Contrary to fan speculation, it turned out that Lashana Lynch is playing Air Force pilot Maria Rambeau in Captain Marvel, and not Monica Rambeau, who in the comic books was the second Captain Marvel, before assuming the identity of Photon. However, the younger Rambeau is still very much a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Highlighting Lynch's role as Carol Danvers' close friend, Entertainment Weekly reports that Maria is a single mother to a daughter, named Monica, "a name that should set off alarm bells for comic fans."

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In the Marvel comics, Monica Rambeau is police lieutenant with the ability to transform herself into any form of energy, Monica took on the Captain Marvel shortly after the death of the original, Mar-Vell, and was a mainstay of the Avengers for much of the 1980s, and served as leader for a time. Monica later adopted the identity of Photon, referenced in Captain Marvel as Maria's Air Force call sign, Pulsar and Spectrum.

Directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck from a script they wrote with Liz Flahive, Carly Mensch, Meg LeFauve, Nicole Perlman and Geneva Robertson-Dworet, Captain Marvel stars Brie Larson as Carol Danvers, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Jude Law as Mar-Vell, Clark Gregg as Phil Coulson, Lee Pace as Ronan the Accuser, Djimon Hounsou as Korath the Pursuer, Gemma Chan as Minn-Erva, Ben Mendelsohn as Talos and Lashana Lynch as Maria Rambeau. The film arrives March 8, 2019.