The Marvels recap: What you might have forgotten and what you need to know
We're suiting up again in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and this time Brie Larson is back as Carol Danvers, aka Captain Marvel, but she's far from alone.
Inviting WandaVision's Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) and Ms Marvel's Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) into the fold, the sequel also sees the return of MCU stalwart Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson) as they team up to face the threat of Dar-Benn (Zawe Ashton).
Since Phase Four began with WandaVision, the MCU has become more integrated across its movies and TV shows. We've had crossovers before, like in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, but The Marvels takes it up a notch, bringing together characters established in two TV shows as well as being a sequel to 2019's Captain Marvel.
If you're new to the cosmic arm of the MCU, or simply need a refresher on where we last left our heroes, here's everything you need to know ahead of The Marvels.
Carol Danvers
Up first is Brie Larson's blonde-haired bruiser, Captain Marvel being one of the MCU's most powerful characters (until Secret Invasion's G'iah came along).
Although Captain Marvel was originally slated to appear in Avengers: Age of Ultron, it was over to the '90s-set Captain Marvel to give Carol her origin story, while also explaining Nick Fury's humble start.
Danvers featured as a hot-shot fighter pilot who was struck by the cosmic energy of the Tesseract. After a blood transfusion, she became a human-Kree hybrid known as Vers and has been protecting the galaxy ever since with her superhuman speed, durability, reflexes and ability to go binary (ie turn into a glowy human comet type person).
Despite sitting out Avengers: Infinity War, Danvers was summoned by Fury just before he turned to dust in the credits scene. Although Captain Marvel missed out on the convoluted time heist, she returned to take on the Mad Titan in the climactic final battle of Avengers: Endgame.
Since then, Danvers has been on some covert solo missions and appeared (via hologram) during the post-credit scene of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. The last we saw of Carol, she appeared in the post-credit tease of Ms Marvel, where she inadvertently swapped places with Kamala to set up the events of The Marvels.
Monica Rambeau
A much younger Monica "Lieutenant Trouble" Rambeau appeared alongside Lashana Lynch's Maria Rambeau in Captain Marvel and was played by Akira Akbar.
Maria was Carol's best friend when they were in the US Air Force together, but they lost touch until Carol returned to Earth. Years later, the adult Monica was dusted during the Blip and, in the time between, Maria died from cancer and Carol was nowhere around to support her friend in a time of crisis.
Post-blip, Monica joined her mother's old organisation of SWORD and investigated the Westview Anomaly in WandaVision. After being pulled through the CMBR field, Monica found herself in one of Wanda Maximoff's sitcoms as the character of Geraldine. It didn't last long, and as Monica tried to help Wanda, the latter forced Rambeau back through the barrier.
Due to multiple exposures to the Hex, Monica's cells were changed at a molecular level, giving her signature blue glow. Among her powers, Monica boasts spectral vision, superhuman reflexes, the ability to phase and absorb energy.
The MCU hasn't yet confirmed Monica's official superhero name (expect one in The Marvels), with her going under the aliases of Photo, Pulsar, and Spectrum in the comics. She was summoned to space by Fury at the end of WandaVision.
Kamala Khan
Introduced in Bisha K Ali's Ms Marvel TV series, Kamala Khan is a hero-obsessed girl from Jersey City. After dreaming she could become the next Captain Marvel, Kamala's life was changed by a mysterious bangle inherited from her great-grandmother.
It just so happens her great-grandmother, Aisha, was an interdimensional Djinn. The bangle unlocked Kamala's abilities to harness the physical energy source of the Noor (a mystical energy source), which drew the attention of the Clandestines and Department of Damage Control.
This is a major change to Kamala's comic book origin, where she was exposed to the Terrigen Mist and is classed as one of the Inhumans. The twists don't end there, with a jaw-dropping reveal that Kamala has a "mutation" in her genes.
As for her powers, Kamala can manipulate light and energy from the Noor into solid forms, has superhuman strength and can "embiggen", a fan-favourite skill from the comics that lets her grow certain parts of her body, like a giant fist.
Kamala's bangle seems to be a revamp of the comic book Nega-Bands, which are a powerful Kree artefact. Note that Zawe Ashton's Dar-Benn has a similar bangle to Kamala in The Marvels, suggesting a further link between Ms Marvel and the female ensemble.
Speaking of which, Ms Marvel ended with Kamala switching places with Carol Danvers, presumably putting her up in space while Captain Marvel is stranded in Jersey City.
Nick Fury
The overseer of the Avengers made his debut way back in 2008's Iron Man, but Captain Marvel revealed he was inspired to create the Avengers Initiative by Carol herself. The prequel also solved the long-running mystery of what happened to Fury's eye, when it was scratched out by Carol's pet Flerken, Goose.
After wrangling Tony Stark and the rest of the Avengers, Fury was 'killed off' in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, but soon returned to take down the corrupt SHIELD. Despite becoming a mentor figure to Tom Holland's Spider-Man, Fury was later revealed to be a shapeshifting Skrull in disguise.
The real Fury has remained chilling in space, coming back down to Earth with a bump for Secret Invasion. Teaming up with Ben Mendelsohn's Talos (RIP), we also learned Fury had a Skrull wife. After exposing the Skrull invasion on Earth, Fury was accompanied by his wife as he once again took to the stars to resume duties at the SABER space station.
Fury was due to negotiate a Kree peace summit with Vara by his side, and with Dar-Benn being a Kree warrior who is confirmed as the Big Bad of The Marvels, she's sure to be at odds with Fury.
The Marvels is released in cinemas on November 10.
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