "El Capitan es un maravilla..."

She wound up being a strong, smart, courageous, and resourceful superhero, leading the Avengers through many challenging conflicts. In many ways I consider her a better "feminist role model" than Ms. Marvel/Carol Danvers. She carried the mantle of Captain Marvel from 1982-1994.

It would be a crying shame if Marvel did not acknowledge this history and at least do some fan service here, and it looks like they are doing it. One of these ten pictures is Lashana Lynch in the cockpit of a jet fighter plane with her name and "handle" clearly visible. It is Maria "Photon" Rambeau.

"Photon" was the name that Rambeau picked for herself after giving "Captain Marvel" up to Genis-Vell, Mar-Vell's cloned son. This movie is said to be set in the 1990's. If we assume this Maria Rambeau is in her 20's, she would be in her 40's today. It is quite possible that there is a 20-something Monica Rambeau just waiting to make her appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe! It is therefore not too far-fetched to think that  Lahsana Lynch may be playing the mother of another Captain Marvel!

I had more things to say about this article, but the news is starting to get away from, as I have had limited InterWeb time these past few weeks. The Trailer has finally been released and you betchum that I am gonna talk about it!

New video: Interview with Bob Hall!

Bob Hall is an artist who worked for Marvel Comics for many years. He had the good fortune to draw a few issues of the Avengers when Monica Rambeau was Captain Marvel. I met him at the Big Apple Comic Con last month, and he was gracious enough to share a few words about his experience, as well as a few thoughts about a couple of other Captain Marvels. It is quite a lovely interview.



So it turns out that he is a big fan of the Big Red Cheese!

New Monica - the Marvel Diva

So Marvel Comics has put out a new comic about the "real life" adventures or four under-utilized female characters, Monica Rambeau (Captain Marvel/Photon/Pulsar), Patsy Walker (Hellcat), Felicia Hardy (Black Cat), and Angelica Jones (Firestar). It's basically like "Sex in the City" with superheroes (although it's unfair for me to say so, I never watch that show). The new series is called "Divas."



Monica is easily the most accomplished and able of these characters, having been a harbor patrol officer, ship captain, and leader of the Avengers, as well as having the stroingest powers and being the only one who can fly. She carries a bit of a chip on her shoulder about that, bitching about how when the leave a rooftop party it's like they are in high school and she's the only one with a driver's licence, and when at a "speed dating" event she introduces herself by simply saying "I'm Monica. Impress me."

And it seems she has a bit of a thing for Brother Voodoo, being a New Orleans girl and everything. Nice to see that cultural touch.

It's nice to see Monica get some attention, especially seeing how another female Captain Marvel, Carol Danvers (Ms. Marvel/Binary/Warbird/Captain Marvel) has had a whole series for the past couple of years. Ms. Marvel may have been introduced as "the feminist superhero," but I hold that Monica was more of a feminist. Though Carol was a security chief at Cape Canaveral and editor of "Woman Magazine, she lost both those jobs, and let's face it, that bare-belly-button costume strained her "feminism" credibility. Also, her battles with alcoholism, bouts of schizophrenia, and aggressive attitude made her a bad role model.


Monica, on the other hand, has always been a competent professional at whatever she did (her brief period as the insecure leader of the Avengers notwithstanding, she was being mentally manipulated by Dr. Druid). though she was held back in her harbor patrol career by a sexist chief, she was always more about getting the job done than whining about what was holding her back.
Monica, on the other hand,

The Legacy

With all these upstart companies filling up the comic shelves, Marvel Comics increased the number of titles they were putting out as well. In one massive company-wide gimmick, every “Annual” issue introduced a new superhero. One of them was Legacy, real name Genis-Vell, who was the cloned offspring of the late Captain Mar-Vell. He was artificially aged and implanted with false memories so that he would be ready to face his potential enemies immediately.

Legacy turned out to be a long-haired, leather-jacketed punk, a young wastrel who drank and caroused with his low-life friends on an alien world as often as he fought crime. Though he had his father's nega-bands, he did not really learn how to use them at first. He had an adventure with the Avengers in which he and Monica Rambeau met, and though the (now former) leader of the Avengers showed that she was a much more capable hero, she decided to let the younger Vell take on his father's name and “legacy,” and she would take a new name, “Photon.” (this name was later a source of ridicule).

Genis-Vell, now Captain Marvel, had a new series that was canceled even before the story being told in it was finished. Then a future version of him appeared in an Avengers epic event titled “Avengers Forever,” at the end of which he wound up merged with Rick Jones, just like his father was. He also wound up with his future appearance, with short hair and a costume moire like his father's. Then he was given another ongoing series,.

This series was written by Perter David and dealt with a lot of contemporary issues. It was canceled and restarted several times, like the earlier Marvel Comics series, at one point even starting its numbering all over again in a blatant gimmick move to boost sales. Genis was trying to learn how to be a good superhero (to make up for his past and live up to his father's name) and Rick Jones was alternately trying to help him and playing tricks on him. Genis did have the cosmic awareness that his father had, but it drove him mad. So here we had an omnipotent insane person who was trying to understand people in the universe, who, of course, never makes sense. In other words, he was a mad god. He would kill with abandon and seeming randomness, and figured out how to manipulate Rick Jones into killing himself, but resurrected him shortly after. He participated in the destruction of the universe, and then helped it be recreated again.

Ultimately, he was forced into a mental health intervention, in which he appeared to gain stability and serenity, but it was left unclear as to whether he was now going to be a true hero, or simply hold his insanity closer to the vest. In the course of this breakthrough his sister, Phyla-Vell, appeared, claiming to be “The New Captain Marvel.”

His sister was part of his false memories (which he knew were false), but was part of the universe that he had helped re-create. His mother (who had died but now seemed to be alive again, which was unexplained but probably also part of the re-created universe) had given her the mantle because she had seen how Genis had become a travesty of heroic ideals. And she participated in the intervention.

Shortly after this, this series of Captain Marvel comics was canceled. In a very self-aware final issue, it was revealed that Rick Jones was actually aware of the fact that he was in a comic book. It was also summed up that Genis-Vell's uniqueness, his unpredictability, was also his curse. The audience could not grasp what the was supposed to be, and left. In that same issue, Phyla-Vell hooked up with Moondragon, a bald female sorceress, psychic, and superhero. This played right into the contemporary trend that was popularizing, even mainstreaming, lesbianism.

Genis-Vell resurfaced in the pages of The New Thunderbolts, a comic book about former supervillains trying to redeem themselves by being superheroes. He was killed in his very first appearance, but returned several issues later, transformed into a new cosmically-powered superhero called “Photon.” This annoyed Monica Rambeau, but over drinks they agreed to get along, and they came up with a new name for her, “Pulsar.”

The new Photon proved to be short lived, however. A character of mysterious and questionable motivation, Baron Zemo (son of a villain by the same name) discovered that due to Genis-Vell's connection to the universe, he was actually destabilizing it, and thus had to be destroyed by being broken into many small parts which were sent to distant separate points in time. Through various nefarious means, Zemo managed to do this, and that is the last we have seen of Genis-Vell.

Phyla-Vell then held the title of Captain Marvel, which she has since relinquished since she gained the Quantum Bands and taken the title of Quasar, protector of the universe.

Captain Marvel is Energy

But Marvel Comics could not let the trademark go away. Immediately after the death of their Captain Marvel, they created a new one, introduced in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man Annual # 16. This one was Monica Rambeau, a stunningly beautiful black female harbor patrol officer from New Orleans. Created by writer Roger Stern and artist John Romita, Sr., she absorbed extra-dimensional energies when caught in an explosion of a dangerous, extra-dimensional energy tapping device. Though a lieutenant, an old family friend had been referring to her as “mon Capitan,” and a Spanish-speaking security guard losing consciousness referred to her as a “Captain Marvel.” The press got a hold of the name, and it stuck.

The energies gave Monica Rambeau the power to transform herself into energy, any form of energy on the electromagnetic spectrum. She pulled together a costume in a Mardi Gras costume storeroom. She was inducted into the Avengers as a member-in-training until she gained full mastery of her powers, and remained with the team for quite a few years, even being the chairman for a while.

As one of the few black female superheroes, she added needed diversity to the ranks of superherodom. As a stable, smart, responsible hero, she was a contrast to the other high-profile black female superhero, Storm of the X-Men (who had become a near schizophrenic, and suffered horribly from claustrophobia). At the beginning there was some awkwardness as friends of Mar-Vell were not sure about this new hero taking on the name of their respected late friend. But Monica Rambeau proved herself, and even though she herself considered giving the name up (she had not known about Mar-Vell when she first accepted the name that the press had bequeathed her), she embraced it. It was acknowledged that she was a worthy successor of Mar-Vell's heroic legacy.

She never had her own regular series, though she proved herself an admirable superhero. Though she had her ups and downs in her personal life, she took the job of being a hero seriously and responsibly, eventually becoming leader of the Avengers. For some reason, though, editor Mark Gruenwald wanted Captain Marvel to be shown as an inferior leader so that Captain America could take over the team. Writer Roger Stern objected, noting that this could be seen as racist and sexist. Stern was then dropped from the book. New writers had Rambeau developing insecurities about the job. Ultimately she lost her powers and nearly her life when she came in contact with sea water in her energy form and was spread across the ocean. She recovered, and took part in many, many significant adventures, many of them in outer space. But she never led the Avengers again.

She had two one-shot special issues (in 1989 and 1992) that were issue driven, specifically about racism and intolerance, in the early 1990's, but by then the comic book world was changing, and a new Captain Marvel was created.