Why the Captain Marvel Movie is a Win for the Carol Corps (and Everyone Else)

It’s no secret: I have a lot of feelings about Captain Marvel. A lot. Carol Danvers is my guiding star. My Superman. My very favorite superhero in the whole wide world who helped me save myself.

So how did I react to the news that Captain Marvel would be getting her own movie released on July 6th, 2018, effectively making her the first woman superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to have her own solo movie?

I literally fell to my knees and started shaking on the set of a major motion picture. Thanks for asking!

Several hours later, I still feel like I’m in a very exciting fever dream. I was starting to think there would be no way in this world that there would be a Captain Marvel movie. At least not until after the Wonder Woman movie proved itself at the box office maybe. I was seriously starting to doubt that I’d ever see Carol fly on the big screen. And if she did, there was a possibility she’d be demoted down to Ms. Marvel.

But now I know that she will in full colors and the reason she’s even going to is the fanbase behind her.

Before the comic launched in 2012, Carol Danvers was a third string Marvel character. Not that she didn’t have fans as Ms.-Warbird-Bianary-Marvel (to paraphrase Monica-Photon-Pulsar-Captain-Marvel-Rambeau in Captain Marvel #7). She was just mostly known to comics fans. I’ll admit that I mostly knew her at the time as “that one character in the black swimsuit I see so many women cosplay at Dragon Con.”

However, things began to change in 2012 when Kelly Sue Deconnick signed on to write Captain Marvel starring Carol Danvers as the titular hero. Between her writing, the editing team of Steve Wacker and Sana Amanat, and the gorgeous outfit redesign by Jamie McKelvie, it became very obvious that this was not going to be your daddy’s Captain Marvel. Fanboys were outraged at first, but over the course of the first few letters columns, you begin to see a change. There were women who had come to the series as a first time comic reader or as a long time comics fan standing up for Carol in the face of the stubborn old guard. Even more so in online communities. This is where the Carol Corps was born. A community of comic book fans rallying around a strong woman who taught us to punch holes in the sky. They are warm and accepting of new members, and they are loud and passionate for their girl.

It’s that loud passion, unbridled enthusiasm, and a constant demand to see change in how women in comics are represented is what got us here today. It’s the hard work of Deconnick, Amanat, Wacker, and McKelvie that took Carol from a side character to the leading hero she is today and will be in 2018.

It’s not just my pride in the creative team and the Corps that makes me excited though. It’s the fact that so many people are going to be introduced to Carol now and fall in love with her. That there will be girls out there who will see her and know that every little girl can fly. It’s that she has the potential to open doors for so many other superheroes waiting out there. The Monica Rambeaus, the Jessica Drews, the Kate Bishops, the America Chavezes… Maybe even the Natasha Romanoffs finally. Perhaps between her and the introduction to the Inhumans, we might even get Kamala Khan somewhere down the road.

The thought of being able to buy official merch outside of a comic book store and online outlets doesn’t hurt either. I hope by the end of 2018, I can’t step outside my house without seeing girls in Hala stars.

Do I want more from the MCU? Of course I do. However, the fact that Marvel Studios saw how powerful Carol was outside of the pages of the comic and is giving her a chance to shine on screen? That feels like a win to me.