Search results
With Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Kathryn Hahn, Teyonah Parris. Blends the style of classic sitcoms with the MCU, in which Wanda Maximoff and Vision - two super-powered beings living their ideal suburban lives - begin to suspect that everything is not as it seems.
- (354K)
- 2021-01-15
- Action, Comedy, Drama
- 350
Nov 12, 2023 · ‘The Marvels’ Star Teyonah Parris Cried When She Learned She Was an MCU Superhero. “I get to be a part of the imagery I wanted to see more of as a young girl,” says Parris, who first appeared as...
- 2 min
- Brian Hiatt
- Explaining the comic origins of the superhero who made her adult debut on Disney+.
- Monica Rambeau: The All-Terrific Captain Marvel
- WandaVision Cast and Characters
- Photon, Pulsar, and More: Monica Rambeau’s Many Superhero Names
- Who is Geraldine in WandaVision?
By Kelly Knox
Updated: Mar 5, 2021 10:59 pm
Posted: Jan 22, 2021 11:01 pm
With WandaVision on Disney+ now streaming, the Elizabeth Olsen/Paul Bettany series about, of course, Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch and Vision, is raising a lot of questions among fans. And one of the biggest is regarding who exactly Geraldine is, the character played by Teyonah Parris.
So let's catch up on the history of Geraldine, who according to Marvel Studios is actually known as Monica Rambeau. We've seen her before in the MCU, specifically in the Captain Marvel movie where she was still a little girl.
If you don’t know Monica Rambeau and some of the many names she’s had over the years—including Captain Marvel!—let us shine some light on this hero.
Monica got her start in the Marvel universe in 1982’s The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #16. Created by Roger Stern and John Romita Jr., she made her debut as the “all-new, all-different, all-terrific Captain Marvel” when she and Peter Parker crossed paths in their plain clothes. Literally, she walked past him, and his Spider-Sense went off to tell him that she was someone extraordinary. Worried that she might draw unwanted attention in a bad neighborhood, Peter changed into his costume to keep an eye on her. He quickly discovered that she can take care of herself.
Caught by surprise, Monica blasted Spider-Man thinking he was another hoodlum; she hadn’t yet learned to fully control her powers. She was the new Captain Marvel, an unorthodox lieutenant in the New Orleans Police Department before she was granted staggering powers as the result of being blasted by extra-dimensional energy. Turned into pure electromagnetic energy herself, Monica can fly, travel close to the speed of light, convert her body into energy, and fire photon blasts.
By the time of the Infinity storyline in 2013, Monica had taken yet another superhero name, Spectrum. She joined the Mighty Avengers alongside Luke Cage, Power Man, White Tiger, and the Superior Spider-Man to stop Proxima Midnight from destroying New York City. Later, Monica took her place in the Ultimates lineup with Carol Danvers—Captain Marvel—b...
Monica was dubbed Captain Marvel after her first somewhat accidental outing as a superhero. In command of a small boat before donning her costume for the first time, a witness overheard Monica called “Captain” by her companion. When the police arrived, the witness could only say, “Capitan est maravilla!” Captain Marvel was born. There was no hero bearing the name at the time as Mar-Vell, the original Captain Marvel, had succumbed to cancer, so the name stuck.
After some time passed, the son of Mar-Vell, named Genis-Vell, met Monica and offered to let her keep the title after his initial misgivings. She declined, saying she had picked a new name to “stop living in other people’s shadows.” She chose Photon. (In the film version of Captain Marvel, Photon is Maria Rambeau’s call sign, a nice nod to the comics.)
Genis-Vell later decided he wanted the name Photon when his body was transformed into photonic energy after being grievously injured. “I can’t be my father--I have to be something different,” he told Monica as they brainstormed superhero names over drinks. She finally settled on Pulsar, saying simply, “I like that one.”
After a while, Monica just went by, well, Monica. This is likely the name most people think of when they think of the character, for clarity’s sake. But once again, Monica changed her superhero name to Spectrum after taking the lead on the team known as the Mighty Avengers. She was most recently part of this year’s “No Road Home” storyline with her fellow Avengers, still bearing the name Spectrum, so that might be the one that finally sticks.
2019’s Captain Marvel movie introduces us to a young Monica, daughter of Maria and friend of Carol, who’s a lieutenant herself—Lieutenant Trouble, that is. (Carol’s nickname for her is another perfect tongue-in-cheek homage to the original character.) The 11-year-old (played by Akira Akbaris) is instrumental in choosing Carol’s costume as Captain Marvel. Years will pass before we will see her again as an adult, this time in WandaVision, and perhaps that series will see her gain powers and become a superhero like in the comics. She could even take her mother’s callsign, Photon, for her superhero name.
For now, however, it seems as though Geraldine/Monica is an agent working for SWORD, which makes sense since Nick Fury now runs that secret organization, and a younger Fury was palling around with Monica's mom and Captain Marvel back when Monica was a kid.
It does seem that Monica is infiltrating the false reality that Wanda is living in, and probably has created, in WandaVision. Somehow she takes the name Geraldine along the way, and it's not clear whether or not she's fully aware of her true identity while she is in that sitcom-like world (called Westview). But when she starts to realize something is wrong and questions Wanda about Wanda's dead brother Pietro, who was killed by Ultron in the MCU's "real world," Wanda expels Monica from Westview.
In the comics, Monica’s origin story is tied to the nefarious Roxxon Corporation in New Orleans—which viewers of Marvel’s Cloak and Dagger are very familiar with. If she is a superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, will her powers be tied to Roxxon? Or directly to Wanda Maximoff herself due to the events of WandaVision? It’s almost impossible to predict what kind of role Monica Rambeau will ultimately take in the MCU. No matter what it is, we can’t wait to see her light up the screen.
Jan. 22, 2021: This story has been updated with the latest information on WandaVision.
Kelly Knox is a freelance writer who also contributes to StarWars.com, Marvel.com, Nerdist, and more. Follow her on Twitter at @kelly_knox to talk Star Wars, Dungeons & Dragons, comics, and more.
- Kelly Knox
People also ask
Who is Teyonah Parris?
Is 'WandaVision' on Disney+?
When does 'WandaVision' start streaming?
Is Teyonah Parris ready to play Monica Rambeau?
Oct 11, 2021 · Teyonah Parris made her Marvel Cinematic Universe debut as Monica Rambeau, Maria Rambeau's daughter, in Marvel Studios' first original series, WandaVision, all episodes now streaming on Disney+.
- Christine Dinh
Jan 22, 2021 · Jan 22, 2021 8:00am PT. ‘WandaVision’ Star Teyonah Parris on Embodying Marvel Superhero Monica Rambeau. By Angelique Jackson. Suzanne Tenner / Courtesy of Marvel Studios. SPOILER ALERT: Do not...
- Angelique Jackson
Overview. Marvel Studios' captivating new series "WandaVision," which premieres in early 2021 on Disney+. Starring Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany, "WandaVision" marks the first series from Marvel Studios streaming exclusively on Disney+.
Jun 22, 2021 · Jun 22, 2021 2:37pm PT. Teyonah Parris Talks ‘WandaVision’ and Exploring Monica Rambeau in ‘The Marvels’. By Clayton Davis. Courtesy of Disney+. Teyonah Parris dreamed of being in the Marvel...
