Why Jessica Drew Needs to Be in the Captain Marvel Movie

For those who don't know, Jessica Drew (aka Spider-Woman) is Carol Danvers' best friend and fellow Avenger from the comics. We haven't gotten official news on whether she'll be in the Captain Marvel movie, but I'm considering her a safe bet for inclusion. Just in case, though, here's a list of reasons she absolutely needs to be in the movie.

All good superheroes need a sidekick. Tony Stark has Rhodey, Steve Rogers has Bucky, Carol Danvers has Jess. The sidekick is a classic movie staple, and no good superhero movie would be complete without one. As Carol's BFF for many years now, Jess is the perfect choice for the role. A single movie probably wouldn't have time for two separate, in-depth origin stories, so I propose that Jessica already have her powers at the beginning of the movie. She can be a former Hydra test subject who's just trying to live a quiet life until Carol gets into a superpowered fight. Carol doesn't even have to know Jess' tragic backstory until they get into a fight and she starts shooting venom blasts.

Bechdel test. This movie is female-written and directed, so I'm not too worried about this. However, a woman in the number two billing would go a long way towards making this movie as female-centric as possible.

Tatiana Maslany needs to become a superhero. Tat is the perfect choice for a lot of roles, but many fans will be disappointed if she doesn't get the chance to play a superhero.

I ship it. Carol certainly doesn't need a love interest, but all the Marvel superheroes so far have had one. She's been connected with Rhodey at various points in the comics. However, Don Cheadle is more than 20 years older than Brie Larson, so that'd be a bit weird. It'd be far easier to to upgrade Jess from best friend to girlfriend. Plus, the MCU is sorely lacking on LGBT+ rep.

The MCU is drowning in testosterone. Of the current movie line-up, we have a total of eight-ish superheroines, at least 15 superheroes, and two heroes of insufficiently-addressed gender identity. I'm not sure how much one character helps, but it's a start on a long list of characters they could be using.

No, she's not a Spider-Man knock-off. Jessica is a completely separate character, with different powers and origins, from Peter Parker.

It'd be an interesting follow-up to the Hydra arc. The movie would show Jess about three years after Talbot's forces killed off the rest of Hydra. After being raised from birth as a Nazi before defecting, she'd be an example of one of Hydra's failures. She'd still be coping with all the ways they ruined her life and Carol could help her deal with that.

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