Why 'Captain Marvel's Starforce Team May Have Big MCU Significance

The first look at Brie Larson's Captain Marvel costume has dropped - along with a featured article that reveals new details about the film. In something of a twist on fan expectations, Captain Marvel will bypass the usual origin story structure, and instead begin with Larson's Carol Danvers full powered, living off-world and fighting alongside an elite Kree military team called Starforce, which is led by Jude Law's character, Mar-Vell.

A lot of Marvel Cinematic Universe fans will read that and come away with the immediate question: what is Starforce? EW has revealed a first look at the team in Captain Marvel, read below for the full breakdown of Starforce's history in Marvel Comics, and its potential significance in the MCU!

Debuting in 1992, Starforce was actually considered a villain team - a collection of elite Kree warriors brought together by the Supreme Intelligence. The original team has two very distinct members that are especially relevant to the Captain Marvel movie: Ronan the Accuser and Korath the Pursuer. As you can see in the photo above, the MCU versions of Ronan and Korath played by Guardians of the Galaxy stars Lee Pace and Djimon Hounsou will indeed be part of Starforce in Captain Marvel, fighting alongside Larson's Carol Danvers, years before they splinter off into their own religious extremist sect of the Kree Empire.

Also mentioned in the photo caption is that Crazy Rich Asians star Gemma Chan is playing the MCU version of Doctor Minerva, a high-operation Kree warrior and geneticist. Other figures from the MCU Starforce have yet to be named - but one key character maybe the man in the back with the long hair and beard (actor Robert Kazinski), who looks like an adaptation of Ultimus, the last of Kree/Eternal hybrids.

As for Jude Law: it's been expected that he will play classic Marvel character Mar-Vell, the original Captain Marvel, but there's also another possible scenario. Starforce was led by elite Kree warrior Captain Atlas, who could either be who Law's MCU character is based on - if not a composite of Mar-Vell and Atlas.

Starforce is described as "SEAL Team 6 in Space," but what's most interesting is that in the comics, the team is looked as being villains. Carol Danvers' presence on the team initially makes MCU Starforce seem like a band of heroes, but there are already hints that part of the movie's storyline could be Carol realizing that her team, and her role in the universe, isn't as heroic as she initially imagines. The film could indeed frame the Kree/Skrull war as a conflict that has corrupted both sides, which would be powerful rumination on the nature of war.

What do you think of the MCU Starforce? Let us know in the comments!

Avengers: Infinity War is now available as a digital download and on Blu-ray and DVD. Ant-Man and the Wasp is now playing in theaters. Upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movies include Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019; Avengers 4 on May 3, 2019; Spider-Man: Far From Home on July 5th, 2019. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3has been delayed indefinitely.