Everyone knows that Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel is as strong a superhero as the Marvel Cinematic Universe has ever seen — Marvel head honcho Kevin Feige has even repeatedly stated that she’s the most powerful hero in the entire film franchise so far. With that in mind, it’s not hugely surprising that Carol was able to fly in and rescue Iron Man and Nebula at the beginning of Avengers: Endgame without even breaking a sweat. And yet, Captain Marvel’s Photon-blasting fists and otherworldly strength aren’t quite enough to distract from one big question: How did she actually find them?
Well, Avengers: Endgame co-director Joe Russo has finally revealed the answer. In the commentary track included on the digital release of Avengers: Endgame, Russo explained that Carol Danvers didn’t just leave whatever planet she was on and automatically know where in space Tony Stark and Nebula were stranded. After receiving an emergency page from Nick Fury at the end of Avengers: Infinity War, Carol went to Earth first and met with the Avengers who had survived Thanos’ snap. Of course, many fans will actually remember this happening, since it was depicted on-screen during the post-credits scene for Captain Marvel.
Thanks to Joe Russo, however, the final gap in the story has been filled. He explained:
“The missing narrative of course is that she came to Earth, met the Avengers, was brought up to speed on what was happening, and there’s some sort of homing beacon on that ship that she tracks and brings the two of them back to Earth.”
For any Endgame viewers who hadn’t stuck around after Captain Marvel’s credits, Carol’s rescue of Iron Man and Nebula may have been a little confusing, given a lack of context behind the scene and the “missing narrative” Russo mentioned. Nonetheless, it did an excellent job of tying up the loose threads left dangling following the Avengers: Infinity War post-credits scene, in which Fury pages Carol seconds before he crumbles into dust after Thanos’ initial snap. It was also a great way to bring Captain Marvel into the present day after her ’90s-set solo movie, and demonstrate her enormous powers to both the audience and the Avengers.
But this wasn’t how Captain Marvel was intended to be introduced. Russo also explained that he, co-director Anthony Russo, and screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely originally wrote the rescue scene without the reveal that Carol was responsible for it. The team initially wanted to hide the fact Captain Marvel was the hero who rocked up to the Benatar and flew it back to Earth. Instead, it would only be implied that she was saving Iron Man and Nebula, at least at first. McFeely revealed:
“The idea would be that there’d be orange light on Tony’s face, he’d see something, the audience wouldn’t see it.”
This is actually pretty close to what did happen in Avengers: Endgame, but the earlier cut of the movie wouldn’t have let on that it was Captain Marvel outside the Benatar, saving the reveal for when she actually brings the ship down to Earth. Ultimately, the crew decided that this wouldn’t work as “a successful reveal”, and instead opted to show off Captain Marvel in all her glory.
Now that this Endgame mystery has finally been solved, Marvel fans can focus their attention on speculating when Captain Marvel will make her return to the MCU. Her sequel film wasn’t announced as a Phase 4 project during Marvel’s San Diego Comic-Con panel, but fans aren’t convinced that she’ll be sitting on the sidelines until after 2021. Who knows? Perhaps, in the coming years, Carol will swoop in to save her fellow superheroes once more.
Watch the video to learn how we finally understand how Captain Marvel found Tony in space!
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