One of the biggest mysteries surrounding Captain Marvel, alongside Jude Law’s role, has been the question of who four-time Academy Award nominee Annette Bening is playing in the film. She has been an enigmatic figure in the trailers, clearly playing an important role, but not definitively one character or another. Now that the film has screened, the secrecy has loosened just a bit and Annette Bening can spill some of the beans. She said:
I play The Supreme Intelligence, who is a God-like entity. The leader of the Kree people, the artificial intelligence which consists of the greatest intellects of the Kree people for the last million years.
Like Daenerys Stormborn of the House Targaryen rattling off her many titles to intimidating effect, Annette Bening’s announcement of who her Captain Marvel character is on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert was an impressive summary and quite a mouthful. Her description is meant to inspire awe and grandeur, and it is right to do so because Annette Bening is playing the Kree Supreme Intelligence.
It was rumored that Annette Bening might be playing Carol Danvers’ mother in the film, but one of the trailers showed that she was in fact a Kree. She appeared to be a high-ranking military officer, but we now know, as many have suspected, that Annette Bening is playing the Kree Supreme Intelligence, though one that looks quite different than its comic book counterpart.
In the comics, the Kree Supreme Intelligence is all of those things that Annette Bening said: a God-like being, the leader of the Kree and an A.I. made up of the greatest minds of the Kree race. However, in the comics it is basically just a giant floating green head. See below:
So the Supreme Intelligence is getting a new look for this film and a much more pleasant and friendly face. In the comics, the Kree Supreme Intelligence is a cold entity, concerned only with the survival and advancement of the Kree race. It is the one who assembles and commands the Starforce during the Kree-Shi’ar War, even acting as a member itself through the android Supremor.
I suspect that the Kree-Skrull War may be standing in for the Shi’ar conflict in Captain Marvel, which would perhaps portend an important role for Annette Bening’s Supreme Intelligence.
It’s definitely a cool role for Annette Bening to play. She is an acclaimed actress who can bring the necessary gravitas to a character that is both wise and calculating. Although Annette Bening admits, she needed a little help understanding her story in the film. Take a look at the video of her Late Show appearance below to hear who she enlisted to help her and a clip of the Supreme Intelligence from the film.
Captain Marvel blasts into theaters on March 8 with a potentially big opening if tracking and pre-sales are any indication. Check out our guide for all the biggest movies headed to theaters this year, and for more examples of supreme intelligence, follow all the writers here at CinemaBlend.
