The long-awaited sequel to Captain Marvel arrives in November 2023, and the first teaser trailer is here.
After one of the most polarizing billion-dollar movies of all time, Brie Larson is back as Carol Danvers and she is joined by Teyonah Parris‘s Monica Rambeau, Iman Vellani‘s Kamala Khan, and new director Nia DeCosta making her MCU debut.
The Marvels will follow all three heroes as they are put in a situation that finds them teleporting into each other’s place when they use their powers. Here are all of the interesting Easter eggs and nods to the Marvel Universe one may have missed.
Studios Marvel
In classic Marvel Studios fashion, their studio logo receives a new variant that hints at the plot device of the movie. “Studios Marvel” is presented in the classic Marvel Studios colorway before switching back to “Marvel Studios” with the galactic effect seen throughout the trailer.
The long and short of it is that Captain Marvel, Ms. Marvel, and Monica Rambeau (Photon) have their powers somehow entangled in such a way that causes them to physically teleport and switch places with each other.
S.A.B.E.R. Space Station
The trailer opens with a look at a floating space station just outside the Earth’s atmosphere. This is labeled the SABER Space Station. This is a new creation for the Marvel Cinematic Universe and seems to be the replacement for SWORD which was introduced in WandaVision. It is unclear what exactly leads to the fall of SWORD other than the heel-turn of SWORD Director Tyler Hayward.
Monica Rambeau & Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation
Monica is seen on an expedition mission outside the SABER Space Station as she approaches the launch point perimeter. She reaches ahead toward the cosmic boundary and this seems to initiate the first cosmic swap between her and Kamala Khan.
This is a parallel to Monica’s first contact with Westview in WandaVision as she approached a similar cosmic boundary. The boundary outside Westview was later revealed in that series to be Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation, which is leftover from The Big Bang.
This is assumed to be the reason Monica gained her powers in WandaVision and could be the key that unlocks this movie’s body-swapping plot device.
Nick Fury in the MCU
A quick glance shows Nick Fury’s office on the SABER Space Station and some fun Marvel Cinematic Universe mementos can be seen on his desk.
First is the pager given to him by Carol Danvers in Captain Marvel and then used when The Blip happens in the Avengers: Infinity War post-credit scene. This was later how Carol was able to find the Avengers in Avengers: Endgame.
Along with the pager is what seems to be a human eye in a glass case. All the money in the world says that this is somehow related to Nick Fury’s eye injury sustained in Captain Marvel that lead to his iconic eye patch throughout his 15-year MCU career.
Iman Vellani… MCU Superfan!
When Nick Fury and Monica Rambeau visit Kamala Khan’s home, they sit with her and her family assumingly to explain what is going on. Kamala is holding a SHIELD-esque tablet with her’s superhero file on it.
The image used in this file will be familiar to fans because, when Iman Vellani was cast as Ms. Marvel, she was a virtually unknown actor with very limited professional images available. That forced almost every entertainment news outlet that covered the Ms. Marvel casting (which was everyone) to use the only headshot available of the young actress.
That image was also used by Nick Fury and his team.
The Return of the Accuser
The main villain of The Marvels was revealed to be Zawe Ashton’s Dar-Benn who is a Kree General. Dar-Benn looks to have taken the place of Lee Pace’s Ronin as The Accuser of the Kree radical army. She is seen wielding a hammer staff similar in design to the one used by Ronin all the way back in 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1, which was the introduction of the Kree in the MCU.
Ronin was also a part of the group of antagonists in Captain Marvel and promised to come back for “the weapon”, talking about Carol Danvers.
Dar-Benn can also be seen later in the trailer fighting all three of The Marvels. In this fight, she uses a bangle bracelet similar to the one used by Kamala Khan in Ms. Marvel. The Ms. Marvel post-credit scene hinted at the bangle being a factor in the cosmic body swap between her and Carol Danvers.
The Bangle is also what unlocks the mutant ability within Kamala Khan.
Carol the Accuser
In that seemingly climactic battle, Captain Marvel is seen holding what looks to be the Kree Hammer previously held by Dar-Benn. This could simply be a case of getting one up on the antagonist.
It could also be a nod that the constant switching between Carol, Monica, and Kamala affecting Carol’s powers to a point where she needs to rely more on her strength than her cosmic energy.
Herd of Flerkin
The biggest news coming out of The Marvels teaser trailer is the return of everyone’s favorite feline alien Goose! Just when fans thought they could not love their Skrull-intimidating, tentacle-using, cool cat more, it looks like he is bringing reinforcements.
A heard of Flerkin (cats) can be seen in the trailer possibly hinting at Goose having a bunch of friends or…. babies!
Guardians Hex Jumps
The Universal Neural Teleportation Network or “Jump Points” have been a factor of MCU-Cosmic since 2014. This technique of teleporting/checkpoint space travel was introduced in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1 and has been seen in a wide variety of cosmic MCU projects since.
This shot is a subtle nod to the Guardians in their ships, the classic Endgame line of “raise your hand if you have never been to space,” and just a great moment showing Kamala the universe outside your world.
Nine Inch Nails
The relationship between Carol Danvers and Monica Rambeau is one of the biggest existing plot points heading into The Marvels. Monica seemed to have a ton of tension toward Carol in WandaVision and their eventual reunion is one of the key moments of this trailer.
Later in the trailer, as The Marvels travel into space, Monica can be seen wearing the same Nine Inch Nails t-shirt that Carol wears in Captain Marvel. This of course is a nod to the 90s music that highlighted the relationship between Carol and Monica’s mom Maria Rambeau.
The Marvels
The Marvels hits theaters on November 10. Fans are excited to see not one, not two, but three fan-favorite heroes on the big screen together, two of which are making their MCU big screen debut. The plot device of the cosmic body swapping is refreshing and exciting and will surely drive much of the marketing moving forward.
The cosmic corner of the MCU is expanding in 2023 with Guardians Vol. 3 in May and this Captain Marvel sequel building on the furthest reaches of the universe.
