Did 'Captain Marvel' Just Introduce a Major Black Female Superhero? All About Monica Rambeau

[This story contains spoilers for Captain Marvel.]

Brie Larson’s Carol Danvers isn’t the only character to make a strong impression in Captain Marvel.

For fans of the Marvel comics, the introduction of a young Monica Rambeau hints at bigger things to come for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

In the film, Monica is played This Is Us actress Akira Akbar. Rambeau is depicted as the rambunctious 11-year-old daughter of Danvers’ best friend, Air Force pilot Maria.

While Larson is the first actress to play Captain Marvel on the big screen, Rambeau was the first female superhero to take the name after the comic’s male Mar-Vell. (For Captain Marvel, the studio gender-swapped the role at the last minute to cast Annette Bening, as Entertainment Weekly reported.)

For a time in the comics, Rambeau also served as the leader of the Avengers as Captain Marvel. She later ceded the title and took on the superhero name Photon and remains one of the industry’s most prominent black superheroes.

Reps for Disney and Marvel Studios did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Fans of the film showed their support at seeing Rambeau introduced onscreen — with the hope that her character could take on a bigger role in future films.

“Monica Rambeau and all of her code names getting ready for the next phase of the MCU,” one fan tweeted.

Another wrote, “Is anyone hoping that little Monica Rambeau is all grown up and busts into Avengers headquarters to show up the Science Bros? Because I’m hoping that. #CaptainMarvel.”

“Marvel please give us a monica rambeau movie,” a different fan tweeted.

In an interview with The Wrap, Marvel Studio President Kevin Feige said the future of the studio’s superhero films includes a “more diverse” group of people onscreen and behind the scenes.

“It’s all about going forward,” he said. “People also ask sometimes about Black Panther. So the notion of representation on screen, in front of and behind the camera, somebody asked me once, ‘So is Black Panther a one-off?’ I said no, it’s not a one-off. This is the future.”

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He added, “This is the way the world is, and the way, certainly, our studio’s going to be run going forward, because it brings about better stories. The more diverse the group of people making the movie is, the better the stories.”

Captain Marvel is the first female-led superhero film released by Marvel and earned $455 million at the world box office in its opening weekend.

The movie gives the studio its second-best opening for an origin story, with only last year’s Black Panther raking in more at $202 million.