Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Set Up Captain Marvel’s Origin Twist

Captain Marvel's origin story - specifically, her amnesia - was actually set up in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 2. Set in 1995, Captain Marvel is essentially a prequel for the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe, establishing Brie Larson's titular hero in the MCU's backstory. There will inevitably be some continuity problems; for example, Samuel L. Jackson has confirmed that Captain Marvel reveals how Nick Fury lost an eye, but that will contradict a photo in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Still, for all that's the case, the fact remains that Marvel Studios is attempting to keep continuity errors to a minimum.

Surprisingly, they even seem to be taking care not to contradict tie-in comics and even TV shows. The relationship between Marvel Studios and Marvel Television has always been arm's-length, especially after a major corporate restructure back in 2015, and yet there are promising signs that Captain Marvel will fit well with the likes of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. The film will introduce the Kree homeworld of Hala, and its architectural style looks identical to the ancient Kree city discovered by S.H.I.E.L.D. in season 2. But there may be an even closer relationship, as Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. effectively foreshadowed a major twist in Captain Marvel's origin story.

Captain Marvel isn't a traditional superhero movie. When the film kicks off, Carol Danvers is introduced as a member of the elite Kree Starforce, a crack military unit who are on the front lines of the war between the Kree and the Skrulls. Significantly, she's an amnesiac who believes herself to be a Kree warrior, and has absolutely no recollection of her time on Earth. It's possible the Kree are simply taking advantage of the fact they've found a powerful woman who suffers from amnesia; it's more likely, though, that Carol's memories have been erased by the Kree, and that they're manipulating her into working for them. That seems even more probable now that it's confirmed Jude Law's Starforce Commander is Yon-Rogg, a Kree villain who left Carol Danvers without her memories for a while in Kelly Sue DeConnick's popular comic book run.

There's actually a precedent for the Kree to possess memory-altering technology in the MCU. In Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 2, the episode "Who you Really Are" saw the S.H.I.E.L.D. team head to Portugal when they learned an amnesiac Lady Sif was wreaking havoc. It turned out that Sif had been sent to Earth because Asgard had detected a Kree presence on the planet, but the Kree warrior Vin-Tak struck her with a Kree Truncheon that temporarily erased her memories. By the end of the episode, Vin-Tak had agreed to use it to restore her memories as a sign of good faith - even if he did wind up with his own memories wiped.

This fits in very well indeed with Captain Marvel. It suggests that the Kree have the power to erase memories, although notice that there's no hint they can replace them; that would neatly explain why Carol Danvers hasn't been given false memories that embed her in Kree society. What's more, that same episode hinted that strong memories - ones that evoke powerful emotions - can break through the mind-wipe. When Thor was mentioned, the amnesiac Lady Sif couldn't help but recognize the name, and smiled at the warmth of feeling that flooded through her. In exactly the same way, when Captain Marvel arrives on Earth she appears to be haunted by the familiarity of everything she sees and experiences, and gradually uncovers her true past. It looks as though Captain Marvel and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will dovetail perfectly.