The most powerful scene in Captain Marvel isn’t one in which the titular superhero blasts something with her hands.

It’s a much smaller scene, about two-thirds of the way into the film, after Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) and Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson, having a whole lot of fun) find their way to the home of the Rambeaus. Carol, who has no memory of her life on Earth, is drawn to this house and the women who live there, not knowing that Maria Rambeau (Lashana Lynch) and her daughter Monica (Akira Akbar), were her best friends and surrogate family.

The powerful moment comes when Maria reminds Carol who she really is. Not an alien warrior hero or ruthless killer, but Carol, best friend and aunty. “You are my best friend, who supported me as a mother and a pilot when nobody else did,” Maria tells her. “You are smart, funny and a pain in the ass. You are the most powerful person I know, even before you had glowing fists. Do you hear me?”

Emotionally charged and forceful, Maria’s words rouse Carol from her anger and help her to understand her power. But it was a scene that Lynch was certain would end up on the cutting room floor. A conversation imbued with soft power and the strength of female friendship? How could that possibly make it into a Marvel superhero movie?

The real superpower in Captain Marvel is female friendship