Captain Marvel’s Ending & MCU Future Explained

Warning: This post contains MAJOR SPOILERS for Captain Marvel.

Captain Marvel's ending changes the MCU's past and sets up more adventures for the future. Set in 1995, the Carol Danvers solo movie starring Brie Larson sees Kree Starforce member "Vers" her crash landing on Earth and discovering she had a past life here. With some help from a young Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), Carol quickly realizes that there is more to her and the Kree-Skrull war she's been fighting than she was previously told.

As Captain Marvel flies towards its ending, many reveals are made. Carol learns that she gained her abilities by absorbing energy from an explosion involving an engine powered by the Tesseract. It was even her presumed mentor Yon-Rogg (Jude Law) who took her from Earth in order to turn her into a Kree super weapon who can help them win the war against the Skrulls. Once she was on their home planet of Hala, the Kree manipulated her memories to make her side with them and fight the Skrulls. However, Carol learns that they are not the evil shape-shifting race she thought, and that her old mentor on Earth, the Kree scientist Mar-Vell aka Dr. Wendy Lawson (Annette Bening), was actually helping protect them and decides to do the same.

Once Yon-Rogg discovers that Carol is working with the Skrulls, he tells Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace) to come to Earth and wipe them out. After a quick scuffle, Captain Marvel discovers the true might of her powers and single handily stops the Kree attack and forces Ronan to go back to Hala. She then easily takes down Yon-Rogg and sends him back there too. But what happens after Captain Marvel's ending, and what does it mean for the future of the MCU? Let's dive in.

This Page: The Futures of the Skrulls and Kree After Captain Marvel
Page 2: Captain Marvel's Avengers & Larger MCU Set Up
Page 3: Captain Marvel's MCU Future: Sequel & Endgame

Captain Marvel Leaves To Fight For The Skrulls

Carol discovers in Captain Marvel that the Skrulls are a largely peaceful race, who they say have been forced into this war by the Kree - who destroyed their home planet. She decides to work with their leader Talos (Ben Mendelsohn) to find Dr. Lawson's cloaked laboratory floating in space above Earth. She thinks the mission is just to get the Tesseract, but once they are in the lab, she discovers that it is also housing several Skrull families, including Talos'. Maria Rambeau (Lashana Lynch) and Fury help get the Skrulls out of the lab and away from the Starforce, with Carol serving as their ultimate protector.

Once the Skrulls are safe and sound, Talos must figure out what comes next for them. They've previously been living on Torfa posing as locals of the planet in order to try and hide from the Kree, but Talos explains that there are thousands of other Skrulls hiding throughout the galaxy. Carol agrees to leave Earth with the Skrulls to follow in the footsteps of her old mentor, help them rescue other members of their race, and find a new place to call home.

What Happens To The Kree After Captain Marvel

At the end of Captain Marvel, the Kree's plans have largely been foiled. They helped train Carol to be a tide-turning piece in the war against the Skrulls, but she turned against them. Ronan and his fleet of Accusers all went back to Hala, with Ronan claiming they'll one day return to take Carol - but that is currently an empty promise. Yon-Rogg is also sent back to Hala as a failure, and the Starforce is in bad shape - with Minn-Erva (Gemma Chan) dying in combat and the fates of Bron-Char (Rune Temte) and Att-Lass (Algenis Soto) unclear. With their commander embarrassed and war lost, this result helps explain the major changes to the Kree empire that followed.

In the MCU, the Kree's story after Captain Marvel isn't touched on again until Guardians of the Galaxy. The space opera takes place 19 years later, where we learn that the Kree have attempted to stop their warring ways and have signed a peace treaty with the Nova Empire, who they've been fighting for the last thousand years. This does not sit well with all members of the race though, and resulted in Ronan becoming a radical of the empire. Korath (Djimon Hounsou) follows him in this quest to maintain the ancient laws of the Kree. Their own quest for power through the Power Stone results in their downfalls, while the larger Kree empire still attempts to maintain peace.

In Captain Marvel, Carol tells Yon-Rogg to deliver a message that she will return to Hala and put an end to the lies and war the Supreme Intelligence has allowed, but it is not known if she has made good on this promise yet, or if this will come to the Kree in the future.

Page 2 of 3: Captain Marvel's Avengers & Larger MCU Set Up

Captain Marvel Nick Fury Avengers Initiative SR

Nick Fury Created (& Named) The Avengers After Captain Marvel

From the very first time Nick Fury appeared in the MCU, he's been talking about the Avengers Initiative and a larger universe. The idea behind the program was to bring together some of the most powerful individuals of Earth to protect it, and Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow, and Hawkeye were the first members. But, Fury's tease that he knew of superheroes before Iron Man finally makes sense after Captain Marvel, where Carol Danvers is the first hero he ever meets and completely changes his mindset.

Fury previously meeting Carol raises plenty of questions about the larger MCU continuity, but it also led to Captain Marvel explaining the reason and name for Fury's Avengers Initiative. Fury was just a Level 3 S.H.I.E.L.D. agent when he met Carol and had no idea that aliens existed, but once his eyes were opened, the larger universe - and it's threats - became his primary focus. He decided to begin drafting up the initiative as a way to form a team of superheroes who could collectively do what Carol already showed she can do herself.

But, Fury didn't just create the Avengers after seeing Captain Marvel in action, he named the entire team after her. Fury was originally going to call the project "The Protector Initiative," but then another look at Carol's file changed his mind. Her call sign from her days as a pilot was Avenger, and since Fury created the initiative after being inspired by Carol, he then decides to just name the whole program after her.

SHIELD Still Has The Tesseract For Phase 2 & The Avengers

The Space Infinity Stone In The Tesseract In Avengers

One aspect to Captain Marvel that may have come as a surprise to many was the inclusion of the Tesseract. The cube was first introduced in Captain America: The First Avenger as a relic Red Skull was using to create extremely powerful weapons. The Tesseract fell into the ocean following the climactic battle between Red Skull and Captain America, and was later found by Howard Stark. He delivered it to S.H.I.E.L.D. and studied it himself based on his research notebook, but the Tesseract was also being used for something else.

Mar-Vell was able to experiment on the Tesseract as part of Project Pegasus in the years leading up to 1989. She was attempting to use energy from it for a core that could achieve light speed space travel. With the technology viewed as a major key to winning the Kree-Skrull war, Yon-Rogg killed Lawson before she could complete her research. The Tesseract was left in Lawson's cloaked lab until 1995 when Carol, Fury, Talos, and Maria found it.

In order to protect the Tesseract from Yon-Rogg, Goose - a cat looking alien known as a Flerken - swallowed it for safe keeping. Captain Marvel's after-credits scene shows Goose coughing up the Tesseract onto Fury's desk, ensuring that S.H.I.E.L.D. has access to it once again. We know they begin experimenting with it to create weapons of their own as part of their Phase 2 plan in the years to come. This also allows the Tesseract to be in the right hands so Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgård) can study it before Loki (Tom Hiddleston) arrives in The Avengers and steals it.

Other Ways Captain Marvel's Ending Teases The MCU's Future

Nick Fury Ronan and Coulson in Captain Marvel

Thanks to the setting and pre-established characters that appear, Captain Marvel also sets up the MCU's future in other ways. The movie features a young Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) who is a new recruit to S.H.I.E.L.D. at the time, but he quickly is able to gain Fury's trust. Coulson lets him and Carol escape earlier in the film, and their likemindedness grows as they discuss the possibility of finding and recruiting more superheroes to their cause. It is also during this scene that the beginning of Fury's days with an eyepatch are revealed. He may just have a piece of metal taped to his face right now, but the look is there and he doesn't seem too interested in getting a fake eyeball.

Fury already has received his modified pager from Avengers: Infinity War by the end of Captain Marvel too, which Carol tells him is for emergencies only. This partially can explain why Fury never called her before, as he put his faith in the Avengers program he created in her name. But, it confirms that seeing people being turned to dust is a big enough emergency in Fury's eye to call her after all this time.

Another small piece of set up is done with Korath. There's a scene where Yon-Rogg stops him from telling Ronan that the Skrulls are on Earth and watches his commander lie instead. He doesn't appear to like this move and is a quick way for Captain Marvel to show why Korath would eventually side with Ronan and leave the larger Kree empire behind.

Page 3 of 3: Captain Marvel's MCU Future: Sequel & Endgame

Captain Marvel Returns To Earth Ahead Of Avengers: Endgame

Even before her solo film came out, MCU fans have been left wondering when Captain Marvel will return to Earth thanks to the end of Avengers: Infinity War. Fury's final act before turning to dust was grabbing his enhanced pager and sending a message to Carol. Captain Marvel's mid-credits scene answers exactly that, revealing she returns in the aftermath of the snap and before most of Avengers: Endgame takes place.

The post-credits scene shows a still-bearded Captain America and white, short-haired Black Widow looking at the estimated losses for various countries. The remaining Avengers have found Fury's pager and are hoping to find out who is on the receiving end of the call. They've been powering the pager for an unspecified amount of time, but it suddenly turns off and leaves them confused. Black Widow says to let her know when it comes back on because she wants to know who is on the other side of this page, and is then shocked to see Captain Marvel - in a brand new suit - standing in Avengers HQ and asking about Fury's whereabouts.

This scene confirms that Avengers: Endgame's trailers have been selectively showing us what Marvel wants and that Captain Marvel will actually be involved with the plot almost immediately. All of the footage for Endgame has featured a clean-shaven Captain America, but none of those scenes included or teased Carol was already involved. Maybe it was Captain Marvel - not Ant-Man - who was digitally erased from the Super Bowl TV spot. We now know she'll be involved at the start, and before the majority of the film may take place - if a time jump does happen. This is further highlighted by new footage Disney recently shared from Avengers: Endgame that showed Captain Marvel on Earth and giving her ideas for how they can stop Thanos.

Captain Marvel (& Friends) Future In The MCU

Beyond Captain Marvel's return in Avengers: Endgame later this year, she is also set up to have a grand future in the MCU. Kevin Feige has already been saying Carol Danvers will lead the shared universe as it moves forward, and there's plenty of potential for that to be done. Thanks to the prequel setting and how Captain Marvel ends, Marvel Studios immediately has two decades worth of unexplored adventures with Carol Danvers that they can use. This could be done in Captain Marvel 2 if they opt to do another prequel film (much like DC did with Wonder Woman and Wonder Woman 1984). Another prequel may also be of interest by Marvel so it could potentially allow for Maria Rambeau to return in some form, or explore more of the Kree-Skrull war fallout.

If Marvel instead follows the Captain America model and brings Captain Marvel into the present day for the sequel, then some of the other characters in the film could return. The biggest example of this is Monica Rambeau, who is just a child during Captain Marvel but will be all grown up in the present day. This could allow for Monica to fulfill her comic destiny and become a superhero in her own right known as Photon, which was her mother's call sign as a pilot. Either way, Marvel has "pretty amazing" plans for a sequel already, and we should get a chance to see them all play out if Captain Marvel becomes the box office hit many are expecting.