Superhero movies are unfamiliar to movie-going audiences, which is why every single one needs to spend some time establishing who the character was before they became a hero, what gave them powers or inspired them to fight crime, and how they came up with the design of their costume. Otherwise, the many, many people who have never seen a superhero movie will be totally lost. Why else would Batman V Superman include yet another scene of Bruce Wayne’s parents being killed?
Back in August, we reported that Captain Marvel screenwriter Nicole Perlman was trying to avoid doing an origin story for the Brie Larson-starring film, specifically pointing out that the character’s origin is too similar to the one seen in the awful Green Lantern movie. Perlman also suggested that, at this stage in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it made more sense to establish Captain Marvel’s place in the world than it did to really delve into where she got her powers. Now, though, Marvel seems to be back tracking on that. As reported by CinemaBlend, Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige recently noted that “Captain Marvel is certainly an origin [story],” adding that “it’s an origin story from the start.”
We don’t know how deep the movie will go, but considering how convoluted the current Captain Marvel’s origin in the comics is, maybe an origin movie is a good idea: In the comics, she initially debuted in the late ’60s as a regular Air Force pilot named Carol Danvers. In the ‘70s, her DNA was fused with that of the alien superhero Mar-Vell, better known as the first Captain Marvel. This gave her various superpowers, and Danvers became Ms. Marvel. She kept the name for a bit even after Mar-Vell died of cancer, eventually switching to Binary, then Warbird, and now Captain Marvel. Hopefully this origin story movie will make sure to include all of those name changes along the way.