Credit: Marvel StudiosIt’s not polite to ask someone’s age, but in the case of The Marvels’ (2023) Carol Danvers, AKA Captain Marvel, it’s almost impossible not to after Marvel Studios revealed the mind-boggling truth of how old the high-flying superhero really is.
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As Disney and Marvel prepare for the release of their next blockbuster, director Nia DaCosta’s The Marvels, it’s safe to say that audiences are going into it with little to no expectations.
If the MCU’s Phase Four was about trial and error, then so far, Phase Five is about figuring out what sticks. In an age of “superhero fatigue,” writers and actors strikes, overworked VFX artists, and overall lackluster Marvel Comics adaptations, it’s safe to say that the state of Hollywood is looking more grim than ever.
Following letdown after letdown, many are hoping that the Captain Marvel (2019) sequel will end the long string of disappointing MCU releases, including Taika Waititi’s Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) and Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man threequel, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023).
The movie sees Brie Larson reprising her role as the titular hero, and this time, she’ll be joined by some familiar faces. After her light-based powers become inexplicably mixed up with Ms. Marvel‘s Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) and WandaVision‘s Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris), the trio will have to get to the bottom of a strange conspiracy that traces back to the villainous Kree General, Dar-Benn (Zawe Ashton).
Check out the official trailer for Marvel Studios’ The Marvels below:
Based on what we know, it looks like The Marvels will be more of a lighthearted romp, doubling down on the MCU’s signature humor and space-traveling antics that made the franchise so popular in the first place. And if the movie’s premise wasn’t zany enough, wait until you hear this new piece of information regarding Carol Danvers’ real age — because it’s a little different than what you may have previously thought.
In an official X (formerly Twitter) post from the Marvel India account, a graphic revealed that Carol Danvers is actually over 60 years old in human years, despite appearing as someone in her late 20s or early 30s.
The post, which also featured Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes (AKA the Winter Solider) and Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers (AKA Captain America), among others, highlighted these heroes’ deceptively old ages, though Carol’s came as a big surprise for most.
Proof: “Age is just a number.”
Proof: "Age is just a number"💪🏻 pic.twitter.com/61huR7jwtF
— Marvel India (@Marvel_India) September 2, 2023
Of course, thanks to a mix of Super Soldier Serum and a 66-year long ice bath, we already know why Steve Rogers appears to be so young despite technically being old enough to receive social security benefits. Bucky, on the other hand, also received a dose of the serum, slowing his natural aging process.
A superhero’s true age is often brought up in conversations, with Chris Hemswoth’s Asgardian God of Thunder, Thor, and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’ (2021) Xu Wenwu being just two examples of 1000+ year old beings who look surprisingly good for their age.
So, why is Carol Danver’s age so shocking? Well, many fans believed since Larson was 28 years old when filming Captain Marvel that her character would be the same age in the year that the film took place: 1995. While we do know that Carol has Kree DNA after she received a blood transfusion from Yon-Rogg (Jude Law), her age was never explicitly confirmed in the MCU, leading many to assume that she was in her 20s.
If that was the case, it would mean that Carol was born sometime in 1967, which would make her anywhere from 58 to 60 years old around the time of The Marvels, which is set in 2025. However, other fans have made compelling arguments that state she was actually born in 1965, but that would still only put her age at around 58 years old.
Because of this, the confirmation that Carol is actually older than 60 is definitely a bit of a surprise. But considering her Kree DNA, there’s probably a good explanation as to why she still looks pretty much the same as she did in Captain Marvel.
Hopefully, we’ll get further clarification on Captain Marvel’s delayed aging and her secrets to keeping that youthful glow when The Marvels arrives in theaters this fall.
The Marvels premieres on November 10, 2023.
What do you think of Carol Danvers being listed as 60+ by Marvel? Are you excited for The Marvels? Let us know in the comments below.