Listen, no one expects you to know everything about Captain Marvel going in.
It's the first time this superherhoine has ever been on the big screen. It's set in a period of the Marvel Cinematic Universe we haven't really seen before (the 1990s), and features tons of new characters, races, and technologies never even alluded to in the other films.
Still, it never hurts to be prepared. And some of these people are ones you should be familiar with already. And don't you want to be able to understand exactly what you've seen in all the marketing?
Here's a spoiler-free guide to everyone you need to know in Captain Marvel.
Carol Danvers a.k.a. Captain Marvel
Played by: Brie Larson
When we meet our heroine, she's already part of an elite warrior squad called Starforce, fighting alongside the Kree – an alien race from the planet Hala. Then she returns to Earth, where she must rediscover her ordinary human past. It's like "a classic Marvel origin story but told in reverse," explains producer Jason Schwartz.
Though she has no memory of it, Captain Marvel, a.k.a. Carol Danvers, used to be an Air Force pilot. She seems to have gotten her powers after a near-death incident, and subsequent resuscitation by the Kree. And her forgotten history may hold the key to everything else happening in the movie.
Nick Fury
Played by: Samuel L. Jackson
If you've seen the other Marvel movies, you're probably already familiar with Nick Fury as the erstwhile director of S.H.I.E.L.D. But the Nick Fury we'll see in this one is younger, greener, less jaded – a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who's "riding the desk" until Captain Marvel crash-lands into his life, and reveals to him that there's a whole big universe out there.
Leader of Star Force
Played by: Jude Law
He's the leader of Starforce, and Captain Marvel's mentor. How exactly their dynamic drives the story, though, is being kept under tight wraps.
Minn-Erva
Played by: Gemma Chan
Minn-Erva is another standout member of Starforce, a Kree sniper who's got something of a "playful rivalry" with Captain Marvel. "Minn-Erva doesn't quite trust Carol," Chan teases, "[but] as a team, they're very efficient and they get stuff done."
Korath
Played by: Djimon Hounsou
We've seen this guy before, in the first Guardians of the Galaxy. Here, Korath is a high-ranking member of Starforce, but just as humorless and "machine-like," as Hounsou puts it, as you remember.
Ronan
Played by: Lee Pace
Another returning face from Guardians of the Galaxy, the younger Ronan of Captain Marvel is less of a radical zealot. He "has his own role to play in the Kree military that intersects with Starforce in an interesting way," says Schwartz.
Talos
Played by: Ben Mendelsohn
Talos is a leader of the Skrulls, an alien race locked in bitter conflict with the Kree. The Skrulls also happen to be really good at shapeshifting, which comes in very handy for their efforts to invade Earth. For his part, Talos has infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. by impersonating a human so successfully that he's actually Nick Fury's boss(!).
Maria Rambeau
Played by: Lashana Lynch
Carol's BFF and fellow Air Force pilot (call sign: Photon) doesn't know where Carol has disappeared to all these years, and Carol, in turn, can't really remember Maria at first. Still, now that Carol is back, Maria remains loyal to their old bond, and she plays a huge role in helping Carol regain her past.
Maria also happens to be the mother of Monica Rambeau, about whom more below.
Monica Rambeau
Played by: Akira Akbar
Monica is Maria's brave 11-year-old daughter, who sees Carol as an aunt – or did, anyway, before Carol disappeared.
Though Maria's role in all of this remains somewhat unclear, it's worth noting that in the comics, Maria took up the Captain Marvel mantle before Carol did. Clearly, that's not how the timeline is playing out in the Marvel Cinematic Universe... but it does seem possible Monica will have quite a lot to do going forward.
Phil Coulson
Played by: Clark Gregg
Long before he was killed by Loki in The Avengers and brought back to life in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Phil Coulson was just a fresh-faced S.H.I.E.L.D. rookie who could barely get Nick Fury to learn his name.
Goose
Played by: Reggie, Archie, Rizzo, and Gonzo
Named after the Top Gun character, Goose looks like just your ordinary housecat. But there's strong reason to believe he's actually an alien known as a Flerken. In the comics, Flerkens look like Earth felines but boast extra features (like tentacles inside their mouths) and special powers (like the ability to hop between dimensions).
Supreme Intelligence
Played by: Annette Bening
As confirmed by Annette Bening herself, she's playing the Supreme Intelligence: "A god-like entity, the leader of the Kree people. The artificial intelligence which consists of the greatest intellects of the Kree people for the last million years."
"And there's more," she added. "But I can't say it."
Captain Marvel is in theaters March 8.
UPDATE: Feb. 22, 2019, 6:55 p.m. PST Updated to clarify information about Annette Bening and Jude Law's characters.
