The long-awaited Captain Marvel trailer arrived this week, full of 1990s-era goodness. The MCU is playing catch up with this film after getting caught unprepared by the success of Wonder Woman last year. This is their first superhero movie to be helmed by a woman, debuting on March 8, 2019, International Woman's Day. It's the first new character they've introduced to the pantheon since Black Panther last February, and anticipation is high. These details in the Captain Marvel trailer promise the film will be the origin story newcomers need while helping fill in some of the histories of the Marvel-verse.
With Captain Marvel, the MCU is once again attempting something of a high-wire act. Without The X-Men, there is nothing in their arsenal which matches Wonder Woman as an icon. This makes next year's film an uphill climb to introduce a new character to the masses, who has to basically stand shoulder-to-shoulder with DC's Diana Prince from the word "go," and hopefully match her 2017 box office earnings while doing it.
But the Marvel Cinematic Universe has a track record of making new character introductions work. I mean, seriously, they made a talking raccoon and a monolexical tree work. Captain Marvel should be a breeze.
Let's check out some of the trailer details:
What most people who aren't familiar with Carol Danvers' origin story might be surprised to discover is the original Captain Marvel (styled Mar-Vell) was a man. He's actually a Kree, disguised as a human, and when Danvers falls for him, she accidentally winds up caught in an explosion later revealed to have given her powers.
Danvers powers are extraordinary. When the explosion happens, her DNA actually fuses with Captain Mar-Vell's, making her a hybrid of Human and Kree. Not only will her origin story be explored, but her "binary" powers will be used, which is what this picture above shows.
Captain Marvel has a really cool suit. It's not cool just because it's metal and green, or later, metal and red and blue. It's cool because she has this awesome punk rock helmet with an actual mohawk sticking out of it. In this underwater shot, the trailer reveals Marvel will, in fact, don the punk helmet.
This has been trumpeted prior to the trailer's arrival, but everyone who appears from S.H.I.E.L.D. in the new movie will be "digitally de-aged," since events are set 30 years ago in the mid-1990s. This includes Samuel L. Jackson, who sadly does not look like his iconic '90s character of Jules from Pulp Fiction. Coulson apparently sported a Matrix-inspired flat top hairdo. No sign of Maria Hill in the trailer, but I'm betting she wears scrunchies.
Of course, the big moment everyone is talking about is when Carol punches a little old lady in the mouth on a bus. The assumption is she's doing it not because she's terrible, but because the little old lady is actually a Skull in disguise. Danvers' ability to tell a Skrull from 10 paces is invaluable to S.H.I.E.L.D., who are probably trying to stop the invasion before it starts. For those wondering how Fury knows Danvers, this may be the answer.
