2023 has now come to a close, capping off a year of highs and lows across the world of pop culture. Marvel Studios' The Marvels, November's sequel to 2019's Captain Marvel, was thrown into that conversation in some surprising ways, after an underwhelming box office performance that even Disney quickly tried to distance itself from. While there was no shortage of negative discourse around The Marvels, there were some elements of the film that were worth celebrating — particularly, the way it meaningfully fleshed out Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) as a character.