‘Captain Marvel’ Comic Writer Explains Major Themes of the Trailer

Marvel Studios has made a big first promotional splash for Captain Marvel, thanks to the release of the first trailer for Marvel Superheroine film. Well, as Marvel Cinematic Universe fans process what they saw in the Captain Marvel trailer, some of the top creators responsible for the character’s revival in 21st Century Marvel Comics are providing deeper insight into what we saw in the trailer in the trailer footage

Polygon spoke with Kelly Sue DeConnick, the writer behind the 2012 reboot of the Captain Marvel character, in the popular and defining Captain Marvel solo series. That run of the character reintroduced the Captain Marvel mythos with some timely modern feminist themes, which many fans have hoped to see injected into the film.

As you can see above, there’s a nice motif in the Captain Marvel trailer that sees Brie Larson’s Carol Danvers having to stand up from some kind of fall, a different points in her life (young girl, air force pilot, cosmic warrior…). That visual theme from directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck is in perfect sync with what Kelly Sue DeConnick describes as her view of Carol Danvers:

“Carol falls down all the time,” DeConnick says, “but she always gets back up — we say that about Captain America as well, but Captain America gets back up because it’s the right thing to do. Carol gets back up because ‘F*ck you.’”

“I think that quality in her attracts people who are the same; who are always kind of trying to get back up and do better, and who have something to prove.”

One big thing that has stood out to Marvel fans in the Captain Marvel marketing has been the tagline of “Higher. Further. Faster.” With so many fans asking what those three words mean in relation to Carol Danvers – DeConnick has a good explanation for that, too, as it was the motto for Carol in her 2012 comic series:

“She’s always try to outrace everything. ‘Higher, further, faster, more. It’s two things: It’s running from this pain and then also trying to prove to her now dead father that she was just as good as the boys. This is a wound that’s never going to heal; dad’s dead, you know? She’s never going to get that moment of satisfaction of ‘You’re right, kiddo. You’re amazing.’ And so there’s that thing that she is forever chasing.”

Indeed there are hints in the Captain Marvel trailer of Carol trying to please two potential father figures: Jude Law’s still unnamed Kree Commander, and Samuel L. Jackson’s ’90s-era Nick Fury. Fan theory points to Law being the father that potentially turns out to be abusive (i.e., a villain using Carol as a weapon of war), while Nick Fury becomes the mentor that inspires her to be her own woman and step ou ton her own. The connection between Carol and Fury has already been teased, in Avengers: Infinity War‘s post-credits scene reveal of Fury’s cosmic beeper to contact Carol.

Avengers: Infinity War is now available as a digital download and on Blu-ray and DVD. Ant-Man and the Wasp is now playing in theaters. Upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movies include Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019; Avengers 4 on May 3, 2019; Spider-Man: Far From Home on July 5th, 2019.