*Some Carol-Monica-related spoilers.*
Looking at another duo within the main Marvels trio. The Carol-Monica relationship is very different from Kamala-Carol, for all kinds of reasons. Carol and Monica’s history begins long before this film, and Monica doesn’t have the same hero worship of Carol that Kamala does. Not to mention, their dynamic in The Marvels is, by necessity, inextricably different than their dynamic in Captain Marvel.
Carol and Monica’s relationship goes back to before the events of Captain Marvel. Carol and Monica’s mom Maria are best friends (or possibly a couple?), two skilled pilots who are used to having their skills questioned by the men around them. Regardless of the exact nature of their relationship, they’re family, and that includes Monica, who Carol affectionately calls “Lt. Trouble.”
When Monica is five, Carol goes on the fateful test flight that results in her disappearance. Maria and Monica can’t begin to imagine that Carol is no longer on Earth, that she’s acquired colossal superhuman abilities and had most of her memories stolen. It’s not until six years later that Carol finds her way back, somewhat by accident. She struggles to put together the pieces of what happened to her and who she used to be. Monica is eager to help her remember, showing Carol old photos and keepsakes. She’s thrilled, not just to have her “Aunt Carol” back in her life, but to have her return as a superhero. At this point, 11-year-old Monica definitely does have a bit of hero worship going on, but whereas Kamala later approaches their relationship as an elated fangirl, Monica’s idolization is mixed with the genuine relationship she and Carol have had since she was little.
At the end of Captain Marvel, Carol needs to leave Earth again, on a mission to stop the Supreme Intelligence. She promises Monica she’ll be back soon, leaving her jacket with Monica for safekeeping. …And then, more than 20 years go by.
When we next see Monica as an adult, she’s barely post-Blip, having just come back into existence since the events of Endgame. She’s a badass but compassionate S.W.O.R.D. agent trying to get her life back on track, even as she reels from the recent discovery that, while she was Snapped, Maria lost her long battle with cancer. She’s wrestling with her grief and fighting to carve out a place for herself in the world she’s been Blipped back into, and there’s a palpable sense of her moving forward on her own. She no longer expects Carol to ever come back, and even if she did return, Monica wouldn’t really want to see her.
Which of course leads into The Marvels. When a cosmic accident causes their powers, along with Kamala’s, to become entangled, Monica and Carol are forced to work together. This is complicated on both sides. Carol, who still hasn’t been able to regain all her memories, is happy to see Monica again, but also wistful that Monica has grown up without her and guilty at having been away so long. She’s been carrying a secret shame that she’s been trying to make right, and she hadn’t wanted to come back until she was able to fix her mistake.
So it hurts Carol to realize Monica wants nothing to do with her, but Monica’s hurting too. She’s angry that Carol didn’t keep the promise she made when Monica was a kid, and her feelings are also tied up in her own grief over having been Snapped when Maria died. She feels like Carol abandoned them and isn’t prepared to just pick up where they left off.
This makes for a compelling, emotional dynamic between them, and that’s before you factor in the additional wrinkle that Carol’s powers slow down her aging—it’s been over 20 years and Monica is all grown up, but Carol still looks the same. Both characters are fairly good at compartmentalizing, so they’re able to put aside their differences for the sake of the mission, but that doesn’t erase what either of them are dealing with. Carol tries to respect Monica’s feelings and not push too hard, while Monica struggles with feeling so vulnerable at a time when she just wants to focus on the task at hand.
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