Maria Rambeau

“	You are Carol Danvers. You are the woman on that black box risking her life to do the right thing. My best friend, who supported me as a mother, and a pilot when no one else did. You’re smart, and funny, and a huge pain in the ass. And you are the most powerful person I know.	„
	~ Maria to Carol.

“	Call me 'young lady' again, I'm gonna put my foot in a place it's not supposed to be!"	„
	~ Maria to Talos.

Captain Maria Rambeau is a major character in the 2019 film, Captain Marvel, being the best friend of Captain Marvel and mother of Monica Rambeau. She is also a posthumous character in WandaVision. She became friends with Carol Danvers while becoming an officer in the United States Air Force, and later helps her fight the Kree and regain her memories. Maria later became the founder of S.W.O.R.D., and later witnessed her daughter be one of the many victims of Thanos' decimation. In 2020, she passed away from cancer, and her daughter Monica was resurrected by the Hulk in 2023.

She was portrayed by Lashana Lynch, who also played Norex when he impersonated her in the film.

Biography

Early Life

Maria Rambeau joined the United States Air Force, and became the best friend of fellow cadet, Carol Danvers. At an unknown time, Maria had a daughter named Monica, and made Carol her daughter's godmother. Carol became an important person for the Rambeau family, as she wasn't close to her family, and supported Maria when both were doubted to complete their training. The two eventually completed their training and became captains in the Air Force, and the two went to Pancho's Bar to celebrate.

Due to restrictions in the military at the time, Maria and Carol weren't allowed to fly in combat, but were offered to become test projects for Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S. under Doctor Wendy Lawson. Rambeau was given the callsign "Photon", and showed off her flying skills with Carol, thus gaining the respect of Dr. Lawson and other officers.

Maria would later learn the plane crash that presumably killed Carol and Dr. Lawson, leaving Rambeau devastated. After her service in the Air Force, Maria put her time on raising Monica on her own. Unbeknownst to Maria, Dr. Lawson was a alien from the race of Kree, and was assassinated by Starforce Commander Yon-Rogg, and Carol was taken by him due to getting the energy from the Tesseract.

Captain Marvel

Maria and Monica reunited with Carol when she returned to Earth, and greeted her and her new friend, S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Nick Fury. The two informed Maria of what happened and what Carol experienced for the last six years, and was able to make Maria believe that she got powers after heating a kettle with her hands.

The group were interrupted by Talos, who had tracked Carol and Fury, and Maria saw him impersonating her and being with Monica. After a tense moment, Talos convinced them he had not come to fight, and Maria sent Monica to play outside, and played the black box recording of Carl's plane crash. Carol recovered her memories, and felt lots and confused about her identity, but Maria comforted her. Carol decided to make things right with the Skrulls by helping them find Dr. Lawson's lab, and asked Maria to be her co-pilot.

The group arrived at the laboratory in a Quadjet where they found more Skrulls and the Tesseract, but they were ambushed and captured by Starforce. Carol managed to break out and set them free, and Maria stuck with Fury to get the Skrull refugees to Earth safely. Starforce member Minn-Erva followed them in a dropship, and Maria was forced into air combat over the Mojave Desert. Maria managed to outmaneuver Minn-Erva and shoot her dropship out of the sky, killing her. Yon-Rogg arrived to the battle and shot the Quadjet, but Carol intercepted him and later sent him back to the Kree, saving Maria and the others.

Afterward, Maria and the group celebrated their victory over the Kree, and had a dinner with the others. Carol decided she would help the Skrulls find a new home and fight off the Kree for their lies and actions, and said goodbye to Maria, Monica and Fury.

The Decimation

It's unknown if Maria was alive during the events of Avengers: Infinity War, or if she was victim of the decimation by the Mad Titan Thanos. If so, the decimation was undone by the Avengers in 2023, and Carol would become a member of the team to defeat Thanos and his army. It's later revealed that she was diagnosed with cancer before the events of the decimation, and witnessed Monica succumb to the blip from Thanos. Though Maria survived via remission, she eventually passed away from cancer in 2020, and Monica was later resurrected by Hulk in 2023.