Captain Marvel: 20 Easter Eggs And References Explained

9. Will Monica Become Photon?

Captain Marvel Monica Rambeau
Marvel Studios

In a slight departure from the comics, Carol is actually best friends with Maria Rambeau. Monica (Maria's daughter in the film) goes on to become the hero known as Spectrum, an equally cosmic character who, like Carol, has used various superhero titles over the years as well.

Monica is portrayed by Akira Akbar in the film, while her mother is played by Lashana Lynch. She admires Carol quite a lot, and just before she departs for space she expresses her own desire to fly just like her. Fury then says she'd have to get "glowy" just like Danvers, and though this could all just be a knowing wink towards what happened in the comics, it seems as though Marvel are setting up Monica to become a hero in the future - her mother's callsign is even Photon, which was one of the many monikers Monica used as a superhero.

Spectrum Monica Rambeau
Marvel Comics

Think about it, Monica is only young in 1995, and by the time Endgame comes around, she'll be an adult. Two decades will have passed, and with Marvel evidently preparing to introduce a new generation of Avengers, it may only be a matter of time until Monica takes to the skies like Auntie Carol.

Also, in a reference to comic book character Katherine Renner, Carol refers to Monica as Liuetenant Trouble.

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WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.