‘Captain Marvel’ May Have Sneakily Introduced An Important Black Female Superhero

“Captain Marvel” may have introduced audiences to more than one badass female superhero over the weekend.

Monica Rambeau (Akira Akbar) is the daughter of Air Force pilot Maria Rambeau (Lashana Lynch), who is the best friend of pilot Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s latest offering. In the film, Monica is a seemingly normal yet precocious 11-year-old. But she has quite the destiny, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

In the Marvel comics, an adult Monica Rambeau is a prominent black female superhero who has taken the names of Photon, Spectrum and, most important, another version of Captain Marvel.

The character of Monica Rambeau was introduced in the 1982 comic Amazing Spider-Man Annual Vol. 1, No. 16 as Captain Marvel. She was the second character to take the Captain Marvel moniker and did so even before Danvers swapped her name Ms. Marvel for Captain Marvel, according to The Hollywood Reporter. In the 1982 comic, Monica Rambeau served as a lieutenant for the New Orleans harbor patrol. During a special mission, Monica is exposed to an “other-dimensional energy-tapping device” that gives her the superpower to convert her body into powerful energy, per Marvel. 

Urged by a friend, she quits the harbor patrol and begins crime fighting, and is dubbed “Captain Marvel” by the media. She eventually gets linked up with the Avengers in order to master her newfound powers and becomes a member-in-training, then a full-fledged member — becoming the first female African-American Avenger, according to Gizmodo. She eventually takes over as leader of the Avengers after the Wasp steps down.

Of course, it’s total speculation as to whether or not Monica Rambeau will play a more prominent role in future films or take over as Captain Marvel.

Some people on Twitter were upset Monica Rambeau wasn’t the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first choice to launch the Captain Marvel franchise.

And others were excited to see how the character would develop in future films.

But her mere presence — along with the cast of “Black Panther” and Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie — is opening the door a bit wider for more inclusion in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.