Captain Marvel Is The New Normal

January 8, 2019

First of all, let’s get one thing straight, I’m one of the biggest Captain Marvel fans out there. From Carol Danvers all the way down to Kamala Khan, any woman with Marvel in her name gets a look from me. While Carol Danvers has a place in my heart, it’s Monica Rambeau who will always be my first, and favorite, Captain Marvel.

Short history lesson, while Carol Danvers goes by Captain Marvel in the comics and the upcoming film, she was not the first woman in Marvel Comics to claim the name. That honor and distinction goes to Monica Rambeau, an African-American woman who was once a lieutenant in the New Orleans harbor patrol. She’s had a few name changes since, from Pulsar to Photon, but for any child of the eighties and nineties? Miss Rambeau will always be our Captain Marvel.

So imagine how I feel, sitting across from Lashana Lynch, the actress who will portray Maria Rambeau, mother of Monica, in Captain Marvel. We are discussing Maria’s relationship with Carol Danvers and she had this to say:

“They have a sisterhood about them that is really nice to see in a Marvel movie. Carol Danvers is someone who is an aunt to my child, like she is family… they’re in a male-orientated environment and industry, and all they have is each other, those female fighter pilots. So yeah, they’re extremely close, extremely.”

Throughout the set visit, one thing that is emphasized over and over; how crucial the idea of sisterhood and more importantly, motherhood is to the film. Imagine, a superhero film where the parents aren’t dead and gone. A superhero movie that emphasizes the importance of mothers and let’s be clear, the importance of African-American mothers to well, everything.

I asked Lashana what does being a mother bring to the character of Maria, and I’ll just let her testify:

“A strength. I would say that her being a fighter pilot along with a single mother is her superhero quality. That is absolutely her superpower. Being a single mother, especially a Black single mother , having been raised by one and my grandmother, I know that there’s just a certain type of strength that comes ancestrally that you wouldn’t have been able to portray. That’s just a certain way we portrayed that in this film that isn’t labored, but also was very much conveyed in…I actually don’t even have the words for it. I feel like nothing…you know what I mean by nothing’s labored? It’s just she’s strong, she’s bold, she’s a Black single mother. She doesn’t argue about it. She has raised an amazing child and now this child is probably going to turn out to be a superhero because she’s been raised by one.“

I wanted to jump up like we were in church and scream “PREACH!”, but I calmly sat in my seat and asked her what was the most important part in creating the character of Maria?

“It made me realize that the younger generation, are going to have what I didn’t have as a kid, which is seeing themselves on screen. So this will be a classic film for the new generations to come, which is crazy. And also the new normal, which I can’t wait to be.”

The New Normal. In the era of Black Panther, Into The Spiderverse and now Captain Marvel, superhero films are undergoing a shift away from the standard white boy loses everything and must somehow find his way back. We are now living in a time where films draw from the culture and traditions that make us all unique, while still telling a story that makes it relatable to anyone.

Peep the latest Captain Marvel trailer below, and get your tickets now! Captain Marvel is in theaters Friday, March 8th 2019.