Fans know and love the MCU’s famous Captain Marvel and Captain America, but there's one Captain who possesses a multitude of powers and has the potential to outshine them both: Captain Universe. Captain Universe is a collection of multiple different people, some of whom were already wielding other-worldly abilities, and is capable of flight, telekinesis, and x-ray vision. Captain Universe first appeared in Marvel Comics during the year 1979 and has been making waves in the galaxy ever since.
Rather than maintaining a single form, Captain Universe is more of a cosmic entity, which means Marvel could use any of their existing heroes as a suitable host for the galactic powerhouse. In previous Marvel comics, popular heroes such as Spider-Man allowed Captain Universe to use his body in order to save the world.
Captain Universe currently goes by the name Tamara Devoux, but Peter Parker’s story will continue to live on in the MCU now that their dispute with Sony has been settled. The third installment in Tom Holland’s Spider-Man story is set for release in December 2021, giving Marvel the perfect opportunity to introduce Captain Universe’s character and pay homage to Peter Parker’s interactions with them in the comics. Doctor Strange will also be making a comeback in 2022 to reprise his role as the guardian of time, which is another great opening for Marvel to take advantage of in order to introduce Captain Universe, or even just the idea of them.
As fans saw during the Iron Man films, the Mandarin and the 10 rings have been a looming threat in the MCU for over a decade. It took 13 years for The Mandarin to show up and only now is he going to make his first appearance in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Using Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness to bring Captain Universe into the fold as an elusive concept, instead of a physical presence, would be a good way to build up to the dramatic reveal, or even prepare fans for an entire film centered around the Captain Universe origin story.
Other upcoming Marvel projects, such as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and Thor: Love and Thunder are going to take the multiverse to outer space in the upcoming Phase 4, moving the complicated Marvel Universe to a place that still contains uncharted territory. Now would be the perfect time to blend a new cosmic hero with the well-established fan favorites to create an epic storyline.
If the MCU doesn’t want to bring Captain Universe on board as a hero, there are plenty of other options to explore. In the past, Captain Universe has been known to switch alliances in order to protect themself from perceived threats, which means existing heroes could find themselves at odds with the cosmic being if they aren’t working towards the same agenda.
Captain Universe would make a great anti-hero, similar to Scarlet Witch in WandaVision, because they’re also capable of bending the realities of space and time. Additionally, it’s going to be hard for Marvel to top Thanos in terms of creating all-powerful villains because the Avengers films really took things to the next level. Coming up with a character stronger than Thanos the next time the MCU heroes gather together to save the world is essential for Marvel, so that fans don’t feel as if the franchise peaked when Thanos destroyed half the world.
Captain Universe is the entire galaxy personified and is arguably one of the only other Marvel characters capable of bringing heroes to their knees with nothing more than a snap of the fingers. Since a lot of Marvel’s Phase 4 is centered around the multiverse, or set in space, Captain Universe would be the perfect challenge for the heroes to tackle if Marvel introduced them as the next “big bad.”
It’s rare for superhero films to focus on someone who doesn’t maintain a single form throughout the entirety of their origin story. Obviously, some Marvel characters are a collection of multiple consciousnesses, like Venom and Eddie Brock, but each member of the duo will show themselves in their “true” form whenever the time is right. Venom has a very distinct appearance and so does Eddie Brock, but Captain Universe doesn’t have a “true” form because they’re less of a human and more of an energy field capable of latching on to whichever host it deems acceptable.
In a way, Captain Universe is similar to a symbiote, since they take possession of human bodies and come from outer space, but Captain Universe is far more evolved than any of the intergalactic creatures the MCU has introduced so far. Finding a way to give something non-human an entire film centered around their creation and their journey throughout the galaxy would be uncharted territory for Marvel to explore and would undoubtedly entice viewers with something they’ve never seen in the MCU before. Captain Universe has more storyline potential than any of the other heroes so far, and choosing to ignore their existence within the MCU would be a total waste.