Captain Marvel is another big hit for Marvel Studios, as its first female-led film introduces audiences to one of the most powerful beings in the universe before Avengers: Endgame premieres in April.
The origin story sets up Carol Danvers as a force to be reckoned with in the MCU while also explaining some of the mysteries of the universe. We get the appearance of an Infinity Stone, Skrulls and what exactly Goose is to think about until we revisit the MCU next month.
Here's what the end of Captain Marvel means for the character, and to the MCU as a whole.
Spoiler Warning! The following will spoil the events of Captain Marvel. If you haven't seen it and don't want to know what happens, turn back now.
CAPTAIN MARVEL AND THE TESSERACT
Captain Marvel changed up how Carol Danvers received her powers from the comics.
In the comics, Danvers is caught in an explosion of a Kree device that gives her her famous energy powers and ability to fly. In the movie, Danvers is a test pilot for an experimental craft developed by Dr. Lawson (Annette Bening). Audiences learn later on that Lawson is actually a Kree scientist named Mar-Vell and she was looking to build a warp engine to stop the Kree and Skrull War.
An alien spacecraft blasts Danvers and Mar-Vell out of the sky, and it's revealed that Yon-Rogg (Jude Law) was the one to do it. He wanted to bring the engine to Hala, the Kree homeworld. Mar-Vell understood that her people were fighting a nonsensical war and wanted to help the Skrulls (more on that below).
Yon-Rogg kills Mar-Vell who was going to destroy the engine. Danvers picks up Mar-Vell's blaster while Yon-Rogg tries to convince her to put it down. Carol decides to destroy the engine like Mar-Vell wanted, but the resulting blast imbues her with energy. Instead of killing her, Yon-Rogg feels Danvers can be used to fight with the Kree.
Later on in the film, Danvers finds Mar-Vell's laboratory that's been orbiting Earth. We learn that the engine that was destroyed only stored energy from one source — the Tesseract.
The Tesseract is one of the seven Infinity Stones, and controls space. While Carol doesn't have the ability to warp or create wormholes for travel like the Tesseract can, she does gain the ability to fire photon beams and fly.
Having the energy of an Infinity Stone coursing through you would make you one of the strongest beings in the universe.
NICK FURY'S EYE AND GOOSE
Nick Fury has been involved with the MCU since the first Iron Man film. However, the events that led to Fury losing his eye and needing his signature eye patch were unknown until Captain Marvel.
Audiences are introduced to Goose, a cat that belonged to Mar-Vell. The Skrull leader, Talos is visibly uneasy whenever Goose showed up and tells Carol and Fury that it's not a cat. Goose is a Flerken. However, we don't see the true nature of Goose until the end of the film when it's jaws open to unleash tentacles that take out Kree guards. Goose even eats the Tesseract.
So how does Goose factor into Nick Fury losing his eye? Well, while Fury is cuddling up to Goose he is scratched by the alien feline leaving claw marks. It's a bad scratch, but Fury believes he'll be ok, but Talos shakes his head that he won't be.
After Carol leaves Earth, we see Fury wearing his eye patch in his office. Agent Phil Coulson walks in and hands Fury a box filled with different-colored glass eyes. Coulson admires Fury for surviving Kree torture that cost him his eye, but the audience knows it was a Flerken-related incident.
THE SKRULLS AND THE KREE
In the comics, the Skrulls and Kree are alien races that are in a never-ending war. This translates into Captain Marvel, but the MCU changes it up to make one side more sympathetic.
The Skrulls that are looking for Dr. Lawson on Earth are actually good. The shape-shifting beings are refugees on the run from the Kree who have scattered the race across the galaxy. Talos, the leader of this group of Skrulls, explains to Carol Danvers that they are the victims in this war that she's a part of.
It's not until Talos plays the black box recording from Danvers' crash that she remembers that it was Yon-Rogg who was responsible for the crash and her memory loss. The incident took six years of her life as he trained her to become a warrior for the Kree empire.
After getting rid of the Kree, Danvers decides to leave Earth to help the Skrull find a new home planet. This explains where Danvers is for 24 years before she gets the pager call from Fury.
Captain Marvel is out now in theaters.
What do you think about how Nick Fury lost his eye? Were you surprised by the Skrulls being the good guys? Let us know in the comments section below.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Phillip Martinez is a game and culture reporter for Newsweek. Prior to joining Newsweek in 2018, he was a reporter ... Read more
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