Why Captain Marvel Is To Blame For A Big Problem In The 'X-Men' Movies
It's exceedingly easy to blame Captain Marvel for the woes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This is because the character has been the subject of a lot of hate. A lot of this hate has been driven by an obvious sexist narrative or a total disdain for the actor who portrays the all-powerful character, while others point out that the design of the character herself is somewhat lacking or that she's just flat-out a terrible person. While some of the latter may be true, there's also some more truth to be unveiled... and that's that Captain Marvel is responsible for a grave oversight in the X-Men movies.
There's no doubt that the X-Men movies have been plagued with all sorts of consistency and timeline issues that are in no way the fault of Carol Danvers. But the lack of the character Rogue almost certainly is in part. Yes, an X-Men fan favorite was barely present in the movies and some of the blame can be laid at the feet of Captain Marvel. Here's why...
Why Captain Marvel Is To Blame For Rogue's Absence
When Bryan Singer's X-Men movie first came out audiences were introduced to the world of Charles Xavier and Magneto through the eyes of Marie, AKA Rogue. For many comic book readers, Rogue was one of the most beloved characters of the franchise. In fact, she had much more to do in the comics than a lot of her X-Men colleagues, including Wolverine.
As discussed in Nerdstalgic's excellent video essay, up until the mid-1990s, comic book writer Chris Claremont featured Rogue in a number of the best stories. When he left the business, however, the new writers didn't really know what to do with her. But this didn't stop Bryan Singer from using her as the perspective character in 2000's X-Men. In almost every way, Rogue was integral to the plot of the movie. If you took her out of it, it simply wouldn't work. Yet, movie by movie, Rogue's presence in the franchise diminished substantially to the point where she was almost entirely cut out of the theatrical version of X-Men: Days Of Future Past. And when the director released his Rogue Cut, she barely had any lines or much more screentime. A character who was basically set up to be one of the most important was basically abandoned.
This was a massive disappointment to the fans who only really saw one of Rogue's signature powers throughout the series. In both the 1990's cartoon and in the comics, Rogue showed off a variety of incredible powers aside from her ability (and curse) to absorb the lifeforce (or powers) of anyone she touches. This includes the ability to fly, superhuman strength, speed, and insane durability... These are the powers Rogue got from Captain Marvel.
In the comics, Rogue protects her adoptive mother, Mystique, from an attack by Captain Marvel and ends up permanently absorbing some of her insane gifts in the process. These are the powers that essentially allowed her to become one of the most powerful and active members of the X-Men team. Had she been given these powers in the X-Men movies, there's no doubt that Anna Paquin's Rogue would have been featured more.
But Fox Studios didn't own the rights to Captain Marvel when the X-Men movies were being made. Therefore, there was just no way for Rogue to come across Captain Marvel and acquire her gifts. And thus, Rogue was ultimately curbed.
Who Else To Blame But Captain Marvel
While it's both accurate and fun to blame Captain Marvel for the sidelining of Rogue, the truth is that others are to blame. For one, the unwillingness of whoever owned the rights to Captain Marvel/Ms.Marvel/Carol Danvers to share them with Fox. There's no doubt that they would've taken advantage of this character leveling up Rogue's powers had they had access. After all, Rogue was not only beloved but played by one of the biggest actors of the time, Academy Award-winner Anna Paquin.
But Hugh Jackman is also to blame.
After the first X-Men was released, Hugh Jackman became a bonafide star. Everyone wanted him to be the main character of the X-Men movies despite Wolverine being far less present in the comics. Yet, he was the only character in the franchise to be given a spin-off movie. And he is essentially the other reason why the filmmakers had little interest in developing Rogue. As the X-Men movies grew their casts, the focus was put on Hugh Jackman's Wolverine and Anna Paquin's Rogue was the one who suffered the most.
Had Fox Studios, Bryan Singer, and his team had the opportunity to introduce Captain Marvel into that universe, chances are Rogue would have been the big action hero that the world now sees Wolverine as.
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