So, let me tell you my feelings on Captain Marvel. In general, I appreciate that they are finally giving a woman her own movie – definitely late in the game, but better late than never, I guess. And from what I know of Captain Marvel (which, admittedly, isn’t much at all), she’s a cool character who is very powerful. Also, it’s taking place in the 90s, which – um, yes, please. All of my 90s feels. So I don’t necessarily have a problem with Captain Marvel herself.
However. The way that she is being shoe-horned into the current phase of the MCU feels very, very out of place. I mean, there has not been a single mention of her in 18 movies, and now suddenly, we see that Fury has her on speed-beeper for an emergency? Why haven’t we seen this before? It seems to me that when aliens were attacking New York for the first time ever would have been a good time to call in an emergency. Why didn’t Fury recruit her for the Avengers Initiative? Why wasn’t she alluded to or foreshadowed?
Maybe these things will be explained in her movie, I don’t know. But essentially we’re getting this character whom no one’s ever heard of (in-universe, I mean) swooping in at the eleventh hour with all of her extraordinary powers to save the day because the Avengers – the heroes we’ve grown to care about deeply – couldn’t. And that’s how they want to conclude this MCU phase? With a big old dues ex machina? What is the goal here, exactly? Because if the goal is good storytelling, then Marvel, you’re doing it wrong.
It would have been fabulous to truly see Loki’s journey come full circle with Thanos and the Infinity stones. It would have been immensely rewarding and fitting to end this MCU phase with the first villain being the latest hero. Fighting side by side with Thor. Saving the planet he once tried to invade. I mean, it’s poetic. Unfortunately, Marvel seems to operate under the assumption that once a person flimsily recovers from their depression/mental health issues and makes a flimsy peace with their brother, then that person literally has no reason left to live anymore and can be killed off. Marvel seems to operate under the assumption that death is the only way to find redemption – like, if you don’t die for it, it doesn’t mean anything, I suppose? I don’t know what the logic is, but either way, we deserved Loki and there’s no need, at this point in the game, for a completely brand new character to come in and be the savior.
But that’s just, like, my opinion, man.
I still think Whedon would have given a satisfying payoff for the Loki-Thanos connection he established. The MCU is a prime example of a horse designed by committee, and boy, is it a narrative mess.
Loki is the Philosopher King 