Finally, Women Can't Be Expendable In The Avengers Series

Being that it completely shattered box office records over the weekend, it's clear fans were hyped to see the many characters of the Marvel Cinematic Universe come together for Avengers: Infinity War. But when the movie was all said and done, fans of Marvel's female superheroes might have been disappointed since it felt as if the women of the MCU were completely misused throughout the film. They were treated as non-factors and when women were onscreen they were often literally mistreated, their bodies battered and broken to push the story forward. Nebula (Karen Gillan) was physically abused by Thanos, while Gamora (Zoe Saldana) was sacrificed for his evil plan. Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) gets thrown around in the final battle scene alongside Danai Gurira's Okoye, the fiercest fighter in Black Panther. It's safe to say the bad-assery of these two were wasted in this film where they were merely window dressing. Seriously, I don't think Black Widow had more than five lines of dialogue in this whole thing.

Elizabeth Olsen, who plays Scarlet Witch, was the only female character who got a real storyline, but it involved her having to save her boyfriend, Vision (Paul Bettany). And even when she does succeed in destroying the last infinity stone, her hard work is re-written by Thanos, the male villain. What is clear is that in Avengers: Infinity War women are expendable, but that's all going to change in the next movie thanks to Captain Marvel.

In the closing credit scene, we see Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) realize that something very bad is happening to those on Earth. Namely, people are just disappearing, including him. In his final seconds before vanishing, Fury sends a message to the galaxy's only real hope: Captain Marvel.

Yes, after years of men getting to save the world, it's Captain Marvel's turn to show them how it's really done. It's definitely a real "anything a man can do, Captain Marvel can do better" situation since she's the most powerful Avenger. Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige said that Captain Marvel, also known as Carol Danvers, will be more powerful than Doctor Strange or Thor, who couldn't defeat Thanos in this Avengers movie. Basically, move over boys, the real hero has come to make things all better.

Captain Marvel will be the first female Marvel superhero to get her own movie, starring Brie Larson and c0-directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck. It's also the first Marvel superhero movie with a female director, both of these firsts being a long time coming since DC is already working on its second Wonder Woman and has hired Ava DuVernay — the first black woman to helm a comic book movie — and Cathy Yan — the first Asian female director to ever direct a superhero movie — for their upcoming films.

The Captain Marvel stand-alone, which is a prequel to the whole MCU, will be released in March 2019, just months before the currently-untitled Avengers 4 film. It's Captain Marvel's world and for the next few years we're all just living in it and it's clear fans are excited.

One fan joked that Infinity War was just the Avengers "trying to stall" until Captain Marvel showed up. While another person said what a lot of us have been thinking since seeing Infinity War: "At this rate, screw Avengers 4, Captain Marvel is coming."

It's fitting that Marvel fans have had to wait this long for Captain Marvel, who Mighty Captain Marvel author Margaret Stohl told Refinery29 last year was "the ultimate sort of modern girl power woman who’s made it through a man’s system." Following the #MeToo and Time's Up movements, women are speaking up and fighting back to change the world. Now, after sitting through so many male-led Marvel movies, Captain Marvel is here to literally save it from the biggest baddie in Marvel history.

With Captain Marvel hopefully comes something even better: respect for all female superheroes. For too long they've been relegated to supporting roles, but with her starring turn in both her own movie and the fourth Avengers film, Captain Marvel is here to show moviegoers that women run this world. And very soon, they may even run the MCU, too.