Captain Marvel’s Kelly Thompson Talks Star Surprises, Carol’s Return to Earth, Spider-Woman, and More!

It hasn’t been the easiest go of it for Carol Danvers in the pages of Captain Marvel, and as we’ve seen in recent teases it doesn’t appear to be getting any easier of our favorite hero with a looming turn coming in the next few months. Not only that but now there’s another hero named Star who seems to be capitalizing on Carol’s sudden enemy no. 1 status. Throw in the current erratic status of her powers and it would seem Carol is facing some big-time odds, but that’s also where Carol tends to shine. ComicBook.com had the chance to speak to Captain Marvel writer Kelly Thompson all about her new adventure as well as what is to come, starting with why it was time for the character to make her return to Earth.

“I have loved seeing Carol’s adventures in space,” Thompson said. “She’s a cosmic character and a pilot to boot so she absolutely belongs in the stars, but I did feel she had been away for too long, and I felt there were things about her being away from Earth, from the people she’s protecting, that was sometimes making her feel less relatable and sometimes harder to connect to.”

Cap recently got a sweet new Home Base under her childhood home in Maine, and while she won’t have a tone of time to relax there, it will be something that is sticking around.

“Well, The Last Avenger arc is not going to leave Carol a moment’s rest let alone time to retire to her base…but generally yes, we’ve set up this badass base for her under her childhood home in Maine and we really want to establish it as her “home base” that she returns to going forward,” Thompson said. “I love to see things like secret bases and rogues galleries being established and developed for characters, as I feel like it really helps to anchor them.”

It doesn’t hurt that the book has been stellar on the visual front, and it’s all thanks to an ace art team.

“Carmen Carnero and colorist Tamra Bonvillain have been absolutely killing it on our book,” Thompson said. “And we have editors Sarah Brunstad and Wil Moss to thank for putting the team together. It’s been an absolute dream. You chase that kind of creative team all the time – everyone loving what they’re doing and really committed to doing their best work. It’s been amazing.”

One of the biggest new additions to the book is Star, a mysterious hero that seems to be doing what Captain Marvel use to do for the city, and seems to be sort of taking Carol’s place. As you might imagine that isn’t sitting so well with Carol, and in the latest issue we now know at least one reason why. Thompson isn’t revealing too much about Star, but guarantees that there are more surprises to come.

“There’s not much I can say here because there are still some significant surprises coming on the Star front,” Thompson said. “But I can say that even when you think you know everything about Star – there’s more to come. She’s a character that has really captured people’s imagination…and that’s exciting but it’s also a thing where it’s easy to feel worried it’s not going to live up to expectations…so I’m really happy that we’ve got a final surprise in store for readers.”

Star might be making Carol regret her choice to come back to Earth for a while, but there are plenty of other reasons for Carol to see the choice as worth it. That’s mostly come in the form of her friends like Spider-Man, Echo, Hazmat, She-Hulk, and more. They’ve all played a big part in the book, but there is one other character she originally wanted to include in that mix.

“Yeah, that was a big part of bringing Carol back to earth, reconnecting her with old friends and teammates and really delving into and developing those relationships both old and new,” Thompson said. “I had really wanted to use Monica Rambeau in my first arc, and throughout the series really, but it just didn’t work out. And I’d love to keep using Echo, a terrific underused character. Hopefully, there will be some more of both of them in the future. Jessica and Carol are magic together, they have a really natural rapport and lots of history, and their sense of humors meld together beautifully.”

You knew I couldn’t go a whole interview without asking about Spider-Woman, specifically if Thompson would like to take on the character in a solo series at some point and what her idea for that series would be.

“Of course. I love Jessica Drew, she’s a terrific character,” Thompson said. “I’m not sure what the premise would be…I love doing detective stories but that has been sort of beautifully done already, so I’d have to think about it!”

Carol hasn’t just reunited with friends since returning, but also with James Rhodes, Carol’s on and off again love interest. Thompson loves these two together, but it’s specifically for the way they still treat each other as individuals.

“Carol and Rhodey are a really natural fit to me. They have great chemistry and some common interests that surprisingly few other super heroes share and would understand – including their military background. They’re both really good at being supportive of the other, without ever getting in each other’s way with what they need to do in their respective lives/careers. There’s a lot of trust there and they’re very good at NOT being co-dependent, and I love that.

You can check out Thompson’s new issue of Captain Marvel this week when Captain Marvel #10 hits comic stores on Wednesday. Let us know what you love most about the series in the comments and feel free to hit me up on Twitter @MattAguilarCB for all things Captain Marvel!