A backstory filler for much of the MCU.

Rating: 7/10 (5 July 2019)

Captain Marvel (2019) fills this weird space that essentially exists between the "Part 1" of Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019). While Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018) also explained some of the events and plot points that would need to happen before Endgame, Captain Marvel took a slightly different approach by essentially acting as an origin story and prequel for a lot of loose bits of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Needless to say, I didn't miss much by passing on this film and seeing Endgame first.
I knew I was taking a risk with watching these movies out of order-especially considering how pivotal Black Panther (2018) was in setting the stage for Infinity War. However, there were key moments in this movie that made me go, "Huh. That explains that little bit from Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) or Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)." The fact that Captain Marvel was needed to fill in some of the gaps of the MCU seems like a disservice to arguably the most powerful character in the franchise. In the end, though, I didn't need to know Carol Danvers' (Brie Larson) powers that well to understand how she played a role in Endgame.
On the technical side, I was blown away by the "digital fountain of youth" Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury went through for this film. In my head, I knew he didn't look that young. However, on the screen, it was difficult to spot the difference (Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) was quite a bit more obvious, though). As a kid who grew up in the 90s, I certainly appreciated all the references to pop culture, even if some of them were downright depressing (R.I.P. Blockbuster and Radio Shack). In the end, I'm more curious if this movie is the jumping off point for more MCU sagas to come.
A backstory filler for much of the MCU, I give Captain Marvel 3.5 stars out of 5.