The MCU’s next big theatrical release, The Marvels, is set to hit theaters this Friday. But before going for any Marvel movie, it’s almost essential to quickly brush up on everything that happened within the MCU before that.
Given the number of alternate realities and multiverses, keeping track is sometimes difficult. But we’ve got you covered. If you’ve your tickets for The Marvels, this is the best place for a quick recap of everything you should remember before watching the film.
The Marvels is a sequel to Captain Marvel (2019), featuring Carol Danvers, Monica Rambeau, and Kamala Khan as the titular Marvels. The three women come together to save the universe from a cosmic threat.
But all three women have had a lot going on for them before the events of The Marvels. While you don’t need to know all the details to enjoy the film, it will make the experience more fun if you catch up.
The events of one film and three shows are important for this recap: Captain Marvel (2019), Secret Invasion (2023), WandaVision (2021) and Ms Marvel (2022). The events in these films and shows take place before The Marvels.
1. Captain Marvel
We first meet Carol Danvers, aka Captain Marvel, in Captain Marvel (2019). She is introduced as a magnificent warrior in the Kree empire.
Initially, Carol believes her name is Vers while she battles the shape-shifting Skrulls from the side of Kree aliens. But things change when she lands on Earth in the 90s.
She teams up with SHIELD agent Nick Fury and alerts him about the Kree aliens. She also discovers her actual identity. Carol Danvers is a human who was a fighter pilot. While testing a new engine built with Tesseract, the Kree tried to steal the stone. As a result, Carol landed on their planet.
Once Danvers realizes that the Kree had been lying to her, she meets the leader of the Skrulls, Talos, who explains to her that they’re actually the good guys. The Kree are supposed to be the bad guys instead.
Danvers teams up with her old pilot friend, Maria Rambeau, to face the Kree. Maria also has a young daughter, Monica. Monica Rambeau later grows up to become an integral part of the story, which we’ll come to in a while.
While fighting the Kree, Carol discovers that the Kree had put a chip in her to control her powers. Once she takes the chip off, she finally turns into Captain Marvel. Once her powers are unleashed, she fights and defeats the Kree army singlehandedly.
At the end of Captain Marvel, Carol gives Nick Fury a beeper number, as she cannot stay back on Earth. She flies off into the universe to continue fighting the Kree but asks Nick Fury to use her beeper number to contact her in case of an emergency.
This emergency comes up in Avengers: Infinity War.
2. Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame
At the end of Infinity War, Thanos snaps his fingers to wipe off half of the Earth’s population. Nick Fury was one of the people who disappeared because of the snap, but before fading into thin air, he beeps Captain Marvel.
Cut to Avengers: Endgame, it is confirmed that Captain Marvel did get Nick Fury’s message. She comes back to Earth to help the Avengers fight Thanos. After the war, Carol Danvers leaves again. The Marvels is a sequel to Captain Marvel, but the events of Infinity War and Endgame take place before the events of the film.
After Endgame, we do not see Captain Marvel play a titular role or even a major role in any MCU film. She makes an appearance in the end credits of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, but it was a short cameo.
The Marvels is the first time since Endgame that she will be playing a major role in the MCU.
3. Secret Invasion
Secret Invasion focuses on the whereabouts of Nick Fury after the events of Avengers: Endgame. The leader of the Skrulls, Talos, was introduced in Captain Marvel. In Secret Invasion, we see that Nick Fury has become good friends with him.
However, a bad Skrull called Gravik takes over and kills Talos. His motive is to conquer the Earth, like every other cliché villain in the MCU. Gravik collects the DNA of several superhumans and wants to combine all of them to become the Super Skrull.
However, Talos’ daughter, G’iah, also gets hold of the DNA, and one of the super people whose DNA she uses is Captain Marvel. With the help of the powers of the super DNA, G’iah defeats Talos.
The events of Secret Invasion are not directly related to the events of The Marvels. But just in case it comes up, you know your bit about the Skrull leader and Captain Marvel’s DNA.
4. WandaVision
Monica Rambeau, who plays an important role in The Marvels, has some background we must also catch up on. In Captain Marvel, we met Maria Rambeau’s daughter, Monica.
In WandaVision, Monica Rambeau is grown up and now a SHIELD agent. After Wanda, aka Scarlet Witch, turns an entire city into a Hex of alternate reality, she travels there to find out what’s up.
Wanda soon realizes who she is and kicks her out. But Monica does not want to give up. She enters the Hex once again despite others warning her against it. Although she comes back alive, she suddenly ends up having superpowers.
At the end of WandaVision, Monica Rambeau is approached by the Skrulls to join them in space for a secret mission. Monica joins them and finds out that the Skrulls are working with Nick Fury to build a space station called Saber.
5. Ms Marvel
The events of Ms Marvel aren’t that significant to understand The Marvels, but it is the show that introduces Kamala Khan. Kamala Khan will also play an important role in The Marvels.
In Ms Marvel, Kamala Khan is introduced as a big fan of Ms Marvel. She wants to be a part of the Avengers. Her superpowers are unlocked when she uses her grandmother’s old bangle. She discovers that her grandmother was a Djinn or an interdimensional super person.
In the context of The Marvels, one thing from the show is super important. Ms Marvel establishes the strange connection that Carol Danvers and Kamala Khans share. At the end of Ms Marvel, Kamala is teleported away. She swapped places with Carol Danvers as Carol ends up in Kamala’s teenage bedroom.
The Marvels will pick up exactly from this point. Happy watching!
6. About The Marvels
The Marvels is the sequel to Captain Marvel (2019) and the 31st film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film is directed by Nia DaCosta from a screenplay by Megan McDonnell
Following the events of Ms. Marvel (2022), Carol Danvers, Kamala Khan, and Monica Rambeau begin swapping places with each other every time they use their powers and must team up to figure out why.
The film stars Brie Larson, Teyonnah Paris, Iman Vellani, Zawe Ashton, and Samuel L. Jackson. It hits theaters on November 10, 2023.
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