Questions ‘The Marvels’ Trailer Left Us With

The trailer for the sequel to 2019’s Captain Marvel, ‘The Marvels’ was just released. This time, it will feature not only Brie Larson’s Carol Danvers, but also Iman Vellani as Ms. Marvel, and Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau. I don’t know about you but superhero movies will never get old. Marvel fatigue? No. Keep it coming!

As for what we know about the film outside the trailer, according to its official synopsis from Marvel Studios: “Carol Danvers AKA Captain Marvel has reclaimed her identity from the tyrannical Kree and taken revenge on the Supreme Intelligence. But unintended consequences see Carol shouldering the burden of a destabilized universe. When her duties send her to an anomalous wormhole linked to a Kree revolutionary, her powers become entangled with that of Jersey City super-fan Kamala Khan, aka Ms. Marvel, and Carol’s estranged niece, now S.A.B.E.R. astronaut Captain Monica Rambeau.”

The film will be picking right up from three separate moments thus far in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU): Monica Rambeau who was invited by an allied Skrull to assist Nick Fury in space at the end of Wandavision, Kamala Khan who mysteriously swapped places with Carol during the Ms. Marvel post-credits scene, and Danvers’ exploits in space following the end of Captain Marvel (2019)—we finally get to see what she has been up to all these years. And it looks like the Kree threat is all but over with the Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) villain Ronan the Accuser succeeded by the dangerous Dar-Benn—and if you didn’t notice, she not only has Ronan’s hammer, but an identical bangle like Kamala’s.

If you haven’t seen it, be sure to check out the trailer for ‘The Marvels’.

And as it often goes with trailers, these leave us with more questions than answers. Here are some that it left us with.

What is up with Captain Marvel? Why do some prominent figures in the MCU seem to dislike her?

During one scene in Wandavision, when Monica, Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings), and Jimmy Woo (Randall Park) were talking about Wanda Maximoff and how she came close to defeating Thanos all on her own, Woo adds that Captain Marvel also managed to achieve a similar feat. Although brief, we see a reaction from Rambeau who immediately changes the topic of the conversation. 

This was a surprise given that she was quite fond of her “aunt” Carol during the events of Captain Marvel. But perhaps such animosity can be attributed to Danvers’ absence from Earth. Since the events of her origin film, which occurred in 1995, she had been missing in action for pretty much every major event to happen in the MCU, barring Endgame. Whether it be preventing the snap during Infinity War, or simply being there with her mother Maria, Danvers’ was simply not there for them. How will this history between them affect their teaming up? How will they address it?

And before I forget, even during Spider-Man: Far From Home, when Peter Parker refers to Captain Marvel as another hero Nick Fury could have tapped for assistance instead of him, Fury, reacted, saying “Don’t invoke her name!”. Of course, it has since been revealed that it was the Skrull Talos who was acting as the once S.H.I.E.L.D. director, but it leads me to wonder what may have happened between the two to elicit such a reaction.

What were Monica Rambeau and Nick Fury doing in space? What is the purpose of S.A.B.E.R.?

In the trailer, Rambeau communicates to Fury that she was “entering the jump point perimeter”. This refers to the jump points used in the Guardians of the Galaxy film series to quickly traverse space; but what were they even doing there? And why? More so, we also get a brief glimpse of the interior of the S.A.B.E.R. Space Station. Fury had been off-world for quite some time now and we haven’t really gotten an explanation as to why. Hopefully, the upcoming film sheds some light on his purpose there.

What is the importance of Kamala’s bangle?

Aside from learning about its cosmic heritage, there is much to learn about Kamala Khan’s bangle that the Ms. Marvel show has yet to touch upon. As we’re set to encounter its missing pair, equipped by the villain Dar-Benn, maybe we’ll learn more about the mysterious artifact. Why is it causing teleportation between our three heroes when its powers are used? And why is it specifically targeting both Danvers and Rambeau in the first place? Moreover, does it have any connection with Shang-Chi’s Ten Rings, or even Kang the Conqueror, whose technology and machinery it shares an uncanny resemblance with?

How does ‘The Marvels’ figure into the bigger picture of the MCU?

There it is. The selling point of the MCU: a sprawling universe with each prior film connecting to the next; an interconnected web filled with easter eggs and references to tease every die-hard Marvel fan. How will ‘The Marvels’ play into the MCU’s upcoming bigger ensemble projects such as Secret Wars and Kang Dynasty? Will the disruptions in space by Kamala’s bangles incite a larger tragedy the same way the death of He Who Remains in Loki, or the tampering with Doctor Strange’s spell in Spider-Man: No Way Home did? Moreover, how will the events of the soon-to-be-released Secret Invasion affect Nick Fury’s involvement in the film?

There is much to find out but only time will tell.

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The film is directed by Nia DaCosta and also features Samuel L. Jackson, Zawe Ashton, and Park Seo-joon alongside our trio of heroes.

‘The Marvels’ is set to hit theaters on November 10, 2023.

Images courtesy of Marvel Entertainment