#esper rambles

SPOILERS!

No seriously, it isn’t.

I can see how you might think that on first glance - three of the good guys galls either are or used to be US army and there aren’t really any balancing characters for them. But that’s a thin veneer over a very different kind of story.

First of all, there are only three characters of note with US army background. (We’re not counting SHIELD.) All three of them are women and while they are presented in a positive light, their experience within the army isn’t, really. We see both Maria and Carol face and talk about prejudice and misogyny in the army. It’s made explicit. On top of that, we’re faced with the army’s habit of covering things up and how that negatively affects people. Not exactly a very flattering image of the US army, is it - regardless of whether it’s actually the 90s or not.

In addition, all three of the army characters are actually dissociated from the US army one way or the other. Maria no longer seems to be working there (though we don’t get confirmation or explanation) and her attitude towards the Air Force can’t exactly be called endorsing; she deals out some criticism there. Carol on the other hand barely remembers the army and what she does remember is either negatively tinted - read: prejudice towards her - or deals with her personal relationships with the two other women. She also does not care at all about any authority the army might (try to) claim to have.

And then we have Lawson - who could fill the role of the good army authority, except it turns out she’s an alien who’s basically just been using the US army’s resources to develope her own technology. And not even weaponry! No, her explicit goal is to “stop the war” - not by landing a decisive hit but by helping people escape the war. She denounces war - the war - outloud, which pretty clearly separates her from her army association.

And that brings us to the actual plot of this movie.

Namely, the big glaring antimilitaristic message that’s underlying damn near everything.

The whole Kree-Skrull plot is basically a metaphor for US actions in the Middle East. Noble warrior heroes? A culture that venerates soldiers for protecting the homeland/people/way of life by fighting. Diguised enemies working in outer territories? The war’s not at home but somewhere else and the enemy isn’t a typical government-lead army. The indigenous people get mostly ignored, viewed with reserved suspicion? That scene could’ve been from so many war movies depicting conflicts from the last thirty years.

And then it turns out that the terrorists are refugees. Not innocent, not unbloodied - they have been fighting against the Kree. But by all accounts, the Kree are the aggressor with superior forces and an advantage. They’re labeling all Skrulls terrorists and hunting them down no matter the collateral damage - including the destruction of other worlds, other people. The noble warrior heroes are fighting a war that’s neither noble nor heroic.

And that’s where the antimilitaristic, anti-army message drives home. Starforce is Air Force. Carol isn’t actually dissociated from the army after all; she’s in the army. But that army is in the wrong, is commiting atrocities, is lying to her - and when she finds out, she admits she’s been fighting for the wrong cause and does the right thing, taking back her agency in the process.

Captain Marvel is the story of Carol Danvers becoming disillusioned with the army - any army, all armies, it doesn’t matter - and dissociating herself from it.

It’s been a year since this template was relevant but after seeing a twitter post decided to mix the two and finally do it.

Small spoilers for the 5.3 dungeon name and one npc you see in it. Plus one other thing but you would only understand if you caught up.

“What? You thought ancient beings like us incapable of having fun?”

So since this template is a thing I decided to do it with my girls current canon look; however instead of showing her holding the Deathbringer I did a side angle instead since it  was easier to see the... Fun details 8D

almost 600 orbs later and this is the payoff. As someone who was only going after Nils I’d love to say it was a good payoff but it took over 300 to get my first of him eujihghsdj