All language subtitles for MPower.S01E02.WEBRip.x265-ION265

Growing up, I was a fan
of comic books as a kid.

My family would play this game
called Quarters. It's a card game.

You get a couple quarters to start.
It's like how you bet.

It was a brilliant game for me because,

I think, when I was buying comics,

it was maybe 75 cents or $1.50.

And so, if I won a game of Quarters,

I could go buy a comic,

or a couple, if I was buying older comics.

I was hugely inspired
by the women that I saw in comics,

that they were battling,
you know, creatures

and then also personal problems
at the same time.

Getting exposed to that
at a young age is monumental.

I'm unstoppable

I'm a Porsche with no brakes

I'm invincible

Yeah, I win every single game

I'm so powerful

I don't need batteries to play

I'm so confident

Yeah, I'm unstoppable today

I'm unstoppable today

Unstoppable today

Unstoppable today

I'm unstoppable today

In Marvel Comics' history,

there have been really successful,
powerful female characters,

like the Invisible Woman,

Black Widow, Storm,

Gamora, Scarlet Witch,

Shuri, and Carol Danvers.

Carol Danvers
was created in the early 1960s

and she was an Air Force Security Officer.

And she continued to exist
as a sort of background character.

And then, in 1977,

Gerry Conway and his then-wife, Carla,

made Carol into Ms. Marvel.

She was given powers

and it was a deliberate feminist take.

For the next several decades,
Carol Danvers

was one of the most popular
female superheroes that existed.

And then, in 2012,

we decided it was time
to reimagine her character.

Comic book writer Kelly Sue DeConnick

shaped her into a relatable, strong
fighter pilot that was more empowered.

And that's when she became Captain Marvel.

Fans loved the new Carol,
so she was an obvious choice

for the first female-led film
in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

This iteration
of Captain Marvel is a unique one.

Her history in the comics is complicated

and has gone through many iterations.

I feel we've really been able
to pick through

and take the very best
to create something impactful.

Marvel has made incredible leaps forward

in developing female characters
and putting them onscreen.

I think it was
important for us to tell her story

because she is one of the most powerful,
if not the most powerful

superhero we have.

With Captain Marvel,

I knew we were creating a character

that was going to be
even more otherworldly

than most of the characters
that we'd seen so far.

So, for me, it was even more important

to have an actress who would
approach it from a grounded place,

to ground Carol Danvers
in reality, in her humanity.

Captain Marvel herself, Brie Larson!

For me, she is the perfect
Carol Danvers because

she is an accomplished actress
who can do anything.

She's funny.

Wow. You're the Captain now.

- I always was. You just didn't know.

She's dramatic.

- What did you do to me?
- It's like a bad trip, isn't it?

She approaches her work

with a dedication that's pretty unmatched.

Action! One and two and stance! Nice!

And she had the passion
for the role, ultimately.

Getting ready to play Carol,
I went through the comics

and learned a lot about the core
of who Carol is.

Carol Danvers is an interesting character,

in that she has one foot on Earth
and one foot in the cosmic arena.

When we first meet Carol Danvers,
we meet her as Vers,

a Kree warrior who does not
remember her human origins.

But when she comes back to Earth,

she finds Carol Danvers and Vers

weren't so different after all.

Carol Danvers, in her human form,
is an Air Force pilot,

incredibly well-achieved in her field.

A true badass.

Through a blast,

she loses her memory

and she gains powers.

As we go through
the film's story,

she learns who she used to be.

Then, her final act is figuring out
who she wants to be.

I knew it! Everyone said you were dead.

I'm not really who you think I am.

I think Carol Danvers
is the most powerful,

most empowered character
in the whole Marvel Universe.

But she's also a regular person.

And I think that's one of the things

that's so important about
women superheroes,

is that heroism is everybody.

We all want to feel inspired
to be the best versions of ourselves.

I'm only human.

One of the most powerful messages
that Captain Marvel represents

is the inability to accept a "no."

Like, when she falls down...

...her strength comes from
learning to stand up again.

That's something I connect to.

I was attracted to the tenacity
of Captain Marvel's character,

and I found that inspiring.

With Carol,
one of the main cornerstones of her

is that she gets back up
after the mistakes she's made.

And that's something I really appreciate

about her as a role model.

She can be cocky.

She can say the wrong thing.

She puts her foot in her mouth,
but she owns up to it,

and that's, I think, really important,

far more than trying to reach
some sort of perfection.

Carol Danvers, as a character,

is one who always looked to the stars.

She isn't just a female protagonist.

She has a distinct personality.

Put that on.

- What is it?
- It's the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo.

Does announcing your identity on clothing
help with the covert part of your job?

Young girls recognize her

as real, and relatable, and admirable.

If you asked me a couple years ago,
I'd have said,

"She's so different from me."

I was an introvert with asthma

and that was really antithetical
to who I thought Carol was.

But I do feel like, playing her now,

I'm more blended with her than not.

Some of her most powerful moments,

it's when Carol's at her lowest,
her weakest.

And so, I truly felt in those moments
that I was being reminded of myself.

The story of her in the film

is about her coming to terms
with that she's controlled.

She thinks that she's supposed
to be a certain way.

- You must let go of the past.
- I don't remember my past.

It's causing you doubt,
and doubt makes you vulnerable.

No, I think Captain Marvel
being told by Yon-Rogg

that she's not good enough,
that her emotions get the best of her,

that her vulnerabilities make her weaker,

perfectly captures what we go through.

There's nothing more dangerous
to a warrior than emotion.

But throughout the movie,

we see Carol actually defying that

and being like, "My emotions are mine."

Can you keep your emotions in check
long enough to take me on?

Or will they get
the better of you as always?

I believe Carol realizing
that her power is in her emotions

is a really strong point
of self-discovery,

where the Kree try to convince her
that she is just this weak human

and she realizes that
she'd been restricted this whole time,

and she had way more power in her.

I have nothing to prove to you.

Her arc is one of realizing

that you have to be empathetic.

You have to embrace your emotions.

Your ability to connect with other people
is what makes you strong.

And I think that what Carol Danvers learns

is that her love for other people

and her compassion
is what allows her to become

the most powerful person in the universe.

Where's your head at?

In the clouds. Where's yours?

On my shoulders.
About to show these boys how we do it.

One of the things I really love
about Captain Marvel

is there's no romance in the movie.

There was no reason
to have a male counterpart

'cause it didn't add anything
to the story.

And it's one of the best friendships
that we've put together in the MCU.

In this film,

the great love of her life
is her best friend.

Is that really who you are now?

I don't know.

And it's humbling, because you realize
love doesn't have to be romantic.

It can be a deep friendship.

No. What's hard is losing my best friend.

What if a woman is just friend
to another woman

and they are enough for each other?

And they make each other feel like
they are enough for themselves.

Carol and Maria,
they have this really healthy

love and trust for each other.

They were the only ones who were there
for each other when things got hard.

My best friend,

who supported me as a mother and a pilot
when no one else did.

Come here. Come here, girl.

I got you.

Everybody has struggles

and we all have to find
a way to deal with them,

whether it's through
our support system,

our family, our loved ones, our friends.

Early start to your morning.

Late night, actually.

I can't sleep when there's work to do.
Sound familiar?

Flying your planes isn't like work.

Dr. Wendy Lawson
is a brilliant scientist

who is very much interested
in trying to mentor Carol.

This isn't about fighting wars.

It's about ending them.

The character of Lawson is

somebody who isn't
Captain Marvel's mother,

isn't a sister or friend,

but is somebody who, nevertheless,
shapes her really intensely.

I'm the older scientist
encouraging the young pilots

to build their skills,

to become great at what they do,

and to know the power within themselves

and not be afraid of their own potential.

I kind of have always had that in me

because my mom was so amazing.

She is my hero, still. She's 92.

She was always such
an intelligent, committed,

interesting, informed woman,
and she still is.

I also had another hero in my life
who was this woman

that I started babysitting for
when I was 12, 13 years old.

We became friends

and, as I got a bit older,
we learned to scuba dive together.

And we have been
dear, dear friends ever since.

We all need these figures in our lives,

whether they're our moms, or our teachers,

or our aunts, or our grandmothers.

We all need to be brought along
and to be encouraged.

We all need support.

I don't care who you are.

You need somebody to say to you

what Dr. Lawson says to Captain Marvel,

which is,
"You have the power inside of you.

"You just have to access it."

Yes. Come on.

Whoa!

Before the film started,

the physicality was a huge fear of mine.

I trained really hard for that film

and it doesn't come without
hitting the floor.

Stunts, fight training, you slip,
you fall on your face.

And to me, life is that.

But when you meet yourself,
when you're terrified,

when you are tested,
you're stronger, taller,

bigger than you thought.

And, action!

What's so interesting about
physical transformation is it's mental.

I learned it clearly with deadlifting.

I couldn't break 200 pounds.

I just couldn't for months.

I was just clicking along

and every time I went to go lift 200,

I just would freeze and I couldn't do it.

And then I finally broke it
and got to like 215

because my trainer lied
and said that it was at 175.

So I started realizing that
the whole game was the mind.

Release!

Go, go, go! Dig, dig, dig!

I've learned
a lot of things from Carol.

I learned that

I am a lot stronger than I realized.

Five, four...

I am physically much stronger,

mentally much stronger.

That I am quite comfortable in my body.

It's why I love my job so much,
is because it pushes me to the edge.

I felt pretty exhausted just walking from
getting coffee up to my tent again, so...

I am not sure how this is gonna go,

but I'm gonna try really,
really hard.

The physical training changes
the way that you view things.

It changes the way you perceive
the world, and Carol is hyperfocused.

She is very perceptive.

And so, putting myself in that mindset,

where I was clearing my mind
everyday through the training,

helped me bring her to life.

It helped me to have this role

and to have Carol as this guiding light.

I don't know how many of these steps
I would've taken without

being pushed into it.

I can't believe I just did that.

Before the film started,

I was a nervous flier, to put it lightly.

But I learned a lot
from my time at the Air Force.

I had the pleasure of meeting
the first female Air Force pilot.

This is General Leavitt, who is a legend.

A legend!

Is there anything
you cannot do

in comparison
with your male counterparts?

Do you have the stamina to compete
one-on-one, do you think?

Yes, sir. I go through the same training
my male counterparts do.

And I've had no problems so far,

and I'm looking forward to
the challenge of flying the F-15E.

What would it be like to fly?

I've never done it.

That's where we're going, hangout here,
do some fighting here.

You can't imagine
what G-forces are like

until you're actually in it
and experiencing it.

We were flying back and the turbulence
started to get to me.

Horrific. Terrible.

I'm strapped in
and I'm still bouncing around.

I'm like, "This is it. I'm not gonna
make this movie. It's the end of me."

And I remember my pilot
talking to the tower saying,

"We've got some turbulence."

And I heard this voice from the tower,
"How'd you describe the turbulence?"

And I'm thinking, "Worst ever!"

And she goes, "Mild."

And I was like, "Okay."

I realized that these planes can do

insane maneuvers in the air effortlessly.

And I have been
a very chill flier since then.

In the comics, Carol's gone through
many iterations of her costume.

And it was not
the most practical in real life.

I just feel like clothes
should make sense,

especially if she's flying in space

and fighting strange creatures.

It should be protective.
It should have a purpose.

How do I look?

The costume, actually, was a huge part

of why I was excited about the film.

The costume on the screen
is important because

you immediately make judgment

about that character based on
what they wear.

And so Brie and I both agreed

that it needs to look like a uniform,

but yet, it needs to look like
a uniform on a female body.

There was no reason
to make it cutesy or anything else.

It's all about inner power.

We really want to make sure
that the MCU female superheroes

stand next to the men

and they're equally badass
in the uniforms that they wear.

And it represents their skills
and characteristics

and not necessarily their body.

We really talked about
not making her look too sexy.

I worked with a great makeup artist,
Heba Thorisdottir,

and it was really great, like,
coming up with Brie's look.

I'm a third-generation hairstylist.

I've played with hair my whole life.

I know what the '90s looked like.
I grew up in it.

We looked at rock 'n' roll pictures.

We looked at Stevie Nicks.
We looked at Joan Jett.

We looked at all those girls of like

that whole rock 'n' roll, hair band era.

I have to say, the '90s,

the hair is not so fabulous.

But, you know what?

I think we did a good job figuring it out.

I think it's so important for women

to see an unapologetic

representation of female power and glory.

Women are given a lot of messages about

how to hold their power and how to
express it and what's appropriate.

I think in the Marvel Universe,

we're able to see women
owning their power.

And now!

We want you to change it.

Yeah. That's what we like,
we want to keep it going.

Okay.

Anna is so amazing and super inspiring

when she was directing.

She knew what she wanted, and I'm like,
"This is an amazing director."

After I was filming,
I was thinking to myself,

"When I'm older, I want to become
a director like her."

It's so important for women
to be behind the scenes

as well as in front of the camera,
because it informs all we do.

It informs the stories we tell,
the way we tell them,

the lens through which they are viewed.

I love every single one of you,
and it's not just because I'm hot

and I've sweated out all my water
and I had two sips of champagne.

I really, really have appreciated
every single one of you.

I really do. Okay.

- Let's finish this movie!

I was one of those kids who was
always in love with filmmaking.

I've always wanted to make movies.

That's just been part of who I am.

I love the process of editing.

That's really where you can
kick into high storytelling gear

and craft the story, the characters.

As a female editor,

editing Marvel's first female-led film,

I definitely felt a responsibility
to get it right.

The most powerful moment
in Captain Marvel comes right at the end.

There's a take where Carol stands up

and she says, "My name is Carol."

My name is Carol.

That's her superhero moment,
as you'd call it. She claims herself.

And there were a lot
of takes that Brie did

that were what you're used to seeing

and what felt right because that's what
you're programmed to expect.

Then there was this other take where,
as she said it, a tear ran down her face.

My name is Carol.

And I thought, "Wow, I have never seen,

"in the superhero's most powerful moment,

"a tear running down their face.
I have to put that take in."

And I put it in
and, you know, there was resistance.

They're like, "Why is she crying?"

The answer was, "That's kind of the theme
of the entire film,

"that you can be emotional
and powerful simultaneously."

And that choice that Brie made

enveloped everything Captain Marvel is.

I feel like Marvel is going
to a whole new chapter.

We have so much coming out

that represents different kinds
of communities and voices,

including the series Ms. Marvel,

which was inspired by
my own life experiences.

I was a brown kid growing up in Jersey.

It was a predominantly white community.

The only brown people in town
were related to me.

And it was challenging.

I never saw girls or anyone
who looked like me

in television shows or magazines.

And, in fact, if I did happen to see
a brown person on television,

they were usually the bad guy.

I am Muslim. I am South Asian.

And I was growing up
in a time where people

truly just did not understand
who Muslims were.

Thought it would be cool to have
a superhero who actually fights for us.

Now we get to show that world
through the lens of Ms. Marvel.

Ms. Marvel is a young woman
named Kamala Khan.

She is from Jersey City.

She is just really intelligent
and very quirky,

and has a very loving family.

Whatever mountain you're facing,
you don't have to do it alone.

I can be special tomorrow.
I just wanna be normal today.

I don't know.
I don't see why this is so hard for me.

It's funny to think that
there was anybody else as an option

for Kamala Khan other than Iman Vellani.

She turned in a fantastic audition.

So we can expand our horizons,
meet interesting people,

realize our true potential
to fulfill the American Dream!

She is Kamala in real life.

And yes, this is my American Dream.

We'd be honored if you'd play
Kamala Khan in the Ms. Marvel show.

Yeah, I can't comprehend this right now.

Oh, my God!

It was the first audition
I ever did in my entire life.

As a kid, I was very confused about
what I wanted to do with my life

until this opportunity came around.

I have so much love for the character,
which is why I auditioned.

I didn't wanna be an actor,
but because it was Ms. Marvel

and I loved her comics, I had no choice.

My ten-year-old self
would hate me if I didn't audition.

I loved reading comic books.

I got really into superheroes
when I was, like, ten.

Where I live is right next to
a comic book store

and my parents would give me
$20 of allowance every month.

I'd spend it on comic books.

And one day, I picked up
a Ms. Marvel comic

and I was like, "Brown girl, who's she?"

And I got excited
and I fell in love with her.

Growing up with little to no
representation, I needed that.

In the comics, Ms. Marvel is like
Captain Marvel's biggest fan.

What's cool about it is
she doesn't just emulate her.

She sees the strength of Captain Marvel

and then finds
her own version of it in herself.

Kamala is a creative, passionate,
Avengers-loving, fanfic-writing nerd.

I feel kind of honored to be the nerd
to represent all the other nerds.

I get to channel a lot of
my real life into her character.

Kamala, she is Pakistani, she is Muslim,

but none of that alone defines her.

What's up, Najaf?

And I think that is a lot of
her journey in the show.

Let's be honest. It's not the brown girls
from Jersey City who save the world.

Sure they do.

Kamala embraces everything
that makes her her.

And I think that's so admirable.

You know, she doesn't shy away
from the fact that she is Muslim.

The importance of having Kamala
be the first Muslim superhero,

it's enormous.

That's the DNA of Marvel,

of making sure that the stories
are representative,

because Marvel tries to
capture the real world,

just in the most fantastic way possible.

Sometimes, a movie is a movie,
and escape is fun,

and you enjoy it
and never think about it again.

But Captain Marvel was not just a movie.

It changed how people felt
about themselves.

I can remember growing up
and not really having

many female superheroes to look up to.

I can't even recall,
if you ask me, if there's one.

But now, you know,
I can say with Captain Marvel,

it's allowing little girls
to look up to this

strong woman and say that,
"I actually can be her."

My name is Alyssa Carson.

I'm an aspiring astronaut and
my favorite character is Captain Marvel.

Captain Marvel is my favorite character

because she sends
such a good message of women

being just as strong
as the male superheroes.

Captain Marvel shows determination.

And so, I think that that determination

definitely resonates with me
to keep going after my dreams.

When I was a little girl,
I pretty much have loved space

ever since I could remember.

I was always obsessed with it
and wanting to learn more.

No one in my family
has any space or science background.

So it was very bizarre for me
to one day come up

and start asking all kinds
of space questions,

but I took it and ran with it.

Then, as I got older, the more I learned,
the more my obsession grew.

I've seen Captain Marvel many times,

and, you know, I think that
the more times that I watched it,

I was definitely encouraged
to keep doing what I'm doing.

I'm currently studying astrobiology.

And I'm looking forward to
being able to contribute

to the science happening on Mars.

Something that I share with
Captain Marvel is curiosity.

She definitely has a very curious mind,

but, at the end of the day,

she really just wants to contribute
to something greater than herself.

And so, I think that connects,

'cause when we look at
the mission to Mars,

it's not about just getting to Mars.

It's about all the benefits
that getting to Mars brings.

New technologies, new resources

that can actually help with the problems
we have now on Earth.

I think that we need female superheroes

because it is so important to see
other strong women.

Captain Marvel is encouraging
the next group of women

to go after their dreams
and hopefully be just as empowered.

The huge value of the movies
is that they show people

the world the way it should be,

where the good and strong and smart win.

Giving an incredible role model
to everybody,

to kids, to young women, to older women.

I think it has a huge impact on culture

and changing the way people think.

We're being represented by someone

who plays and portrays us

as someone amazing, you know,

and we don't get that often,
so it's nice to see it on the screen.

After the movie came out,

the enrollment of women
in the Air Force went up 50%.

We were completely taken aback

by the cultural wave that it created.

And I just love that it's girl power

and my girls can be what they want,

and she's the epitome of that.

Every girl has strong powers.

She's just an incredible
role model for girls.

It's just really like amazing
to see such a strong, female lead.

Someone to look up to.

Young girls across the nation will see her
and think, "That could be me."

I'm Brie Larson and I'm Captain Marvel.

I'm very aware of the fact
that I'm just a conduit for a concept.

It always, for me, was the star.

I just wanted to imbue that symbol.
That was my goal.

If I could imbue that star

and that symbol to mean something,

to help you out of a tough situation,

to give you strength
when you really need it.

That we're free.

We're completely free to be as we are.

I see people with, like, a Captain Marvel
leather jacket or a keychain

or a pin with that star.

If that can be a reminder
of inner strength and power,

it's a powerful concept.