The verdict on Captain Marvel

★★★ Dir: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck

Starring: Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson 12A 124m

One of the defining moments in the history of superhero movies, whether they are from DC or Marvel, was Gal Gadot’s electric appearance in the otherwise grimly dull Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016). She saved that lm and at a cultural moment when Trump was about to enter the White House and #MeToo was stirring, the largely male producers behind the largely male superhero franchises sat up and took notice: A fan-boy lm with a female lead could be nancially successful.

So DC Comics’ Wonder Woman is the reason Marvel made this – the story of Vers/ Carol Danver, who discovers that here life as a super-soldier on an alien planet is a ction and begins to use her super-powers for good (she can shoot energy beams out of her hands) when she is stranded on the “sh*thole” planet C53, known by its inhabitants as Earth.

Set in the 1990s to allow for gags about video stores and how terrible computers used to be, it also gives Jackson’s Fury a virtual rejuvenation (one of the best we’ve seen). The timeframe means this is not just a Captain Marvel origins story, but lls in a lot of other origins too: how Fury got his eye patch, some more back-story for Thanos – who wished half the cast out of existence in Avengers: Infinity War (2018) – and indeed why the Avengers assembled in the rst place.

There are many moments of female empowerment but just in case that’s boring for some of the teenage male fans, Captain Marvel kicks ass too, a lot. The two-hour run time leaves plenty of time for furious ght scenes, possibly too much time, and the lm’s resolution is so very much aimed at setting up the next instalment that you may be left a little dissatisfied. All in all, however, Captain Marvel is a worthy addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and a welcome move in a testosterone-imbued genre.