Army versus Air Force, that’s the theme of this episode of Avengers: Ultron Revolution that officially introduces Captain Marvel, along with her rivalry with Captain America. Is she Avengers material? Find out after the jump in my review of “Captain Marvel.”
Ms. Marvel
While it has little bearing on the actual episode, my background with the character of Carol Danvers colors my opinion of her today as Captain Marvel. I’m so glad she’s finally after many years taken on the mantle of Captain Marvel, but to me, she was my Ms. Marvel. Carol Danvers had kicked around the Marvel Universe for over a decade when she became Ms. Marvel, then shortly joined the Avengers.
Ms. Marvel was a great addition to the team, and I recall the missed opportunity of a potential romance with Captain America. She fought alongside the Avengers against menaces like Korvac, Chthon, Red Ronin, and the Grey Gargoyle. I was thankful she returned to the team years later as Warbird, but it’s the in-between years that wreck the memory.
The Rape of Ms. Marvel
What I mainly remember about Carol Danvers is the tragedy that still scars the character, and the Avengers – what comics analyst Carol Strickland infamously termed ‘the rape of Ms. Marvel.’ Put simply, Marcus, the son of Immortus, engineered the rape and kidnapping of Ms. Marvel, and the Avengers let him, and even wished them well in the much maligned Avengers #200.
Eventually she freed herself of her assailant’s clutches in Limbo and made her way back to Earth, seeking the aid of Spider-Woman and the X-Men rather than the Avengers. When Rogue stole her powers and memories, and a confrontation was forced with the Avengers, it was not pretty. It was years before Carol and the Avengers mended fences.
Captain Marvel
After going under other names and power sets as Binary and Warbird, Carol finally took on the mantle of Captain Marvel, the late hero from whom she gained her powers and Kree genetics. With a new mohawkish haircut and a costume she can molecularly manipulate, Carol began a new career as Captain Marvel, headed to a feature film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and headlining comics events like the current Civil War II.
Here in the Marvel Animated Universe, Carol Danvers is voiced by voice acting vet Grey Griffin, who besides playing Captain/Ms. Marvel before, has also done her share of Wonder Woman and Scooby-Doo’s Daphne. She’s played gruff, arrogant, and sarcastic without being funny. Her costume has taken some hits in the move to animation (notably losing the scarf as belt), and they can’t seem to get her hair right. Still it’s cool to see Carol at all.
Army and Air Force
We open on a crashing Avenjet (groan, I still hate that name, it’s a quinjet, dammit) and Captain Marvel in a modified World War II plane (paying homage to the Carol Corps), comes to the rescue. Tony Stark sent for her, and he, as well as Captain America and Hawkeye have worked with her before. No one of the three, except Tony, seems happy that she’s here.
There’s a friendly rivalry here between Captains Marvel and America, calling each other ‘Army’ and ‘Air Force,’ matching the branch of military service each was part of. It seems friendly, but there’s something deeper here. Later Captain America comments to Thor on her attitude saying, “Captain Marvel is one of the finest soldiers I’ve ever fought with, but, there’s a reason she works alone.”
The Kree
Where Captain Marvel is, the alien Kree are sure to follow, and so it goes. The heroes are attacked by the Kree, specifically Galen-Kor, a handful of Sentries, and a warehouse/starship that would have made the Silver Age Doctor Doom proud. The Kree are kidnapping Inhumans, but would gladly bring back Captain Marvel dead or alive as well. I have to wonder if the kidnapping of Inhumans is a weak plot point or something that will be followed up on later.
The Avengers fight their way through the various obstacles, Kree drones, Sentries, and soldiers, with Captain Marvel explaining everything as they go, both to the Avengers and the viewers, just in case we weren’t paying attention. Of course these Sentries are definitely weak cousins to the real things in the comics as they are handled easily.
Conclusion
This episode is more like the Avengers guest-starring in the Captain Marvel show. Furthermore, outside of her coming around at the end (just like the Black Panther in “Panther’s Rage“), she is extremely unlikable. I mean, I like Carol Danvers a lot, but I’m not so keen of this animated version of her joining the team, ya know?
No matter how badly she may be perceived here, I was still excited to finally see her. Her very brief cameo in Avengers Confidential: Black Widow & Punisher was both highlight and appetite whetter. Too bad we couldn’t have gotten that version. Although once the original Avengers go missing in the upcoming season to be subtitled Secret Wars, the newcomers – Captain Marvel, Black Panther, Ant-Man, the Vision, and others – will get more screen time. Maybe she’ll be better then…
