Captain Marvel's Biggest Unanswered Questions

Warning: SPOILERS for Captain Marvel.

Captain Marvel is a prequel to the other 20 films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and it efficiently tells the origin of Carol Danvers without disrupting established canon, but the film still leaves behind a slew of unanswered questions.

Primarily set in 1995, Captain Marvel is about how US Air Force Captain Carol Danvers recovers her lost humanity after she gained superpowers and was kidnapped by the alien Kree. Under the command of the Kree Supreme Intelligence, Carol, who is an amnesiac, is renamed Vers and is made into a warrior in their elite Starforce, where she is supervised by Yon-Rogg. However, Vers is captured by Skrulls, who probe her hidden memories seeking the location of Mar-Vell's lab; Mar-Vell was a rogue Kree scientist posing as Carol's friend Dr. Wendy Lawson on Earth. She was using the Tesseract to develop a Lightspeed Engine to save the Skrull race from extermination by the Kree. With the help of Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., Carol eventually discovers who she really is and completes Mar-Vell's mission. After she gains control over her full abilities, she defeats Yon-Rogg and the Starforce, saves the Earth, and helps the Skrulls find a new world to call home.

Captain Marvel is a self-contained prequel that does drop a number of references and connections to the MCU and sets up how Carol eventually joins the fight against Thanos in Avengers: Endgame. While the film does an excellent job establishing who Carol Danvers is and why she wasn't around when the Avengers formed, Captain Marvel does raise a number of questions that the film left unclear or simply unanswered.

This Page: Questions About The Kree And Vers In Starforce
Page 2: Questions About Carol Danvers' Adventures Back On Earth
Page 3: Questions About Captain Marvel's Powers And Whereabouts

Why Didn't The Kree Experiment On Vers If They Wanted The Tesseract's Power?

Captain Marvel Jude Law Yon-Rogg Points At Carol Danvers

When the truth about how Carol Danvers gained her powers was finally revealed, she used Mar-Vell's gun to blow up the crashed Asis' engine and the resulting explosion infused Carol with energy from the Tesseract. Prior to that, however, Yon-Rogg demanded the Asis' power source, which he believed was the Asis' engine itself. Presumably, the Kree also wanted the Lightspeed Engine technology Mar-Vell had invented and planned to give to the Skrulls.

But once the Kree kidnapped Carol, who had amnesia, and brought her to their homeworld Hala, why didn't they experiment on her to unlock the secrets of the Tesseract's power - since as far as they knew at that point, she was now the conduit of that energy? Instead, the Supreme Intelligence suppressed Carol's powers with an inhibitor chip and Yon-Rogg brought her into Starforce under the name Vers.

Why Did The Kree Want A Lightspeed Engine If They Already Had Interstellar Travel?

The true value of Mar-Vell's Lightspeed Engine needed a bit more clarification in the film. It was clear why the Skrulls wanted it; they were being exterminated by the Kree and needed faster-than-light travel so they could find a new planet as far away from the Kree as possible, and Mar-Vell, who believed it was an unjust war, was betraying her own people to help them. However, the Kree already had interstellar travel and an armada, so what was the value of the Lightspeed Engine to them?

This comes down to the somewhat ill-defined rules of space travel in the MCU. In Captain Marvel, and in the Guardians of the Galaxy films which are set decades later, interstellar travel happens by the use of Jump Points - the hexagon-shaped barriers in space ships fly through. They're essentially artificial wormholes, not unlike the wormholes that lead to and from Sakaar in Thor: Ragnarok. What Mar-Vell invented was the MCU equivalent of warp drive in Star Trek and jumping to hyperspace in Star Wars, which would allow ships to travel faster-than-light without the use of Jump Points, by harnessing the power of the Tesseract, which was really the Space Infinity Stone.

Why Didn't The Kree Want Vers To Use Her Full Powers?

Yon-Rogg kept Vers in line by repeatedly telling his protégé that he wanted her to be the "best version" of herself. This was meant to keep Vers from seeking out the answers to the questions continually plaguing her and maintain her Kree warrior persona. But since the Kree were using Yon-Rogg as a weapon anyway, why did they suppress her powers so she could only access a fraction of it? Vers could have been even more valuable to the Starforce and the Kree's war on the Skrulls if she could use her full abilities - they might not even need Ronan and the Accusers.

One answer is that the Supreme Intelligence feared that Vers would rebel if she could unlock her full potential - but why would Vers being able to use her full powers also return her memory? Are they tied together? Vers only found out who she was after she saw the redacted files about Carol Danvers at Project Pegasus. Perhaps the Kree feared that if Vers could do everything she was capable of, she would eventually just fly away from Hala under her own powers and seek answers. But even then, it seems the Supreme Intelligence cheated the Kree out of a great weapon by not utilizing Vers to her utmost when she was under their thrall. The Kree could have also developed weapons based on Vers' powers that they could use to stop her if she ever went rogue - which she did.

Did The Other Starforce Members Know About Vers Being Manipulated?

Vers was the star pupil of Yon-Rogg and she seemed to fit in with the rest of Starforce - although Minn-Erva admittedly never liked her. It's not clear if the rest of Starforce knew the extent of how Yon-Rogg and the Supreme Intelligence were manipulating and controlling Vers. Minn-Erva knew the truth since she was with Yon-Rogg on C-53 (a.k.a. Earth) six years prior; they attacked Mar-Vell's ship and Minn-Erva saw Carol exposed to the Tesseract's energy. But what did Korath, Bron-Char, and Att-Lass know about Vers and how much did they help maintain Yon-Rogg's deception?

Page 2 of 3: Questions About Carol Danvers' Adventures Back On Earth

How Can 1990s Radio Shack Tech Fix Kree Tech?

When Vers crashed on C-53, the Terran homeworld, either the communicator on her left wrist was damaged or she was too far from Starforce Command to communicate. Either way, she needed tech to get a signal to Yon-Rogg and the helpful strip mall security guard pointed Vers to Radio Shack. Somehow, using the parts and wires of a Nintendo Game Boy, Vers was able to fix and boost her communicator's signal enough to contact Yon-Rogg's ship. Later, Carol upgraded Nick Fury's pager to be able to contact her with a range of "at least a couple of galaxies".

Now, how can the mostly analog tech of 1995 Radio Shack possibly interface with, repair, and/or enhance Kree technology? Even in a Marvel superhero movie, this strains suspension of belief - but an answer is that it's one of Captain Marvel's odes to Independence Day, one of the biggest films of the 1990s (another homage was the climactic dogfight between the Quadjet and Minn-Erva's Kree starfighter in the desert). 1990s tech magically works with alien devices in movies so, just like how Jeff Goldblum's David Levinson was able to upload a virus to the alien ship using 1996 tech, Vers was able to make the tech work with her Kree communicator.

How Did Nick Fury Beat Vers To Pancho's Bar?

Nick Fury sitting across from Carol in Captain Marvel

After a failed attempt to use the World Wide Web at an Internet cafe, Vers steals a motorcycle and made her way to Pancho's Bar the old fashioned way: by using a map. Meanwhile, Nick Fury was at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters observing a Skrull autopsy. He told his boss Keller (who was Talos incognito) that he got a hit on a woman matching Vers' description who stole a motorcycle outside an Internet cafe - so Vers was already en route to Pancho's Bar at that point. Fury then leaves to go find Vers, but he wouldn't have known her destination so the spy would have needed to go to the Internet cafe first to find out, meaning Vers would have a huge head start on him.

Yet, by the time Vers arrived at Pancho's Bar, which is located in the desert, Fury was already there waiting for her. How did he manage that feat? A possible answer is that Fury had access to one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s flying cars, like L.O.L.A. (Levitating Over Land Automobile), the red convertible Phil Coulson drives (and flies) on Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. However, once he decided to take Vers to Project Pegasus, Fury drove Vers to the secret base and there was no indication his car could fly. Unless Vers got lost on the way to Pancho's Bar, how Fury beat her there remains a mystery.

What Happened To The Other Starforce Members After Carol Beat Yon-Rogg?

Despite the Supreme Intelligence's best efforts to contain Carol, she finally tore off her inhibitor chip and accessed her full powers. Carol then battled her old Starforce teammates while Talos helped Maria Rambeau, Fury, Talos, and Goose (who had swallowed the Tesseract) to escape aboard the Quadjet. Carol's fight with Starforce was a comedic highlight; with her full powers in play, she easily overwhelmed Kree's most elite unit of warrior heroes.

But what happened to Korath, Bron-Char, and Att-Lass after the battle was over? Carol flew back to Earth, eventually stopping Ronan's missiles from destroying the planet, and then she photon blasted Yon-Rogg and sent him back to Hala with a message for the Supreme Intelligence. Minn-Erva was shot down and killed by Maria flying the Quadjet. The fate of the other three members of Starforce is unknown; they were still on Mar-Vell's ship along with the Skrull refugees. Were they also sent back to Hala? The only thing fans know for sure is Korath survived because he appeared in Guardians of the Galaxy, which is set 19 years later.

Why Didn't Ronan Detect Mar-Vell's Ship?

Yon-Rogg summoned Ronan to lay waste to C-53 and when the Accuser's fleet arrived, they launched ballistic missiles at the planet, which Captain Marvel destroyed to save the world. However, Ronan somehow managed to miss the other Kree ship in orbit around the planet - Mar-Vell's laboratory - which was also harboring Skrulls. One would think locating the rogue scientist's starship and the added bonus of wiping out the Skrulls on board would be a priority. After all, Ronan arrived with a whole fleet and one of those ships could easily have targeted Mar-Vell's lab; instead, Ronan either failed to detect it or ignored it entirely, as captivated as he was by Captain Marvel. Either way, this was a big failure on Ronan's part.

Page 3 of 3: Questions About Captain Marvel's Powers And Whereabouts

Captain Marvel Carol Danvers Full Suit Helmet Flying Space

What Did Captain Marvel Do In Space For 20 Years?

Captain Marvel's climax sets up two events and it's unclear if either ever happened: Before Ronan departed, he swore that we would return to Earth to capture "the woman", Carol Danvers. Soon after, when Carol sent Yon-Rogg back to Hala, she said to tell the Supreme Intelligence that she was coming "to end [the war]". But did either come to pass? Carol next decided she would help Talos and the Skrulls find a new home and the movie ends with Carol and Mar-Vell's lab jumping to lightspeed for galaxies unknown.

Carol Danvers never returns to Earth until the Captain Marvel's end-credits scene, which shows her answering Fury's beeper and surprising the Avengers, thus setting up Avengers: Endgame. So what happened to Carol in the 20+ years since she and the Skrulls left Earth in 1995? Did Carol fulfill her promise and return to Hala? According to Guardians of the Galaxy, by 2014, the Kree were in conflict with the Nova Empire but it's unknown whether Captain Marvel ever did confront the Supreme Intelligence once more. Fans can guess that Ronan never made good on his promise to return to Earth since Captain Marvel was already in space, but did they confront each other again? Hopefully, the events of the 20+ year gap of Captain Marvel's adventures in outer space will be addressed in Captain Marvel 2 or even Avengers: Endgame.

What Happened To Goose?

Goose is Captain Marvel's biggest scene stealer, but plenty of questions surround the mysterious Flerken disguised as a cat. From the memories the Skulls probed in Carol's mind, Goose was originally Mar-Vell's pet and after she died, Goose remained at Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S. until Carol and Fury happened upon him. After Carol left for space with the Skrulls, Fury brought Goose with him to S.H.I.E.L.D. and soon after the events of the film, Goose coughed up the Tesseract on Fury's desk in the end-credits scene.

But where has Goose been since 1995? When Fury became Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., did Goose move with him to the Triskelion in Washington, D.C.? Was Goose aware that S.H.I.E.L.D. had been infiltrated by Hydra all along? Will Goose reappear in Avengers: Endgame? And what exactly is a Flerken and why does it take the form of a cat?

Why Did Nick Fury Always Claim He Lost His Eye Because He Trusted Someone?

Captain Marvel revealed a lot of new information about Nick Fury, like how he eats his sandwiches, the name his mom calls him, and that he named the Avenger Initiative after Carol Danvers' callsign, but the film also answered the question of how the super spy lost his left eye. In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, he told Steve Rogers, "The last time I trusted someone, I lost an eye." It turns out that "someone" Fury trusted was Goose; he literally tells the Flerkin, "I'm trusting you", as they escape Mar-Vell's lab.

Goose later betrayed Fury's trust aboard the Quadjet when he randomly decided to slash at Fury's face and scarred his left eye. It seems Fury concocted a mysterious story about "trusting someone" to explain his disfigurement because the truth is embarrassing. But, after Goose coughed up the Tesseract, did Fury later get revenge on the Flerkin? Does that explain Goose's absence from the modern day MCU?

If Captain Marvel Is Powered By the Tesseract, Why Is She More Powerful Than Vision & Scarlet Witch?

Captain Marvel changes Carol's origin and the source of her awesome powers: the film eliminates the comics' Psyche-Magnetron and instead, Carol is powered by energy from the Tesseract, i.e. the Space Stone. Now that she has access to her full abilities, Captain Marvel is clearly the most powerful superhero in the MCU; she can fly in space and at lightspeed, she can smash spaceships with ease, and the limits of her photon power haven't been addressed.

However, there are other Avengers who were imbued with abilities from Infinity Stones: Vision and Scarlet Witch both gained their powers from the Mind Stone. While neither of their limits has been established, going by Marvel's claims that Carol is the most powerful of the Avengers, why is her Space Stone-derived power set so much greater than Vision and Scarlet Witch's? Is the Space Stone actually more powerful than the Mind Stone? Fans are sure to get a greater sense of how Captain Marvel matches up with the Avengers and Thanos in Avengers: Endgame, but hopefully, the film will shed some light on the discrepancy between Captain Marvel's Infinity Stone-derived powers and those of Vision and Scarlet Witch.