In
Captain Marvel, the Supreme Intelligence takes on the form of the person its talking to admires most. In the case of Carol Danvers, that's Annette Bening's Mar-Vell, but the movie's production designer Andy Nicholson has now revealed that the big, green head from the comic books was originally set to make an appearance.
"It came and went," he revealed when asked about the possible inclusion of a comic-accurate version of the villain. "As an idea, it was never rejected. At one stage, it was part of the movie. I'm not the person to say whether or not that will eventually come back in but it was part of it."
Apparently, this version of the Supreme Intelligence was set to appear when Captain Marvel pulls out her power inhibitor and becomes Binary (presumably revealing its true form in the process).
"It was there. We did develop a line where within that space from the big pool of water in the back of the room, that eventually, that's where the big green head would come out of. I think eventually for the final scene of the movie, it would've taken away from what was the core focus which was, it would've been a big spectacle which would've overwhelmed the main thrust of what we were doing which was talking about Carol's development and transformation into Captain Marvel."
Assuming the Captain Marvel sequel returns to the past to fill in some gaps in Carol's past, there's still a very good chance we'll get to see what the Supreme Intelligence looks like, but it's still a shame to think that we missed out on what would have been one heck of a reveal!
What do you guys think?
Hit the "View List" button for a spoiler breakdown from Captain Marvel's directors!
The Russo Brothers Directed The Mid-Credits Scene
This probably won't come as too much of a shock but it was actually
Avengers: Infinity War directors Joe and Anthony Russo who directed that mid-credits scene featuring Carol Danvers' return to Earth and first meeting with The Avengers.
"It’s really a direct lead-in to their movie," says Boden.
"They came up with the concept for it, and we said, ‘That sounds awesome.’" What we don't know is whether or not a longer version of the scene will play out during
Avengers: Endgame similar to that
Captain America: Civil War stinger at the end of
Ant-Man back in 2015.
That Big Twist With The Skrulls
The big twist in
Captain Marvel comes when we learn that the Skrulls are actually sympathetic characters and not the villains we're used to seeing in the comic books.
"This was so much a movie about Carol's journey towards finding her own humanity," says Boden.
"Part of that is also seeing the humanity in other people, even people who you don't expect to. The idea of having Carol […] realising that she's been wrong and having to face that was really powerful for us."
"And if we could make an audience member also have that same experience of assuming that they were one thing and then having their expectations subverted, we thought that would be just all the more powerful," she concludes.
A Linear Approach To Captain Marvel's Origin Story
Carol Danvers' origin story plays out in a very unexpected fashion but earlier versions of the movie had a far more linear structure. As a result, the action would have kicked off with the hero on Earth and we would have explored her friendship with Maria Rambeau.
"The original opening to the script was a simulated combat situation in her fighter jets," Fleck reveals.
"There was a whole Top Gun-style sequence that we were even planning to shoot for a while. Even though it was an awesome introduction to Carol and Maria Rambeau – and I think it would have been fun for the audience to meet them on Earth as humans – the problem with that is the audience would be so far ahead of the story."
The movie would have then jumped forward in time but Fleck argues that what we ended up getting was a better approach to the story.
"But you would have already known, and viscerally felt, her as a human. When she is uncovering her past and feeling a bit freaked out by it, I think it's much more effective."
Goose Was Always Going To Be In The Movie
Goose is a breakout character in
Captain Marvel but the Flerken wasn't a last-minute addition to proceedings; instead, the alien was part of proceedings from the very beginning.
"I mean, a cat, who's a Flerken, who has pocket dimensions?" says Fleck. "There was no way that wasn't going to end up in this movie!" Goose was always intended to be the reason Nick Fury lost his eye: "Something about that belly being rubbed, Goose did not appreciate."
An Alternate After-Credits Scene
Captain Marvel's after-credits scene features Goose throwing up the Tesseract on Nick Fury's desk but Marvel Studios originally had a much different idea for where to take things.
"There was an idea on the table about having Jude Law […] emerge from his pod on Sakaar," Fleck explains, referring to the setting of
Thor: Ragnarok,
"and then have him look around and see the Devil's Anus behind him and wonder, 'Where the hell am I?'"
That would have been fun to see but also closed the door on Yon-Rogg being able to return.
Why Talos Has An Australian Accent
Ben Mendohlson plays both S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Keller and Talos but the latter has the actor's natural Australian accent. So, why did Marvel Studios decide to take things down that route?
"Everybody is just facile with their natural accent, they can show more emotion," explains Boden.
"I think it was important for him to kind of be as wild as Ben Mendelsohn wants to be."
That certainly appears to have paid off as the actor has been praised for his performance.
Captain Marvel's Name
Just like Wanda Maximoff has never been called "Scarlet Witch" and Clint Barton has never been directly referred to as "Hawkeye," Carol Danvers isn't known as "Captain Marvel" in the movie.
However, the seeds are planted throughout both by Nick Fury saying "Marvel" has a better ring to it than "Mar-Vell" and the fact he discovers that she was a Captain in the movie's final scene.
"You see that she was ‘Captain Carol Danvers’ when [Fury] has her file at the very end, so Captain is there if you want it," Boden explains.
The Avenger Initiative
Captain Marvel wraps up with Fury renaming his "Protector Initiative" after learning that Carol Danvers' call sign in the Air Force was "Avenger." As you might expect, that was a very deliberate decision.
"Kevin Feige and the Marvel team said, 'We want her to be inspiring Nick Fury to create the Avengers by the end of this movie,’" says Fleck before revealing that there was once an alternate take on the scene. "We did shoot him actually writing the Avengers Initiative on the screen, and it just felt like we didn't need to see it."
The Tesseract
During the course of this movie, we learn that Carol Danvers receives her powers courtesy of the Tesseract, a.k.a.the Space Stone.
Rather than creating a new energy source, the filmmakers chose to bring back a familiar MacGuffin and Boden has explained that it's been in the hands of the American government ever since the events of
Captain America: The First Avenger.
"Our thought was that they had gotten this thing, but they didn't know anything about it.
"They just kind of had it lying around somewhere at S.H.I.E.L.D., and [Mar-Vell] was able to use it to create her lightspeed engine at Pegasus. Only her as an alien would even know it had all this power, and figure out how to harness it."
Annette Bening Wasn't Always Playing The Supreme Intelligence
Annette Bening ends up playing both Mar-Vell/Dr. Wendy Lawson and the Supreme Intelligence in
Captain Marvel but that wasn't always the plan.
"We initially had a separate figure being the Supreme Intelligence," Boden confirms.
"To have it be connected to her origin and her hero felt like an obvious idea that should have been in there from the very beginning. All of a sudden I woke up from a nap, and I was like 'What the hell are we doing? Why are these two separate people?’"
What do you guys think about these Captain Marvel reveals? Share your thoughts down below.