Ranking 2019 superhero movies by interest

5. Captain Marvel (March 8, 2019)

Ever since Brain Michael Bendis and Olivier Copiel’s House of M in 2005, Marvel Comics have tried making Carol Danvers into their top-tier female superhero. This included giving her a make-over, a new costume, and changing her moniker from Ms. Marvel to Captain Marvel. Yet despite the A-list treatment, she still hasn’t quite achieved A-list status. Marvel Studios hopes to change this come March with Captain Marvel, starring Brie Larsen, Jude Law, Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Lashana Lynch and Clark Gregg.

Thing is, Carol Danvers was originally supposed to make her cinematic debut in Avengers: Age of Ultron but was later written out. The release date for her solo film was pushed back not once, but twice. Then there were leaked photos of Brie Larsen in her Kree uniform pre-Captain Marvel, and the consensus was it looked pretty darn awful. On top of this, the film’s set in the 1990’s and alters Carol’s origin story from the comics? Needless to say, there didn’t seem like there was a lot of enthusiasm brewing.

Two things changed this, in my opinion. First, the success of Wonder Woman (2017) proved that superhero films with a female lead, unlike Catwoman (2004) and Elektra (2005), could be a box-office smash and a critical darling. Without Wonder Woman,  I think Marvel Studios would continue being hesitant about Captain Marvel.

Yet the second thing which ignited interest was the post-credits stinger at the end of Avengers: Infinity War. It created a mystery about Carol, particularly where she’s been all these years. Moreover, it instantly made her into the universe’s last, best hope against Thanos without even seeing her in action. Not a bad way for turning Captain Marvel into a mandatory interlude before watching the fourth Avengers movie.