“Captain Marvel”: Masters Of The Air’s Reference Explained (It’s Nothing To Do With Marvel Comics)

Masters of the Air episode 8 includes a reference to Captain Marvel, but the miniseries isn’t alluding to the Marvel Comics character. The 2024 Apple TV+ war drama, created by John Shiban and John Orloff and produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, centers around the actions of the 100th Bomb Group, a United States Air Force unit, in England during World War II. The nine-episode television event features an ensemble cast, with other characters more prominent than others. But the Captain Marvel name-drop occurs during a scene between Anthony Boyle’s Lt. Crosby and Nate Mann’s Major Rosenthal in episode 8.

Episode 8 of Masters of the Air chronicles Crosby’s planned bombing missions against Wehrmacht positions in France for Operation Overload (aka the Battle of Normandy). However, Crosby sleeps through the missions after working for three days straight, and he misses the 100th Bomb Group’s role in D-Day in Masters of the Air episode 8. When he wakes up, Rosenthal fills Crosby in on everything that happened, and during their talks, Rosenthal compares Crosby to Captain Marvel.

Masters Of The Air’s Captain Marvel Line Is About DC’s Character, Not Marvel’s

During Masters of the Air episode 8, Crosby looks like he isn’t listening to Rosenthal as he recounts everything he missed while he was asleep. So, Rosenthal comments, “Are my daring tales of heroism not daring enough for you, Captain Marvel?” Crosby reassures Rosenthal that he’s just in disbelief that he slept through D-Day. However, the focus is on the mention of Captain Marvel, which isn’t a reference to the superhero that Brie Larson brought to life in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but to one that Zachary Levi played in live-action movies.

Levi starred as Shazam/Billy Batson in the DC Extended Universe, but before the superhero went by the name Shazam, he was known as Captain Marvel. He made his debut in February 1940 in Fawsett Comics’ Whiz Comics #2, many years before DC bought the rights to the character. Captain Marvel was the most popular superhero in the 1940s during World War II, often outselling Superman, while Marvel’s Captain Marvel wasn’t created until the 1960s. Many started calling him Shazam in the 1970s after DC started to shift away from the Captain Marvel name to avoid confusion with the Marvel superhero.

Marvel’s Own Captain Marvel Still Fits Masters Of The Air’s Story

Even though Rosenthal is alluding to DC’s Captain Marvel in the Apple TV+ war drama limited series, a reference to Marvel’s Captain Marvel would still make sense. Of course, Carol Danvers does not exist in Master of the Air‘s timeline, but her history as a pilot in the United States Air Force in Marvel Comics is fitting with the show’s story, even if it is a little too much on the nose. Nevertheless, Masters of the Air episode 8 is talking about DC’s Captain Marvel, not the superhero that Brie Larson plays in the MCU.