When looking at any movie based on a comic book you’re bound to run into the very real idea that things aren’t going look the same. When you look at the average comic book the outfits, the situations, and sometimes even the characters and the way they look, just aren’t as practical as you might think when it comes to live-action. In Captain Marvel the Skrull and the Kree have finally be really thrust into the midst of the MCU. Yes you can argue that the same already happened in Guardians of the Galaxy vol.1, but Captain Marvel has truly brought both races into stark relief in a way that hasn’t been done before. Yet despite this, nothing is really going to be brought forth in a way that’s 100% on par with what you’ve seen in the comics. If that’s not enough however the origin stories of many characters and the story lines do change since the vision of the director isn’t going to be the same as those that wrote the original story.
Normally you would think that changing the origin of a hero would be met with a lot of resistance by the fans, and you’d be right. Carol Danvers, or Vers, or Captain Marvel depending on what you want to call her, has had her origin changed a bit and her story line altered so as to make it fit into the idea of the film a little more. Parts of who she was in the original comics have been kept, but as fans might have already seen she’s been seen to be descended from aliens, presumably, has suffered memory loss and manipulation, and yet has turned out to be a better hero. Those that have read the comics were probably sitting in their seats with their mouths open and a frown on their faces wondering just what had happened to the hero they remembered.
If any character has been truly switched and recreated in a way that might confuse a lot of diehard fans, Mar-Vell’s appearance in the movie would have done it. Originally Mar-Vell was the person that made Carol into who she would become, and more to the point, Mar-Vell was male. In the movie however Mar-Vell is not only female, but she is a scientist that engineers Carol’s powers, and basically wants the war between the Kree and Skrull to end without wiping them both out. It’s one thing to switch roles in a way that people expect, but creating a character that is entirely different than what the comic-reading fans were expecting is kind of risky.
In many ways the movie kind of confused and almost downplayed the roles that were played by Yon-Rogg and the Skrulls. As many comic lovers might understand the Skrulls are shapeshifting spies that are found throughout the galaxy, sowing discord and otherwise trying to create harmful mischief. In the movie however they are a species that is on the brink and needs a new home desperately, and are basically seen as a persecuted race that the Kree are attempting to wipe out. If Yon-Rogg is an evil character it’s hard to see it since he’s more dogmatic in his approach to the loyalty he gives to the Kree empire, as his original hatred for Mar-Vell isn’t really seen as much in the movie, and his desire to see Carol driven to heel isn’t really employed as much as it was in the earlier comics.
In a lot of ways this movie was great to see since it was another way to expand the MCU and bring forth a hero that’s not only female but is also one of the more powerful, not THE most powerful, heroes in the Marvel universe. The changes that were made were obviously done to create a film that was an attempt to bring forth a female hero much in the same way the DCEU did, but changing things around so much seems to have compensated for a narrative that included a male hero as the progenitor for the powerful woman that came to be one of the stronger heroes that Marvel has to offer. Moving forward it’s going to be kind of interesting to see just how powerful the the MCU decides to make Carol in relation to the other heroes that have already been established. On a personal note it would seem that if they augment her power base to such a degree that she actually is ‘the most powerful hero in the MCU’ it will be seen as more of a gender-biased move than anything since those that read the comics know very well that heroes such as the Hulk and Thor have all the chance in the world to top her power set.
In other words, comics are changing, and we’d better be ready for that on the big screen.
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