Tragic Captain Marvel Theory"s Latest Evidence Genuinely Breaks My Heart

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Summary

The MCU theory that Carol shaved her head in support of Maria Rambeau adds a heartbreaking layer to their friendship and Monica's perception.
The complexity of grief in The Marvels highlights the emotional toll on Carol, Monica, and their strained relationship after Maria's death.
The ending of The Marvels leaves Captain Marvel's story in a somber place, with Carol searching for a way to bring Monica home and honor Maria's memory.

Captain Marvel's saddest MCU theory gets even sadder based on The Marvels, and makes me so much sadder about it years later. The WandaVision reveal that Maria Rambeau died during the Blip was one of the franchise's more brutal plot twists in recent history, having the character seemingly die alone and offscreen at a point in the MCU timeline that saw her daughter Monica snapped out of existence and presumed permanently dead, and her oldest friend Carol Danvers confirmed to have barely seen Earth during this time.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings' mid-credits scene led to an MCU theory that Carol had shaved her head in the Avengers: Endgame time skip in support of Maria after her cancer diagnosis, since the character was shown growing her hair back immediately after the new look. This aligns with what we know from The Marvels - that Carol wished very much to stay on Earth, but felt unable to return home, and was thus likely to show support in this kind of way - but the Phase 5 movie also makes the theory even more uniquely painful.

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The Marvels Makes The MCU's Saddest Captain Marvel Theory So Much More Tragic Close By the time of The Marvels, most of Carol Danvers' hair has grown back to a shoulder-length cut, not dissimilar to its style in the first Captain Marvel movie. This makes sense on a practice level - it shows how much time has passed since Avengers: Endgame, and makes things feel less static as a result - but also comes with another implication for Danvers' story that I think makes the original Captain Marvel theory even more painful.
If Carol shaved her head in support of her friend, then it's all the crueler that her daughter, Monica - who believes Carol abandoned her and her mother, and disregarded their suffering - never gets to see this physical manifestation of compassion and grief. By the time Monica meets Carol again after The Marvels, the pair have been estranged for some considerable time, meaning that when Monica sees her again, she's returned to looking almost exactly the same as she did in 1995, supporting Monica's fears that while her world was turned upside down by Maria's death, Carol was entirely unchanged.
Dealing with grief is a consistent theme throughout the MCU, and one that the franchise tends to take far more seriously than anything else in its generally comedy-leaning toolbelt. Showing how the complexities of grief and the various ways it manifests and continues to haunt those dealing with it even years later is a tricky matter for any story, let alone one that is having to balance it with showing several alien worlds and at least one musical scene, so approaching some aspects of Carol and Monica's storyline in this understated manner certainly makes sense.
The Marvels' Ending Means Carol Danvers' Tragic MCU Story Isn't Over Yet Close Monica getting trapped in another universe in the ending of The Marvels leaves Captain Marvel's story at another solemn point, searching for a way to recover Monica and make sure she honors Maria's memory by keeping her safe. With Carol and Monica having just repaired their damaged relationship before she's swept away into another world, it's an almost sure thing that Captain Marvel has once again given up on the idea of living on Earth in lieu of hunting for any sign of how to bring Monica home, regressing some of her character development in the movie.
Similarly, Monica last being seen in the presence of an alternate universe Maria Rambeau - who appears to have become a hero potentially instead of Carol - sets up for another emotional point in the MCU's movie future, as Carol finding Monica seemingly also means both characters seeing Maria again for potentially one last time, but without the ability to truly say what they would have wanted to their version of the character. With this in mind, The Marvels has actively prepared the MCU for an even more emotional meeting further down the line.

The Marvels Where to Watch *Availability in US
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The Marvels sees the long-awaited team-up of Carol Danvers (Brie Larson), Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani), and Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) as the trio work together to find out how their powers have become inextricably linked. Acting as a sequel to both Captain Marvel (2019) and the Ms. Marvel television show, The Marvels is the 33rd film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Director Nia DaCosta Release Date November 10, 2023 Upcoming Marvel Movies
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