The Gender Controversy Around the Upcoming Captain Marvel Movie

With the upcoming release of the next Marvel movie, Captian Marvel, in less than a month's time in March 2019, has anyone else noticed the strange confusion floating around on the internet with regards to the history of the Captain Marvel character? And whether or not Captain Marvel will be male or female?

What is the controversy behind the Captain Marvel movie?

What fans of the Marvel Universe are wondering is if Captain Marvel will be male or female in the 2019 movie. And the reason why this has become a controversy, a topical issue when it comes to the upcoming Captain Marvel movie is that some fans of the original 1940s character prefer the character as a male, where others, more contemporary readers, know the character as being female.

Why is the Captain Marvel trailer getting so much hate?

Because Golden Age Comic lovers and collectors want the character of Captain Marvel to be a man. One of the biggest questions swirling around on the internet right now about the new Disney / Marvel Studios collaboration has to do with the gender history of the Captain Marvel character in conjunction with the origins of the character in since the 1940s and how it will be presented in the upcoming Captain Marvel Disney movie.

The Gender Controversy Around the Upcoming Captain Marvel Movie

With the upcoming release of the next Marvel movie, Captian Marvel, in less than a month's time in March 2019, has anyone else noticed the strange confusion floating around on the internet with regards to the history of the Captain Marvel character? And whether or not Captain Marvel will be male or female?

What is the controversy behind the Captain Marvel movie?

What fans of the Marvel Universe are wondering is if Captain Marvel will be male or female in the 2019 movie. And the reason why this has become a controversy, a topical issue when it comes to the upcoming Captain Marvel movie is that some fans of the original 1940s character prefer the character as a male, where others, more contemporary readers, know the character as being female.

Why is the Captain Marvel trailer getting so much hate?

Because Golden Age Comic lovers and collectors want the character of Captain Marvel to be a man. One of the biggest questions swirling around on the internet right now about the new Disney / Marvel Studios collaboration has to do with the gender history of the Captain Marvel character in conjunction with the origins of the character in since the 1940s and how it will be presented in the upcoming Captain Marvel Disney movie.

Isn't Captain Marvel supposed to be a man?

It's a great question. And here's the answer:

The current variation on the character is a woman. But, the character of Captain Marvel, yes, indeed, does have origins that find the character first appearing in the pages of comic books in the 1940s as a man!

Confused? Okay, here's what happened:

When the Captain Marvel character was first created in the 1940s, the hero wasn't from the mind of Stan Lee or anyone else that is commonly-associated with the origins of the Marvel Universe. The original Captain Marvel character, was created by the lesser-known comic book company called Fawcett Comics, which made a name for themselves during the World War II. Originally called Billy Batson, the first Captain Marvel was a strange play off of another well-known comic figure, Shazam. When the young boy Billy Batson wanted to transform into Captain Marvel, all he had to do was say the word "Shazam."

The gender confusion pertaining to Captain Marvel can be traced back to the Batson character, actually.

With the success of the Batson Captain Marvel character for Fawcett Comics, it wasn't long after that that they decided to spin off another character with ties to Batson -- Mary Marvel. Mary Marvel, was Batson's sister, no doubt, a separate character, who had a painful resemblence to her brother, in that, both were each given names based around classic Greek characters -- and so much so, that Captain Marvel and Mary Marvel often get confused with one another all these years later.

Then a lawsuit killed off both the characters; when DC Comics decided to sue Fawcett because of the resemblences between Captain Marvel and Superman, Fawcett decided to kill off the characters with the end of the World War II, and the decline of interest in the character in the public zeitgeist.

In the late-1960s, the character was revived; oddly, it wasn't Fawcett who would revive the Captain Marvel character though, but Marvel, when they discovered the trademark on the character was up for grabs. They decided that they'd pick up the character simply because they could.

And here's where it gets even more confusing....

To bring back the Captain Marvel character, Marvel comics introduced the character as Mar-Vell aka The Original Captain Marvel. A Kree figure sent to Earth, he decides to live on Earth out of his love for the planet and decides to protect it. One common mistake that fans of the character make when discussing the mythology of Captain Marvel is in their confusing of the name Captain Mar'Vell with Captain Marvel.

Fast forward to the 1970s: When Fawcett Comics decided that they wanted back into the game, with their lose of the Captain Marvel trademark, they created another quasi-spin off simply called Shazam! Who they based off of their original Billy Batson / Captain Marvel character.

At any rate, the Mar'Vell character at Marvel never really took off, but one character that did take off in the Marvel Universe that got her start in the Mar-Vell reboot of Captain Marvel was Carol Danvers, AKA Ms. Marvel

And it's here with Carol Danvers aka Ms.Marvel and the Captain Marvel gender confusion really reaches its apex within in Marvel Universe.

When the Ms. Marvel character first started appearing in the Mar'Vell comic books in the late-1970s, she was simply a supporting character with ties to NASA. But, in an issue where a Kree device explodes and injures Carol Danvers, her DNA becomes spliced with that of Mar'Vell -- turning them into essentially the same character, but two separate characters -- one female, one male.

Is Captain Marvel going to be a woman?

Yes, in the 2019 Disney/ Marvel movie, Captain Marvel will be played by actress Brie Larson. Best known for her Academy-Award nominated performance in the movie The Room and in the comic book-inspired Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World but also on the short-lived Diablo Cody-created television series, The United States of Tara on Showtime Network, Larson will be playing Captain Marvel. Larson will be playing a fun hybrid of Shazam!, Mar'Vell, the 1940s Captain Marvel, and the late-1970s Ms. Marvel. This is a natural transition in the Marvel Universe, as not only does Captain Marvel (2019) mark the first female-lead superhero movie to hit theaters in the United States, but it also satisifies the public's calmouring for more gender equality in the industry -- which means that the release of 2019's Captain Marvel, even with its complicated character's back story - male / female hyrid ect. -- couldn't be more timely.

Is Brie Larson actually playing a transgender Captain Marvel?

No, because movies are not reality, and in the movies, characters are allowed to be hybrids or an amalgamation of previous incarnations of characters. So, if anyone must insist that Larson's playing anything other than the total spectrum of Captain Marvel characters since the 1940s, the character, for all intents and purposes, is just as much a female as male. This is simply because the character itself was transitioned over from being a male character to a female character in the early-1980s when sales of the comic book of Mar'Vell declined, where sales rose when it came to anything having to do with the Carol Danvers character in the Marvel zeitgeist -- with her having ties to The Avengers and all.

Was making Captain Marvel a woman a good idea?

The character of Captain Marvel resonates more with readers today, as a female, then it does as 1940s male. Actress Brie Larson will be bringing everything that she has to the Captain Marvel character this March 2019 when the movie hits theaters, and while there are many fans of the Marvel Universe that might boycott the film for its straying too far away from the original male Captain Marvel 1940s character, if there's one thing that tells us that a female Captain Marvel is a good idea, is that the notion of a female-lead superhero is one that is long overdue. So whether it's a good idea or a bad idea, ultimately doesn't matter because what's more important today is that we can all look at each other as being equal to one another -- which, seemingly, is what this upcoming 2019 Marvel Disney movie seems to represent clearly.

It's a great question. And here's the answer:

The current variation on the character is a woman. But, the character of Captain Marvel, yes, indeed, does have origins that find the character first appearing in the pages of comic books in the 1940s as a man!

Confused? Okay, here's what happened:

When the Captain Marvel character was first created in the 1940s, the hero wasn't from the mind of Stan Lee or anyone else that is commonly-associated with the origins of the Marvel Universe. The original Captain Marvel character, was created by the lesser-known comic book company called Fawcett Comics, which made a name for themselves during the World War II. Originally called Billy Batson, the first Captain Marvel was a strange play off of another well-known comic figure, Shazam. When the young boy Billy Batson wanted to transform into Captain Marvel, all he had to do was say the word "Shazam."

The gender confusion pertaining to Captain Marvel can be traced back to the Batson character, actually.

With the success of the Batson Captain Marvel character for Fawcett Comics, it wasn't long after that that they decided to spin off another character with ties to Batson -- Mary Marvel. Mary Marvel, was Batson's sister, no doubt, a separate character, who had a painful resemblence to her brother, in that, both were each given names based around classic Greek characters -- and so much so, that Captain Marvel and Mary Marvel often get confused with one another all these years later.

Then a lawsuit killed off both the characters; when DC Comics decided to sue Fawcett because of the resemblences between Captain Marvel and Superman, Fawcett decided to kill off the characters with the end of the World War II, and the decline of interest in the character in the public zeitgeist.

In the late-1960s, the character was revived; oddly, it wasn't Fawcett who would revive the Captain Marvel character though, but Marvel, when they discovered the trademark on the character was up for grabs. They decided that they'd pick up the character simply because they could.

And here's where it gets even more confusing....

To bring back the Captain Marvel character, Marvel comics introduced the character as Mar-Vell aka The Original Captain Marvel. A Kree figure sent to Earth, he decides to live on Earth out of his love for the planet and decides to protect it. One common mistake that fans of the character make when discussing the mythology of Captain Marvel is in their confusing of the name Captain Mar'Vell with Captain Marvel.

Fast forward to the 1970s: When Fawcett Comics decided that they wanted back into the game, with their lose of the Captain Marvel trademark, they created another quasi-spin off simply called Shazam! Who they based off of their original Billy Batson / Captain Marvel character.

At any rate, the Mar'Vell character at Marvel never really took off, but one character that did take off in the Marvel Universe that got her start in the Mar-Vell reboot of Captain Marvel was Carol Danvers, AKA Ms. Marvel

And it's here with Carol Danvers aka Ms.Marvel and the Captain Marvel gender confusion really reaches its apex within in Marvel Universe.

When the Ms. Marvel character first started appearing in the Mar'Vell comic books in the late-1970s, she was simply a supporting character with ties to NASA. But, in an issue where a Kree device explodes and injures Carol Danvers, her DNA becomes spliced with that of Mar'Vell -- turning them into essentially the same character, but two separate characters -- one female, one male.

Is Captain Marvel going to be a woman?

Yes, in the 2019 Disney/ Marvel movie, Captain Marvel will be played by actress Brie Larson. Best known for her Academy-Award nominated performance in the movie The Room and in the comic book-inspired Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World but also on the short-lived Diablo Cody-created television series, The United States of Tara on Showtime Network, Larson will be playing Captain Marvel. Larson will be playing a fun hybrid of Shazam!, Mar'Vell, the 1940s Captain Marvel, and the late-1970s Ms. Marvel. This is a natural transition in the Marvel Universe, as not only does Captain Marvel (2019) mark the first female-lead superhero movie to hit theaters in the United States, but it also satisifies the public's calmouring for more gender equality in the industry -- which means that the release of 2019's Captain Marvel, even with its complicated character's back story - male / female hyrid ect. -- couldn't be more timely.

Is Brie Larson actually playing a transgender Captain Marvel?

No, because movies are not reality, and in the movies, characters are allowed to be hybrids or an amalgamation of previous incarnations of characters. So, if anyone must insist that Larson's playing anything other than the total spectrum of Captain Marvel characters since the 1940s, the character, for all intents and purposes, is just as much a female as male. This is simply because the character itself was transitioned over from being a male character to a female character in the early-1980s when sales of the comic book of Mar'Vell declined, where sales rose when it came to anything having to do with the Carol Danvers character in the Marvel zeitgeist -- with her having ties to The Avengers and all.

Was making Captain Marvel a woman a good idea?

The character of Captain Marvel resonates more with readers today, as a female, then it does as 1940s male. Actress Brie Larson will be bringing everything that she has to the Captain Marvel character this March 2019 when the movie hits theaters, and while there are many fans of the Marvel Universe that might boycott the film for its straying too far away from the original male Captain Marvel 1940s character, if there's one thing that tells us that a female Captain Marvel is a good idea, is that the notion of a female-lead superhero is one that is long overdue. So whether it's a good idea or a bad idea, ultimately doesn't matter because what's more important today is that we can all look at each other as being equal to one another -- which, seemingly, is what this upcoming 2019 Marvel Disney movie seems to represent clearly.

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