Looking back on 2019's CAPTAIN MARVEL

Before I even write anything, know that this post is not for the folks with zero braincells who talk about this movie being "woke" or how it brought in the "M-She-U." If you talk like this, rethink your life, touch some grass, and skip this post. Anyways, on with it.

So I re-watched CAPTAIN MARVEL recently and like most, the movie was fairly forgettable. I do like Larson in the role, and the cast itself delivered solid performances, but man, aside from maybe the score, there was not one thing that I found to be memorable. From a film, and MCU standpoint, this is a weaker entry into the franchise. But as the credits rolled, I realized something.

There's an argument to be made that 2019's CAPTAIN MARVEL is what gave Marvel Studios an insane level of cockiness. A movie that's fairly forgettable raked in over $1 billion. Not even WONDER WOMAN hit a billion, but then again, you could argue that fan hype for the DCEU was mixed and that movie gave folks the confidence to show up for CAPTAIN MARVEL.

Still, I'm completely baffled by how successful this movie was, because I don't think it has any of the juice that acclaimed MCU films have, nor do I even consider it as engrossing or fun as other successful MCU movies like GOTG 2 and THOR RAGNAROK. I think coming off BLACK PANTHER and INFINITY WAR, Marvel was at an all-time high, but when ANT-MAN 2 grossed like $600 million, I thought, yeah that's probably where CAPTAIN MARVEL would end up. Of course, I was supremely wrong, and while I think it's amazing that the first female-led MCU movie proved to be a resounding success, I think Marvel took the wrong lessons from it and is now feeling the consequences (quality wise, not commercially in most cases). From there, Marvel was seen as an untouchable force that could put anything out and people would watch.

I don't even hate the movie, it just boggles my mind that it's a billion dollar hit.

Again, this is all just my opinion, but to me, that was the movie that showed the studio that with minimal effort, any movie they make would be successful, only for the pandemic to happen... Phase 4, at least movie wise, had Marvel going back to its phase 1 roots with hiring experienced filmmakers to put their vision in line with whatever Feige was cooking up. It was a mixed bag tbh, and while a lot of films did well, others faired poorly critically and commercially (THOR 4, ANT-MAN 3, and several of the Disney+ shows are where I feel Marvel showed its cockiness and just put those things out thinking fans would blindly praise them).

In the end, I'm much more interested in THE MARVELS, especially with Nia DaCosta at the helm, a strong writing team behind the script, and Larson showing in ENDGAME and even SHANG-CHI that she's way more comfortable in the role. Larson did not have great directors for CM 1 and they were not able to truly capture a consistent performance out of her. She's an Oscar winning actor... LET LARSON ACT!! She was great in ENDGAME and much more light in SHANG-CHI. I'm hoping this continues in MARVELS, and I know DaCosta is gonna get a great performance out of her + Teyonah and Iman.

Hoping audiences turn out for it like they did with the first.

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