An official tie-in novel has revealed Captain Marvel just doesn’t quite fit in with the Kree Starforce. Captain Marvel is something of an unconventional origin story; when the film begins, Carol Danvers believes she’s a Kree warrior named “Vers” who serves as a member of the elite Kree Starforce. She uses her phenomenal power on the front lines of the war against the shapeshifting Skrulls at the height of the Kree-Skrull War.
Of course, the truth is very different. In reality, Carol Danvers is a human who has been exposed to unknown energies, and thus granted superhuman powers. The Kree found her, and then transformed her into one of them. In one scene in the trailers, Annette Bening’s still-unidentified character explains as much; that’s why Captain Marvel doesn’t necessarily age. The truth has been deliberately hidden from Captain Marvel, although at this stage it’s unclear whether her amnesia is a result of Kree brainwashing or simply a side-effect of the explosion that gave the superhero her powers. Given the Starforce Commander is Yon-Rogg, a villain who was responsible for giving Captain Marvel amnesia in one comic book plotline, the former seems more likely.
Whatever the truth may be, an official tie-in book has revealed that the Kree warrior Vers just doesn’t quite fit in with Starforce. According to Steve Behling’s Starforce on the Rise, while Vers believes she’s a Kree, she’s also very much aware of her amnesia. She has no recollection of her past or even of how she got her powers. Meanwhile, memories from Earth keep appearing; Vers has a tendency of tossing out Earth sayings, which mean absolutely nothing to the rest of Starforce. They generally view her as a powerful asset but a headstrong and very eccentric soldier. It’s easy to imagine Marvel using this idea in the movie to add humor to the initial Starforce scenes. Probably the most amusing scene in the entire book is one where Vers cracks about Starforce not going on a vacation, something the other Starforce members have never heard of.
Starforce on the Rise reveals that Vers is the newest member of Starforce, and it’s clear the rest of the team have no knowledge of her origin - with the possible exception of the inscrutable Yon-Rogg. In fact, he seems to subtly work to keep Vers focused on the mission ahead, discouraging her from allowing her mind to wander and probe into her past; that certainly raises the possibility he’s complicit in manipulating Carol Danvers to ensure she’s simply a good soldier.
The rest of Starforce view Vers as Yon-Rogg’s favorite, in part because of the time he devotes to her; that causes particular tension between Vers and Minn-Erva, the Starforce sniper who was Yon-Rogg’s previous favorite. Behling’s novel focuses on that relationship, with part of the story featuring Vers and Minn-Erva forced to work together on a mission. It really does seem to set Minn-Erva up to be an important secondary character in Captain Marvel, especially given she’s the only Starforce member other than Yon-Rogg to get her own action figure. Actress Gemma Chan has teased that Minn-Erva will have a “developing relationship” with Carol in the film.
There’s one final reason Vers doesn’t quite fit in with Starforce; she has a degree of compassion that her colleagues don’t. The others will shoot first and ask questions later, in part because that’s what Kree warriors are trained to do. Vers will give people a chance, and as a result there are certain missions she’s ideally suited to, and others where the Kree would no doubt hesitate to put her in the field. It’s clear Vers’ humanity is still there, buried in her subconscious, and affecting everything she does.
More: Captain Marvel: Every Update You Need To Know
- captain marvel Release Date: 2019-03-08 The Avengers 4 Release Date: 2019-04-26 spider-man homecoming 2 Release Date: 2019-07-02
