With Captain Marvel getting hammered by fans at Rotten Tomatoes (even worse now), I decided to create a poll on our popular Facebook page to get some sort of inclination if there is any truth to fans possibly being upset with the movie and Brie Larson.
The numbers are in and with over 5,700 votes, 55% of Cosmic Book News fans voted they will be going to see Captain Marvel on opening weekend, with 45% voting no. As I stated previously, the reason I worded the poll questioning about the opening weekend is to get somewhat of an idea about the flick’s opening weekend box office, which has been said to be all over the place — opening as high as $180 million to a possible low of $80 million.
When I first launched the poll on Thursday, the numbers were basically right in line with the Rotten Tomatoes “Want to See” score. Note: The Rotten Tomatoes “Want to See” score is a rating based on the number of fans that have voted if they want to see the movie, and it is not the film’s official critics review score. So my guess is that the Rotten Tomatoes audience reaction is not fake and is right in line with a number of fans’ opinions (or was). I will say it is entirely possible fans are simply voting down Captain Marvel to show their disdain, but will still go see the movie anyway. I plan on seeing the movie and was surprised by my own Facebook page’s poll results. My 700,000 fans are some of the most hardcore Marvel and DC fans online, and I would think they would be going to see any flick released, but maybe I am wrong and that’s not the case. The current Captain Marvel Rotten Tomatoes “Want to See” score is now at a low of 33% with almost 35,000 votes cast. Even I am suspect of that number now. Worth a mention is that the number could reflect only the “hardcore” of fans and potentially doesn’t apply to the mom and pop family of Marvel “popcorn” viewers.
I’m predicting at least a $100 million opening for Captain Marvel and will be really surprised if it opens to Ant-Man and the Wasp numbers ($75 million). I think anything short of $100 million will be looked as a failure, IMO. The hype is strong on both sides surrounding this movie and Feige is planning on having Brie Larson be the new face of the MCU for at least a whopping five more movies following The Avengers: Endgame, another big factor that plays into Captain Marvel, so if audiences reject Brie Larson, Disney could have another “The Last Jedi” on their hands. Not good, judging by Han Solo and the fact that Disney has placed their Star Wars movies on hold. You would also have thought Disney would have learned from their “The Last Jedi” mistakes, but that appears not to be the case.
Regarding Brie Larson, yeah, she said some dumb comments that ticked a lot of people off, and she is known for controversial comments and politics, but my problem is more that she is using Marvel Studios and Captain Marvel to further promote them. Honestly, I just want to see the flick and not worry about “white dudes.” That said, Disney and Marvel Studios seem to be well aware of the situation and appear to be doing damage control. Brie Larson recently was interviewed by a white dude from FOX where she said she simply meant she is just trying to get more seats to the table (and says she doesn’t remember what she said).
While the politics surrounding Brie Larson are causing huge online debate and hate, I will say I am more worried about the story aspects surrounding introducing Captain Marvel into the MCU than anything Larson has said. Alarm bells going off on my end regarding the story include: The character was first introduced during the post-credit scene of The Avengers: Infinity War with Nick Fury turning to dust but signaling Carol Danvers through the old beeper that has been modified; where has she been all these years? Why did Fury wait so long to contact her? The official synopsis for the movie states she is this uber power character, is she a Mary Sue? Is she a deux ex machina that will simply swoop in and defeat Thanos in The Avengers: Endgame? Will Captain Marvel steal the limelight from the ten years of Marvel movies and characters in The Avengers: Endgame in order to make her the new face of the MCU? Kevin Feige is retconning the character into the MCU as the new face of the Avengers, responsible for Fury creating the Avengers, etc., all of which has never been touched upon in any Marvel movie. Why is that? Other concerns of mine also include the CGI look and use of both the Kree and the Skrulls, and potential major changes for the Kree Supreme Intelligence and Mar-vell.
Another rather large concern of mine is that following The Avengers: Endgame, Joe and Anthony Russo seem to be no longer involved with the MCU. What I like about the Russo brothers is that they are huge fans of the comics, but bring a new spin on the story for the MCU. Infinity War was phenomenal. Kevin Feige doesn’t care about the comics, IMO, with case in point being Captain Marvel, as it seems to be nothing like the Carol Danvers from the comics (they even changed the name of the cat, which Marvel Comics EIC C.B. Cebulski told me they will never do in the comics), and Taika Waititi’s Thor: Ragnarok and James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy movies were dumbed-down goofy attempts at science-fiction and the comics. Do we see a pattern here by Feige? Captain Marvel, Thor: Ragnarok, Guardians of the Galaxy – all COSMIC movies. Does that mean further COSMIC movies will be similar?
While I get f-bombed on Twitter for my opinions, I think these are all valid concerns and that Feige and Marvel need to answer these questions in order justify fans accepting the character for years to come. The MCU is known for its story building, not forcing a character where it might not belong.
“Captain Marvel” opens March 8.
