When the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s The Marvels hits theaters, it will explore the legacy and relationships associated with Captain Marvel’s Carol Danvers. Including Carol Danvers herself (Brie Larson), Kamala Khan’s Miss Marvel (Iman Vellani), and Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris), the movie will see the trio of women uniting for a story for the first time. While Kamala is a big fan of Carol, Monica and Carol have a history already, and there appears to be some tension between the two.
Monica was first introduced to the MCU in Captain Marvel’s solo movie as a child in the 1990s (played as a child by Akira Akbar). There, Carol’s friendship with Monica’s mother Maria (Lashana Lynch) was a key part of Carol remembering who she really was. It seemed like Carol and the Rambeau family would be as thick as thieves moving forward as well, but Monica had a completely different attitude when Carol was mentioned in the WandaVision series. There’s a stark difference in their relationship now that Monica is an adult that needs to be addressed.
Carol Danvers And Monica Rambeau Were Like Family
When the MCU’s audience is first introduced to Carol Danvers, she believes she’s a Kree named Vers. It’s only when she winds up on Earth that she’s reintroduced to her human life as Carol Danvers, discovering there are two decades of memories locked away inside her. Maria Rambeau and her daughter Monica are at the crux of those memories.
It’s Monica who calls Carol “Aunty Carol,” and fully embraces her without entirely understanding the ramifications of Carol showing up after spending years believing herself to be a soldier for an alien race. Monica even helps Carol decide on the colors of her suit, playing with the settings until she and Carol find what works for her so that she’s not wearing the Kree uniform anymore.
Carol is fully supportive of Monica’s dreams to go to space herself. They seem to have a great rapport with Carol calling Monica “the best” kid that Maria could possibly have. Because the timeline in the MCU jumps forward from the early 1990s in Captain Marvel to the late 2000s with the events of Iron Man, Thor, and The Incredible Hulk. That’s about 20 years in the MCU timeline in which the audience doesn’t see Monica grow up or just what happens between Carol and the Rambeau family. The next time the audience sees Monica is in WandaVision, while the next time the audience sees Carol is during the events of Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, right before WandaVision unfolds.
What Caused Monica Rambeau’s Attitude In WandaVision?
By the time the events of WandaVision occur, Monica is no longer as interested in “Aunty Carol.” She even rolls her eyes when the latter is mentioned. Monica provides the audience with what it looks like when someone who isn’t on the battlefield in Wakanda suddenly re-materializes following the new Snap as she reforms from ash in a chaotic hospital setting, but other than knowing that Monica had been there five years earlier because her mother had cancer (and subsequently died of it during the five years she was missing), there’s no more context provided for Monica as an adult.
Monica works for the government organization known as SWORD, presumably inspired by the work of both her mother Maria (who previously headed the organization) and her Aunty Carol’s work as pilots (and with the Skrulls in her childhood). Why then doesn’t she seem interested in learning more about Carol Danvers, or Captain Marvel’s activities? She essentially dismisses Carol and goes straight to work at figuring out what Wanda Maximoff is up to in Westview without a second thought.
It’s clear, however, that dismissing the talk of Carol doesn’t mean that Monica is indifferent to her. When she passes through the barrier into Westview that SWORD calls the “hex,” Monica’s molecular structure is changed, but it’s changed as she relives familiar memories. Dialogue from the Captain Marvel movie that features Carol and Monica speaking when she’s just a little girl is what the audience hears as Monica is transformed for the first time. The audience might just think of it as a fun WandaVision Easter egg, but it’s also a nod to Monica’s issues with Carol being unresolved.
WandaVision doesn’t just end with Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) regretting her actions of taking over the small town either. It also ends with Monica having a new power set and being asked by a shape shifting Skrull for her help. The next time she’s set to be seen in the MCU is in The Marvels, which was previously slated to hit theaters in February 2023, but the release date was pushed back slightly, making the audience wait a little longer for answers.
The Marvels Needs To Address These Feelings Head-On
Those answers need to include The Marvels addressing the relationship of Carol and Monica directly. Yes, Kamala Khan is set to be a big part of the story, but the movie can’t forget that Carol and Monica have a complicated history that the audience deserves to have unraveled.
The audience wants to know just what Monica holds her particular disdain for Carol, especially since Kamala is completely in awe of Carol as a hero. The two will provide very different points of view of just who Captain Marvel is. It’s not clear if the falling out between Monica and Carol was during her childhood, or if it’s maybe a more recent one, like Carol not being reachable when Maria was terminally ill. When Carol has been questioned about her absence by Avengers in recent movies, she’s explained that she’s been helping other planets while they were busy helping Earth. That would imply that she’s been away from Earth for a very long time, and might not have been in contact with Maria and Monica for decades. The two might not have been close for a very long time.
Whether Monica’s issues with Carol stem from feeling abandoned as a child or grieving loss as an adult, The Marvels needs to give the audience a clear picture of just what happened.
The Marvels lands in theaters on July 28, 2023. Before that, MCU fans will be able to catch Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania in theaters on the former’s original release date of February 17, 2023.