The New 'Captain Marvel' Trailer Explains How The Marvel Cinematic Universe Really Began

Captain Marvel is not just exciting because it will introduce an iconic new superhero into the Marvel Cinematic Universe — fans are also pumped for the movie because it promises to show how the Avengers Initiative that forms the basis of the MCU was first put together. So far, the trailers for Captain Marvel have not really touched on this aspect of the movie, but a new Captain Marvel trailer explains how the Marvel Cinematic Universe began, and it also brings back a familiar face that fans have not seen in a long time.

Marvel unveiled a brand new Captain Marvel trailer during the College Football Playoff National Championship on Monday night, giving fans their third look at the upcoming superhero flick. While the first two trailers focused more specifically on Carol Danvers' (Brie Larson) foggy past and newfound abilities as the half-Kree warrior Captain Marvel, this new trailer gives us our best look yet at Carol's relationship with a young Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and the spark that may have led to the Avengers first assembling.

In the new trailer, we see Captain Marvel explain the threat that shapeshifting Skrulls pose to earth to Nick Fury, and he welcomes her into S.H.I.E.L.D. with her own branded hat. But the real jaw-dropping moment for all Marvel fans comes in the middle, when we finally see the return of Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg). Moviegoers saw Agent Coulson die in 2012's The Avengers, and although that death was later reversed and Coulson lived on in ABC's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. TV series, he has been totally absent from the MCU movies since then.

But since Captain Marvel is set in the '90s, fans will get to see a younger version of Coulson working alongside fellow S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Nick Fury in the new movie. He finally pops up in this new trailer to deliver one of the most eyebrow-raising lines from the new clip: "Do you think you could find others?," to which Fury responds, "She's just the beginning." This exchange is clearly meant to set up the Avengers Initiative, which saw Coulson and Fury teaming up to bring Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, the Hulk, Black Widow, and Hawkeye together in 2012's The Avengers, forming the basis for what is now the super-expansive Marvel Cinematic Universe. Check out the new trailer for yourself below:

The other standout part of this newly released trailer is a closer look at Jude Law's character, whose identity is still kind of a mystery to us. The trailer shows Law's character training Carol Danvers after she begins gaining her powers, and it is clear that he is a very tough mentor to her. For a while, fan were pretty sure that Law would be playing Mar-Vell in Captain Marvel, a Kree hero who trained Captain Marvel, but Marvel has refused to confirm his character's name. This has led some fans to speculate that Law may actually be a surprising other character from the comics, with the villainous Yon-Rogg being a popular guess. Unfortunately, the new trailer does not fully clear up Jude Law's role, so we will have to keep waiting.

Captain Marvel flies into theaters on March 8.