All the characters you need to know

Listen, no one expects you to know everything about Captain Marvel going in.

It’s the first time this superherhoine has ever been on the big screen. It’s set in a period of the Marvel Cinematic Universe we haven’t really seen before (the 1990s), and features tons of new characters, races, and technologies never even alluded to in the other films.

Still, it never hurts to be prepared. And some of these people are ones you should be familiar with already. And don’t you want to be able to understand exactly what you’ve seen in all the marketing?

Here’s a spoiler-free guide to everyone you need to know in Captain Marvel. 

Carol Danvers a.k.a. Captain Marvel

Image: Chuck Zlotnick / Captain Marvel

Played by: Brie Larson

When we meet our heroine, she’s already part of an elite warrior squad called Starforce, fighting alongside the Kree – an alien race from the planet Hala. Then she returns to Earth, where she must rediscover her ordinary human past. It’s like “a classic Marvel origin story but told in reverse,” explains producer Jason Schwartz.

Though she has no memory of it, Captain Marvel, a.k.a. Carol Danvers, used to be an Air Force pilot. She seems to have gotten her powers after a near-death incident, and subsequent resuscitation by the Kree. And her forgotten history may hold the key to everything else happening in the movie.

Nick Fury

Image: Film Frame / Marvel STudios

Played by: Samuel L. Jackson

If you’ve seen the other Marvel films, you’re probably already familiar with Nick Fury as the erstwhile director of S.H.I.E.L.D. But the Nick Fury we’ll see in this one is younger, greener, less jaded – a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who’s “riding the desk” until Captain Marvel crash-lands into his life, and reveals to him that there’s a whole big universe out there.

Mar-Vell

Image: Chuck ZLotnick / Marvel Studios

Played by: Jude Law

Mar-Vell is the leader of Starforce, and Captain Marvel’s mentor. How exactly their dynamic drives the story, though, is being kept under tight wraps. During our visit to the set, producer Jonathan Schwartz would say only that Mar-Vell is “really important” to Carol’s origin story. 

Minn-Erva

Image: CHuck Zlotnick / Marvel STudios

Played by: Gemma Chan

Minn-Erva is another standout member of Starforce, a Kree sniper who’s got something of a “playful rivalry” with Captain Marvel. “Minn-Erva doesn’t quite trust Carol,” Chan teases, “[but] as a team, they’re very efficient and they get stuff done.” 

Korath

Image: Chuck Zlotnick / Marvel Studios

Played by: Djimon Hounsou

We’ve seen this guy before, in the first Guardians of the Galaxy. Here, Korath is a high-ranking member of Starforce, but just as humorless and “machine-like,” as Hounsou puts it, as you remember. 

Ronan

Image: Chuck ZLotnick / Marvel Studios

Played by: Lee Pace

Another returning face from Guardians of the Galaxy, the younger Ronan of Captain Marvel is less of a radical zealot. He “has his own role to play in the Kree military that intersects with Starforce in an interesting way,” says Schwartz.

Talos

Image: Chuck Zlotnick / Marvel STudios

Played by: Ben Mendelsohn

Talos is a leader of the Skrulls, an alien race locked in bitter conflict with the Kree. The Skrulls also happen to be really good at shapeshifting, which comes in very handy for their efforts to invade Earth. For his part, Talos has infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. by impersonating a human so successfully that he’s actually Nick Fury’s boss(!).

Maria Rambeau

Image: Chuck ZLotnick / Marvel Studios

Played by: Lashana Lynch

Carol’s BFF and fellow Air Force pilot (call sign: Photon) doesn’t know where Carol has disappeared to all these years, and Carol, in turn, can’t really remember Maria at first. Still, now that Carol is back, Maria remains loyal to their old bond, and she plays a huge role in helping Carol regain her past. 

Maria also happens to be the mother of Monica Rambeau, about whom more below. 

Monica Rambeau

Played by: Akira Akbar

Monica is Maria’s brave 11-year-old daughter, who sees Carol as an aunt – or did, anyway, before Carol disappeared. 

Though Maria’s role in all of this remains somewhat unclear, it’s worth noting that in the comics, Maria took up the Captain Marvel mantle before Carol did. Clearly, that’s not how the timeline is playing out in the Marvel Cinematic Universe… but it does seem possible Monica will have quite a lot to do going forward.

Phil Coulson

Played by: Clark Gregg

Long before he was killed by Loki in The Avengers and brought back to life in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Phil Coulson was just a fresh-faced S.H.I.E.L.D. rookie who could barely get Nick Fury to learn his name.

Goose

Image: Film Frame / Marvel STudios

Played by: Reggie, Archie, Rizzo, and Gonzo

Named after the Top Gun character, Goose looks like just your ordinary housecat. But there’s strong reason to believe he’s actually an alien known as a Flerken. In the comics, Flerkens look like Earth felines but boast extra features (like tentacles inside their mouths) and special powers (like the ability to hop between dimensions). 

Supreme Intelligence (maybe)

Played by: Annette Bening

Marvel isn’t saying who Annette Bening is playing in Captain Marvel, but signs point to the Supreme Intelligence, which in the comics is an AI that rules the Kree. The character is confirmed to appear in the film, and Bening is seen in a recent trailer recounting how she made Carol Danvers “one of us,” i.e., one of the Kree. Plus, Bening totally has the gravitas to pull off an alien overlord.

Captain Marvel is in theaters March 8.