Anna Daniels
Whenever a new photo or trailer comes out promoting a big franchise like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, fans analyze it like archaeologists and/or historians, looking at every pixel with a magnifying glass or making 30-minute videos analyzing two-minute trailers.
Sometimes the information they glean is useful, but other times it’s not, because when it comes to set photos and trailers, things aren’t always what they seem, especially when it comes to Marvel. Brie Larson made that clear when she explained what was really going on with a much-debated set photo.
What fans thought the Captain Marvel photo was about
Some time ago, a photo circulated of Larson in her Captain Marvel costume while doing a fight scene. The setting appeared to be on Vormir, the place of the Soul Stone where a person who wants that stone has to sacrifice something near and dear to them to get it.
In Avengers: Infinity War, Thanos killed Gamora to get the stone. In Avengers: Endgame, when the heroes went back in time to get the stone, Black Widow famously sacrificed herself so Hawkeye could get the stone.
So what was Captain Marvel doing on Vormir? Fans began to theorize that she had something to do with that battle, especially after Marvel revealed the scene was originally much more elaborate.
Thanos appeared on the scene and there was a battle, with Natasha dying an even uglier death than she ultimately got, before the filmmakers decided to scale back the sequence to what we see in Endgame now, with Natasha and Clint having their fight, but with no Thanos in sight, and certainly no Captain Marvel.
So with that photo circulating, that proves that Carol was part of the battle at one point, doesn’t it?
What Brie Larson says the Captain Marvel photo really was
With Marvel, fans should learn by now never to trust their own eyes or ears. Larson posted the photo on her Instagram. Although this was the Vormir set, the moment was never meant to be part of any movie, whether it was Captain Marvel, Avengers: Infinity War or Avengers: Endgame. It was simply a camera test to see how the costume looked, and “I was still learning how to move in a leather wetsuit. Good times,” she wrote. .
Larson has said in several interviews that she filmed her first scenes for Marvel on Avengers: Endgame, even though Captain Marvel came out first. As a consequence, Larson didn’t even fully know what her powers were supposed to be when she started shooting.
Such confusion is not uncommon among Marvel actors, such as Tom Holland, who have been known to ask exactly who it is they’re fighting. So secretive is Marvel that they don’t always tell the actors what’s going on in the script.
Given all this good-natured subterfuge, is it any wonder Gwyneth Paltrow never seems to know what movie she’s working on at any given moment?
Marvel is not above fibbing in the name of promotion
Marvel’s movies are such malleable creations that they’re often being rewritten after principal photography has been completed and the editors have begun shaping the final movie. Especially with stories as complex as the ones in Infinity War and Endgame, change is inevitable.
However, fans noticed that the Infinity War trailer showed the Hulk in his usual mean and green form charging in the battle on Wakanda. However, in the final film, Banner actually struggles to make the Hulk appear and wears the Iron Man Hulkbuster armor during the battle.
It is not at all uncommon for trailers to include footage that ultimately doesn’t get used. The trailers are usually cut before the film is finished, so something may not play exactly as the trailer shows it. However, one could also argue this fibbing is preferable to a trailer that actually gives plot points away. In any event, complaints about the Marvel movies blow away like dust from a Thanos snap because the grosses speak for themselves.
Written by: Cheat
