Captain Marvel

Carol Danvers is the most powerful hero in the MCU's canon — a distinction the films have struggled to deploy dramatically. Her origin (1990s-set, Kree experiment, photon energy absorption) gives her near-limitless power without an obvious ceiling, which creates the genre's classic overpowered-character problem: dramatic tension requires risk, and Carol faces very little of it. Captain Marvel (2019) sidesteps this by making her story about identity recovery rather than combat — a character who has had her history erased trying to remember who she was.

The Marvels (2023) expands Carol's story through her entanglement with Kamala Khan (Ms. Marvel) and Monica Rambeau, whose lives have been permanently altered by Carol's choices and absences. The film's central gimmick — the three heroes involuntarily swapping places whenever they use their powers — is a structural metaphor for the way Carol's actions ripple out to people she's never met. For full context, watch Captain Marvel (2019), the Ms. Marvel Disney+ series, WandaVision (for Monica's arc), and then The Marvels in order.