Brie Larson doesn’t deserve to be the most divisive actor in the MCU. All she did was say some fairly innocuous and basic things about feminism at a press conference years ago, but ever since then, she’s been an unwilling front-line fixture in the culture wars. Some believe this means Captain Marvel just hasn’t gotten the praise she deserves, as her superheroic activities on screen are always overshadowed by the simmering anger from certain corners of the internet.
One moment in particular from Avengers: Endgame is being held up as a supreme example of badassery, with Captain Marvel no-selling a fierce headbutt from Thanos himself. Should this have made everyone an instant super fan?
The climactic battle in Endgame sees a huge amount of heroes throw themselves into battle against Thanos, though he’s all but invincible while wielding the fully blinged-out Infinity Gauntlet. Danvers is the only person powerful enough to seriously trouble him, making an impressive entrance by obliterating large parts of his Armada and bringing the fight right to him.
That said, given that a common complaint is that Captain Marvel is a “Mary-Sue” (i.e. a character who is good at everything and able to solve any problem) tanking this headbutt doesn’t exactly disprove that.
We’re eager to see more of Danvers at full strength in The Marvels later this year, though it seems that whatever feats of awesomeness she performs in the MCU, Larson is destined to remain a bête noire for the more unpleasant side of the fan community.
The Marvels blasts into theaters on Nov. 10.
Published: May 19, 2023 05:59 am