“Control your impulses.”
So, Marvel likes to have us sit through the end credits of their movies to receive the cinematic crumbs that hint at the future direction of our Avengers heroes. These hints then encourage the Internet to smolder endlessly with speculation until the next film. Not a bad marketing device.
The crumb at the end of Infinity War has Nick Fury sending a signal with a clunky pager-like device as chaos from “the Snap” envelops New York City. Just in time, too... because, poof. Nick is gone. Maria Hill is already dust. But the Captain Marvel symbol glows on the device’s tiny screen, inviting our hero to be a key player in the follow-up movie. And so here we are, on the eve of Endgame, talking about Carol Danvers.
Since Captain Marvel is still in theaters as of this writing, we’ll avoid spoilers – mostly. At least, we won’t reveal any more than the trailers do. That will be easy, though, since we’re discussing Carol Danvers’s personality type. The film reveals much about her basic ways of thinking and acting long before many of the plot twists occur.
Personality Analysis
We believe that Captain Marvel has an Assertive Entertainer (ESFP-A) personality type. We often talk about Explorers as individuals who are so flexible that they “think on their feet” when finding solutions. They are people of action, and that can truly be said of Carol Danvers.
Extraverted
Danvers is an outgoing team player. Her interaction with the Kree team and flashbacks to desert bars and flyboy – that is, flygirl – camaraderie on Earth demonstrate her Extraverted personality from the beginning.
Throughout the film, we get only a gregarious vibe from her. While capable of working on her own when necessary – and it’s often necessary (see the Prospecting section below) – she appears to need people and to gather energy from them. When she can’t sleep, she finds her trainer for a workout session rather than hanging out alone.
Observant
Fury: Okay, your turn. Prove you’re not a Skrull [shape-shifter].
[Danvers destroys the bar’s jukebox with rays from her hands.]
Fury: And how is that supposed to prove to me you’re not a Skrull?
Danvers: That’s a photon blast.
Fury: And?
Danvers: A Skrull cannot do that.
While Carol Danvers struggles with identity issues, she doesn’t spend a lot of time navel-gazing over them. When Fury asks for proof that she’s not a shape-shifter in the dialogue above, she doesn’t come up with a wordy argument. She acts. “See. There. I did that,” could be the Observant personality type’s mantra.
While she may well have ideological underpinnings for what she does, she’s mostly about finding concrete solutions to concrete problems. Not only does she not present Fury with a conceptual argument, but she might actually need to work on her logic a little. This brings us to the next personality trait.
Feeling
Her Kree trainer and leader, Yon-Rogg, reinforces for us that this is the personality trait through which Danvers makes most of her decisions. He cajoles her throughout the film to rely less on her feelings. It’s a repeated theme.
She is reactive, not in the Turbulent sense (see the Assertive section below), but in the sense that she responds to situations according to what her feelings advise. These will fluctuate, as emotions do. Danvers is not unintelligent. She just prefers to lean on emotions as a filter to decide things – perhaps, at times, subordinating coldly rational decision-making to her gut instinct.
Prospecting
The Prospecting personality trait is the secret sauce that, when combined with the Observant trait, makes all Explorers what they are. Danvers improvises constantly. She is always looking for the advantage, thus showing her flexible Explorer nature. She frequently pushes beyond standards and conformity while looking for novel ways to respond to her unique life.
Assertive
While Danvers might be reactive, it can easily be argued that this isn’t because she’s insecure. She’s confident to the point of being headstrong. Link her Prospecting nonconformity with her Assertive confidence, and you have someone who makes her own way. As an Assertive Entertainer personality, she is unlikely to follow a path others make. She deals skillfully with gargantuan stressors and doesn’t second-guess herself or indulge in regret for long.
Conclusions
When typing fictional characters here at 16Personalities, the type we present is determined only by what we’ve seen of the character’s behavior and actions in the movies or books in which they appear. Ultimately, they are fictional and are used as a way to help others better understand aspects of personality type.
This personality typing is based on the character as portrayed in Marvel’s Captain Marvel movie released in 2019.
So, will Captain Marvel play a pivotal role in the defeat of Thanos? We shall see. But for the most part, if you want to accomplish something that’s challenging, you could do worse than a photon-blasting Entertainer who happens to fly.
What do you think about Captain Marvel’s personality type? Let us know in the comments below.
Further Reading
Captain America: The Defender (Avengers Personality Series)