Ask a certain subset of fans (although that term is debateable in this context — can you actually be called a fan of something if you do nothing but complain about it?), and they’d tell you that Brie Larson is one of the worst things that ever happened to the MCU. Well, I’m afraid to break it to you, haters, but even a cursory glance at the evidence will tell you that, in actual fact, Larson is one of its greatest assets. She may even be the one person Marvel needs to hinge the future success of its franchise around.
A common counterpoint employed by the Oscar-winning actress’ supporters in the face of all the hate is that Captain Marvel managed to earn over $1 billion at the box office upon its release in 2019. But it actually goes further than that. Larson has appeared in four Marvel Studios productions to date, and all of them were enormous successes either financially or critically, sometimes both.
Following Captain Marvel‘s barnstorming box office win, Larson returned later that same year in Avengers: Endgame, which just happened to earn $2.8 billion globally, going down as one of the most truly iconic superhero films of all time. A couple of years later, Larson’s Carol Danvers cameod in the post-credits scene of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. While the Simu Liu vehicle sadly suffered from the lingering effects of the pandemic at the box office, bringing home a mere $432 million, it nonetheless sits pretty on Rotten Tomatoes with 91%.
Last but not least, Larson’s most recent MCU role came right at the end of the finale to Ms. Marvel. Although fans seem to think the series needs defending, the Iman Vellani-starring production is actually the most acclaimed of Marvel’s Disney Plus shows on Rotten Tomatoes, with its near-perfect 98% critics score. All in all, there may be a lot of doom and gloom about The Marvels going around, but history tells us we shouldn’t doubt the power of Brie Larson.
