While Marvel's next movie will be the first time we are introduced to a major character, it turns out we won't get a traditional origin story. While we would expect that the first act of the Captain Marvel movie would deal with how Carol Danvers received her superpowers, we now know that when the new movie opens, Danvers will not only already have her powers, but she'll already have left Earth and have joined a Kree military organization called Starforce.
A new Entertainment Weekly story, which includes our first look at Brie Larson as the title character Captain Marvel, also revealed this new information. In addition, an image posted by EW shows the team of operatives also includes two familiar faces, Ronan the Accuser and Korath the Pursuer, both of whom MCU fans met previously in Guardians of the Galaxy. It had been announced that both characters would return in Captain Marvel, as the film is set in the 1990s, pre-dating Iron Man, but now we know where they fit in the story. The team will also include Gemma Chan's Minn-Erva and it is led by Jude Law's character, Mar-Vell.
The image also explains the leaked set image that was going around the internet a few months back. The blue-green and black uniform that Brie Larson was wearing is the uniform of the Starforce. It's what she'll be wearing when the movie opens.
Marvel has made noises about moving away from traditional origin stories with the MCU movies before, so it's not a complete shock that the studio would do this. However, it seemingly flies directly in the face of what we were previously told, as Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige had said that the movie would be an origin story. Although, Marvel producer Nate Moore had implied that there would be some changes to the traditional origin story structure in this movie.
Instead, it seems that the "origin story" here will not be about the transition from "normal" Carol Danvers to super-powered human, but instead, about the super-powered human finding answers to questions about her past and becoming Captain Marvel. While the story will start in outer space, it will eventually end up back on Earth, where Carol Danvers will battle an invasion of shapeshifting Skrulls and meet a young S.H.I.E.L.D. agent named Nick Fury.
The good news about Captain Marvel not being an origin story is that the movie won't need to spend time setting up the character and her powers and can jump right into a larger story. The film will be sure to give us all the backstory that we actually need. Ultimately, how Carol Danvers gained her powers may simply not be relevant to the story this movie is telling.
