Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel has been in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since 2019, but after a rough ride through the franchise, will Larson continue to play the cosmic-powered superhero in the future?
Captain Marvel in the MCU
What movies and TV shows has Captain Marvel appeared in?
Brie Larson has appeared in several Marvel Cinematic Universe projects. Her first appearance was in the 2019 movie Captain Marvel, which went on to net $1.131 billion at the global box office.
Directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, Captain Marvel was part of the MCU’s Phase Three and acted as the preceding movie to Disney and Marvel Studios’ biggest movie of all time and the sequel to Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019).
It was also where fans saw the origin of Samuel L. Jackson’s (The Avengers, Secret Invasion) future director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Nick Fury.
While Larson’s portrayal of the cosmic-powered Carol Danvers, AKA Captain Marvel, has been divisive, the character has proven to be an integral part of the franchise.
Following her turn in Captain Marvel, Larson went on to star as the superhero and future Avenger in the MCU film Avengers: Endgame. Here, she rescued Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) and became the closest single hero to best Thanos (Josh Brolin) but was thwarted after the Mad Titan got his ships to rain fire down on the entire battlefield.
Captain Marvel then appeared in the post-credits scene of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021) alongside Mark Ruffalo’s Dr. Bruce Banner/Hulk and Benedict Wong’s Sorcerer Wong.
Then, after a cameo stint in the Disney+ show Ms. Marvel, Larson returned to the big screen in a headlining capacity in the sequel to Captain Marvel, The Marvels (2023).
The Marvels proved to be a huge struggle and financial strain for Marvel Studios and The Walt Disney Company, grossing just $206 million worldwide on a $274 million budget. Thus, it became the worst-performing movie in MCU history and continued the franchise’s downward trend.
The movie not only saw the return of Larson’s Carol Danvers but also the comeback of both Iman Vellani’s Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel and Teyonah Parris’ Monica Rambeau. Rambeau, daughter of Carol’s best friend Maria Rambeau (Lashana Lynch), first appeared in Captain Marvel, played by Akira and Azari Akbar.
Parris starred in Marvel’s first-ever Disney+ television series, WandaVision, and The Marvels marked her return to the superhero saga. For Kamala Khan, The Marvels was a direct sequel to the events of Ms. Marvel. The Marvels also introduced villain Dar-Benn, played by Zawe Ashton, who sought the cosmic-powered bangles to save the Kree Empire.
The Future of Captain Marvel in the MCU
Where will Captain Marvel appear next?
The final moments of The Marvels saw Monica Rambeau (Parris) sacrifice herself to stop the universe from tearing open. Following her heroics, Rambeau was seen interacting with Binary—a Variant of Captain Marvel played by Lashana Lynch—and Kelsey Grammer’s Hank McCoy, AKA Beast.
While the ending of The Marvels did not give Captain Marvel a big sendoff in the way that suggests her time is up, there was also no real confirmation of where she could go next. And followed by the movie’s underperformance at the box office, it is not clear if and when she will return.
Larson spoke on the matter at the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards in February 2024. When asked by Extra if Carol will be back, the Lessons in Chemistry star said, “I don’t have anything to say about that.”
It’s common for actors involved in such a massive franchise to never really know their next move, but given the current shake-ups and comments from Disney CEO Bob Iger himself, anything is on the table.
Not only did Iger speak about Marvel using the same characters over and over again and the notion of superhero, or audience, fatigue, but he also spoke specifically about Nia DaCosta’s The Marvels‘ performance, or lack thereof.
“The Marvels was shot during Covid,” Iger explained at the New York Times summit earlier this year (via Deadline). “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.”
It may seem there is a lack of direction for Larson’s Captain Marvel, especially considering she is not universally well-received by the fandom. Still, a new report suggests that she will continue to play a large role in the MCU moving forward. Whether that means in Phase Five, Phase Six, or beyond is unclear.
According to a report from The Cosmic Circus, fans should be seeing Carol again sometime soon. Carol Danvers’ role in the Multiverse Saga moving forward has not been diminished, nor will it be toned down due to The Marvels underperforming,” the scooper Alex Perez said.
He added:
“Carol’s role in this saga is going to be very personal as she is currently dedicating all of her time to investigating the nature of the Quantum Bangles, where they actually came from, and using their power to find a way to bring back Monica Rambeau into the MCU following the events of The Marvels.”
However, even if Larson’s time with the franchise is coming to an end, or Captain Marvel becomes more of a supporting player as we head towards Avengers 5 (formerly Avengers: The Kang Dynasty) and Avengers: Secret Wars, there are a number of players already inside the MCU Multiverse who could take up the mantle.
Who could replace Captain Marvel in the MCU?
Kamala Khan, AKA Ms. Marvel, could become the new cosmic-powered leading player in the MCU. In Marvel Comics lore, Carol Danvers was the first name to use the Ms. Marvel moniker (Kamala Khan was the fourth).
So, with Carol having been established as Captain Marvel first in the MCU, it could be interesting to then have the first established Ms. Marvel become the new Captain Marvel.
Related: ‘Deadpool’ Rating Confirmed After Disney Censored Marvel Movie
Then there’s Phyla. Played by Kai Zen in James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023), Phyla was first introduced as a member of the Star Children created by the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji).
Interestingly, in the comic books, Phyla–or Phyla-Vell–is the daughter of the Kree Mar-Vell and the sister of Genis-Vell, as well as a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy. She later went on to become Captain Marvel.
More recent than Phyla was the debut of Binary in the MCU. Lashana Lynch returned for the second time in as many years to play a Variant of Captain Marvel. In 2022, Lynch starred as the Illuminati’s version of Captain Marvel in Sam Raimi’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Then Lynch returned once again in the post-credits scene of The Marvels, where she was revealed to be the one who rescued an injured Monica Rambeau. In Marvel Comics, Carol Danvers became Binary after being given the powers of a star. She became one of the most powerful characters in the canon.
And finally, there is Rogue. The X-Men recently reappeared on screen in Beau DeMayo’s X-Men ’97, a direct sequel to the popular X-Men: The Animated series that ran from 1992 through 1997.
In the animated series, Rogue gained her superstrength and flight after a confrontation with Captain Marvel and permanently absiorved her powers. Not only is Rogue intrinsically connected to Captain Marvel, but the finale episode of the 2024 TV show proved her to be more than a match for her powerful antagonists–a similar scene was present in Avengers: Endgame when Carol almost thwarted Thanos by herself.
Related: Replacing Brie Larson: Project With the MCU’s New Captain Marvel Gets Huge Update
So, while the future of Captain Marvel and Brie Larson’s take on Carol Danvers in the MCU is up in the air, multiple other players related to her in some way are all already on the board. It is only a matter of time until fans of the franchise will see just what direction the Multiverse Saga will go.
Do you think the MCU is about to gain a new Captain Marvel character? Let us know in the comments down below!
