The Marvels Trailer Reveals Secret X-Men Crossover

Is the Marvel Cinematic Universe evolving? Marvel Studios released a new The Marvels trailer during Monday Night Football on ABC, and it teased a potential cameo from an unexpected Marvel superhero — emphasis on the "X." 30 years after the events of Captain Marvel, the sequel unites the unlikely trio of Carol Danvers (Brie Larson), Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris), and Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) against the Accuser Dar-Benn (Zawe Ashton), a Kree revolutionary determined to destabilize the universe by triggering a dimension-destroying Incursion. "She tore a hole in space," S.A.B.E.R. astronaut Monica says in the trailer, warning that "there's a different reality bleeding into ours." 

As the Reed Richards (John Krasinski) of Earth-838 explained in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, "An Incursion occurs when the boundary between two universes erodes and they collide — destroying one or both entirely." With Dar-Benn on the warpath against "annihilator" Captain Marvel, it seems that the Kree's crusade will break that boundary, causing a multiversal crossover with another universe. 

"They're here," Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) says ominously in the trailer as Dar-Benn — wielding a mystical bangle capable of drawing energy from the Noor Dimension — appears to cause a rift in the fabric of reality. Then, a shadowy figure appears in a portal, and the trailer ends with Monica meeting someone who fans suspect might be Binary. (In the original Marvel comics, the star-faring Carol Danvers became a being of cosmic energy and took the name Binary in Uncanny X-Men #164.)

Could "they" be the X-Men? The finale of the Disney+ series Ms. Marvel ended with the reveal that Kamala Khan has a mutation in her genes, with notes from the '90s X-Men: The Animated Series theme suggesting that Kamala is a mutant. Closer examination of The Marvels trailer reveals what appears to be a familiar "X" logo on a monitor and a glimpse of this mysterious costume-clad superhero seen wearing a white outfit and cape.

While the suit certainly resembles comic book Binary's white-hot look — as Binary, Carol Danvers essentially evolved into a living star with the power to generate heat, light, and radiation across the spectrum — the mystery woman is wearing an outfit not unlike one worn by Ororo Munroe, the weather-wielding mutant goddess known as Storm, in Warren Ellis' run on Astonishing X-Men. (It just so happens that Storm, below, appeared in a similarly-cut white costume in "eXogenetic," a story arc that took place in space and involved S.W.O.R.D.)

It also happens that director Nia DaCosta recently referenced Storm when commenting on rumors of an X-Men connection in The Marvels, and a previous teaser signaled that there is a potential link to the X-Verse by conspicuously lingering on the "X" when telling fans to be there for "what comes next." This could mean that the reality bleeding into the MCU is the Fox X-Men movies' X-Verse, which will crossover with Earth-616 when it brings Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) and Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) into the Marvel Cinematic Universe in next year's multiversal sequel Deadpool 3.

The Marvels opens only in theaters Nov. 10.