Marvelous Genetic Enhancement
Take this all with a huge grain of salt, but I have a theory about why Captain Marvel is going to be a landmark film in the chronology of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
In the trailer for Captain Marvel, we see that the film is set in the 1990’s. We also get a look at her as part of the team known as Star Force, which is a group of elite Kree soldiers in Marvel comic lore.
In the comics, the Kree have reached a point where they are so genetically refined that they are no longer evolving. Among the members of the cinematic Star Force is Dr. Minerva, played by Gemma Chan. In Marvel Comics, Minerva is a Kree geneticist.
When thinking of genetics and Marvel, my mind usually thinks of the X-Men. The inclusion of Minerva at this time got me to thinking, "what if Minerva is trying to improve or change certain genes in order to improve the Kree race but inadvertently ends up creating genetic mutations? She may be the catalyst or at least play a part in introducing mutation into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Now that Disney and Marvel Studios have the film rights back from Fox, this could be a really cool way to help usher the X-Men and mutants into the MCU and have them as established beings in this world that S.H.I.E.L.D. and Nick Fury are aware of.
In the post credits scene for 2008’s Iron Man, we first meet Fury as he is recruiting Tony Stark. He alludes to the notion that he has been dealing with super heroes for years when he asks Tony “You think you’re the only super hero in the world?”
Now this could just be a bit of world building or could simply refer to Captain Marvel, but what if he is referring to the results of genetic anomalies such as Professor X, Jean Grey, Wolverine, Cyclops, Storm, Gambit, Beast, Angel, Kitty Pride, Night Crawler, Colossus, and dare I say it... DEADPOOL?
Just by this trailer, we know that Fury knows about the Kree, Skrulls, and Carol Danvers, but it’s possible that he was also referencing the mutants that he has helped keep hidden over the years. Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver were introduced in the comics as the twin children of Magneto who got their mutant genes from their parentage. But in the MCU, they are twins who joined up with Hydra, as part of experiments with Loki’s scepter (which contained the mind gem) to make them “enhanced”. Keep in mind that during this time, we know that S.H.I.E.L.D. had been infiltrated by Hydra and probably had access to a lot of the info they would have kept covered up, like the existence of mutants or how to activate mutant genes. Could it be that the only reason that they were the only two to survive these experiments was due to mutations in their genetic code which has left them as “enhanced”?
Also, interesting to note is that Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen, the actors who portray the twins, were born in 1990 and 1989 respectively. This would mean that the events of "Captain Marvel" could be set before their birth or when they are just kids.
We also know that Lee Pace is returning as Ronan the Accuser. Maybe we will see him hunting the mind stone for Thanos or Loki in order to place it in the scepter and that is why, if the rumors are to be believed, we revisit many of the events of the MCU in Avengers 4 through time travel.
With the next X-Men movie, “Dark Phoenix” on the horizon, and “New Mutants” being delayed until August of 2019, and the success of the Deadpool films, is it possible we may see these two universes merge together or will Marvel completely reboot the X-Men?
I tend to hope for the latter. However, let’s not forget that the first Deadpool movie was able to cleverly sneak in the inclusion of a downed S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier from "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" for the final battle scene.
So... Maybe?
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