Captain Marvel is Getting Stronger, But are the Other Heroes?

There’s been a bit of controversy when it comes to describing how powerful Captain Marvel is, and now that the second movie is teasing that she’s about to become even more powerful, one has to wonder if the MCU is going to power up some of its other heroes or those that are still incoming, and by how much. The fact that Captain Marvel came into the MCU already exhibiting a great deal of power kind set a few people back on their heels since the rallying cry was that she hadn’t earned her spot in the MCU yet and already she was able to accomplish feats that none of the others had been granted, especially those that were known in Marvel comics as the type who could crack worlds in half. There is something to be said for this since several of the other stars of the MCU have earned their spots over the years, and in a big way, Captain Marvel came in with the attitude of ‘I’m here and I’m tougher, get used to it’, which irked a lot of fans since it as akin to stating that she was simply that powerful and there was nothing to be said for it. 

But if one takes into account the fact that Carol Danvers’ backstory, brief and riddled with flashbacks as it is, did show how she’d been underestimated for most of her life, then it can be said that she did earn it. Well, it could be said, but it doesn’t feel like it would be the truth since when one looks at heroes such as Captain America, Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, and Black Widow, we can see that thanks to their origin stories they earned their spot in the MCU ranks. Carol did earn her spot as a pilot and as a remarkable human being, but a freak accident, kind of like the Hulk, made her what she was. Unlike Banner, however, she was given a purpose and didn’t have to worry over being shunned. Unlike Tony Stark or Steve Rogers, however, she wasn’t captured and didn’t have the same kind of tragedies unfold in her life, and she certainly didn’t go through the same hardships as Natasha Romanoff. 

To be honest, Hawkeye appears to be the only one she really has a leg up on, and that’s largely because he hasn’t been given an origin story, not even when his limited series came out. But making Captain Marvel stronger is necessarily a bad thing so long as the issue of how strong the other characters are is remedied. Anyone denying that several of the characters in the MCU has had their power levels dampened might need to take a look at the comics for reference, even if this isn’t what the directors are always going by. Captain Marvel is a powerful character and has been for a long time, but her power levels haven’t always exceeded those of other heroes, and haven’t allowed her to overpower several heroes in the past as she appears capable of doing in the MCU. The fact that she is being made to be this powerful should probably indicate that she’s going up against much more powerful opponents, but so far it would appear that the feminist attitude that many were worried about is still attempting to keep her ahead of many other characters.

Juvenile as such a thought might appear to be, it is what a great number of people are wondering about even if they’re not condemning the idea. To be fair, it’s not a bad thing to write in Captain Marvel as a stronger and continually evolving character since it makes her far more interesting and less prone to the claim that she hasn’t earned the power she was gifted through what is essentially an accidental exposure to something lethal enough to leave her as a pile of ashes. The question that needs to be posed though is whether or not the other heroes in the MCU will be seeing a power increase at some point as well, meaning those that have been a little less than they should have been of course. There’s no need for characters such as the Punisher or Daredevil or any other street-level hero to become so powerful that they could take on a cosmic threat on their own. 

In the long run, such an issue is still kind of silly to think about, but it will continue to come up no doubt since people want the MCU to mirror Marvel in some ways at least, even if it’s not bound to adhere entirely to the comics. Captain Marvel came in as a fairly divisive character thanks to the perceived lack of personal sacrifice she had to endure and the fact that she was at the top of her game when she acquired her powers. Hopefully, this second movie will see her grow a little bit as a human being, as well as an MCU powerhouse.