By: Carter Caldwell

On 8 March, Marvel Studios released the 21st entry of their ever-growing Marvel Cinematic Universe, Captain Marvel.  The film, which is set in 1995, covers the course of 22 hours, and almost entirely before the more heavy hitter plots of Avengers and Iron Man.  In order to preserve the illusion that the film actually took place in the 90s, actors such as Samuel L. Jackson and Clark Gregg were de-aged with CGI in post-production.

The film premiered in London on 27 February, and was well received upon its wide release, having opened to $456,718,598 (the sixth largest opening of all time, ahead of massive box office successes Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice).

So far, the film has grossed $550 million, making it the second highest grosser of 2019, behind Chinese science fiction The Wandering Earth.  Additionally, the film was critically well-received, acquiring a 79% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics praising the film’s humor and Brie Larson’s performance as Carol Danvers. Typical of Marvel films, critics noted the lack of a strong antagonist in the movie, despite casting Hollywood’s favorite villain Ben Mendelsohn.

Fans of the character can catch her again in Avengers: Endgame, to be released in late April.  That film will see the close of the regular Avengers series that began with Iron Man in 2008.  Beyond that, we can expect that Captain Marvel will be one of the heroes chosen to usher in a new age of superhero movies.