Launching yet another franchise to their already mind-blowing roster of big screen characters, Marvel Studios found success yet again with Captain Marvel, starring Brie Larson as the title character in the long overdue first female led film in the MCU. The film hits Blu-Ray this week, giving comic book fans a wealth of special features and a chance to relive the cosmic adventure at home or on the go.
To read up on our full theatrical reviews of the film you can check them out here and here, but here’s a brief except: Captain Marvel is a fairly enjoyable flick with a surprising amount of humor served with a heaping of 90s nostalgia, but suffers from a less-than-perfect origin story weighed down by a slow mid-section and underdeveloped character writing. Larson is solid in the role and will be a blast to watch as she continues to grow into the character…
Fans of the film know they want to watch the movie over and over again, but do the special features make this release truly worthy of a purchase? The short answer is yes, but mostly for the hardcore fans, due to wealth of behind the scenes and feaurettes that explore not only the making of the film but the characters and worlds within along with importance of Captain Marvel’s cultural impact.
The Becoming a Super Hero featurette does a great job of not only showing how much Larson respects the opportunity to represent this character, but also gives some neat background into her Air Force training that went into her research for Carol Danvers. The Movie with Intro and Big Hero Moment are basically just montages and scene breakdowns that could have been added into Becoming a Super Hero, but are okay as little bite-sized features.
For those that don’t know the extensive backgrounds of the characters and species featured in Captain Marvel, The Skrulls and the Kree is interesting as it dissects the shitting perspectives the film uses to represent them. The Origin of Nick Fury is a more basic featurette highlighting the one-eyed man of mystery through his MCU history.
Always one of the most interesting additions to a release involves scenes that ended up on the cutting room floor that could have potentially given a broader scope to the story or individual characters. Six deleted scenes are presented with the best being Starforce Recruits and “Who Do You Admire Above All Others?” which sets up a funny joke involving the form the Supreme Intelligence takes for Yon-Rogg (Jude Law), and Rookie Mistake includes a great scene with the criminally underused Clark Gregg as Agent Phil Coulson.
On the lighter side of things, also included are a cutesy Gag Reel featuring general hijinks on set, mostly featuring either Skrulls being silly or Larson being hilarious and adorable. Hiss-sterical Cat-titude takes another fun look at Goose the cat and shows how both visual effects and the real life feline brought the memorable character to life, but opts for presenting the silly side of things rather than really breaking the process down.
You can find the official list of all the features below:
Blu-ray & Digital:
- Alternate Movie Versions
- Movie with Intro – An introduction by directors/screenwriters Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck.
- Movie with Commentary – Commentary by directors/screenwriters Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck.
- Featurettes:
- Follow Brie Larson’s journey as she joins the MCU, and see what it takes to be a Marvel Super Hero in every sense of the word.
- Big Hero Moment – Explore how impactful Captain Marvel’s entrance into the MCU is, and how she inspires audiences around the world.
- The Origin of Nick Fury – Witness some of the MCU’s most significant events through Nick Fury’s eyes, and see how his influence helped shape the MCU.
- The Dream Team – Discover why Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck are the perfect pair to direct Marvel Studios’ most powerful hero.
- The Skrulls and the Kree – Take a deeper look into the Skrulls and the Kree, their ongoing conflict, and the importance of shifting perspectives in the film.
- Hiss-sterical Cat-titude – The cast and crew dish on working with Goose and the raw talent it takes to portray such a complex character on-screen.
- Deleted Scenes
- “Who Do You Admire Above All Others?” – Kree Commander Yon-Rogg must answer to the Supreme Intelligence, who questions his leadership ability.
- Starforce Recruits – Yon-Rogg lectures a roomful of students on the Kree’s mission to defend all nations from the scourge of the Skrulls.
- Heading to Torfa – Vers (Danvers) and her fellow Starforce members banter as they prepare for their rescue mission to Torfa.
- “What, No Smile?” – In this alternate version of a scene from the movie, Vers is consulting a map when she receives a dubious offer of assistance.
- Black Box – Keller attempts to track Vers and Fury after their escape in a quadjet from the Joint USAFA Facility.
- Rookie Mistake – Novice S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Phil Coulson helps Director Keller out of an embarrassing situation.
- Gag Reel – The fate of the universe hangs in the balance as the cast battles props, flubs and Flerkens in these outtakes from the set.
Score: 3.5 out of 5
Captain Marvel is available June 11 on Blu-ray. Click this link to purchase from Amazon.