‘Tis the season to be jolly. Or, if you’re Captain Marvel, to punch an old woman in the face who may or may not be an evil shapeshifting alien.
This new TV spot – seen above – shows us that instantly meme-worthy punch, together with a couple of scenes that I don’t think we’ve seen in the two preceding trailers. Perhaps the most interesting thing of note to seasoned Marvel fans is a great panoramic shot of what I’m assuming is the Kree homeworld of Hala. In the comics, this was destroyed in the Kree/Shi’ar war, but it seems to be intact in the MCU, which could point to its days being numbered in the upcoming film.
Other than that, there’s a neat montage of Brie Larson growing up, with the climactic reveal of her at the height of her powers as Captain Marvel (which appears to be accompanied by her going full Super Saiyan), some very brief peeks at interstellar warfare and a few glimpses of a car chase featuring the digitally rejuvenated Nick Fury. Also new are a few more shots from an action scene on top of a train (presumably the very same train Carol decks the old lady on).
Admittedly, it’s getting a little bit cliche for superheroes to do battle in, on top of and around trains (just off the top of my head you’ve got Spider-Man 2, Batman Begins, Black Panther, Captain America: The First Avenger and The Wolverine), but hey, it’s an exciting enough backdrop.
While Captain Marvel is going to have to be something seriously special to avoid getting the Bronze medal in the 2019 Marvel Studios competition, it’s probably the film that’s going to best point the way to the future of the MCU. After all, Avengers: Endgame will be wrapping up plotlines that’ve been developing ever since we first saw the Tesseract and with the Sony/Marvel Studios deal expiring with Spider-Man: Far From Home, there’s a chance we might not see Peter Parker in the MCU for a while.
With rumors suggesting that the arrival of Galactus will be the next big thing for this cinematic universe (what with Marvel Studios soon to own the Fantastic Four rights), fleshing out what’s going on in the cosmic corners of the MCU will be very important to making that long-running plot work, so expect every little detail in Captain Marvel to be scrutinized carefully.