Ever since Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury revealed himself to Tony Stark at the end of the first Iron Man, the post-credit, and later, the mid-credit sequences, have become an expected treat for fans wanting just a little bit more out of their Marvel movies. To say that the latest release, the universe-spanning Avengers: Infinity War, follows this trend isn’t a huge spoiler, we hope. Problem is, these teases and easter eggs occasionally become a bit hard to understand, unless you either keep up with Marvel news or got beaten up a lot as a kid for reading too many comics. Did you really know who Thanos was at the end of the first Avengers? It’s perfectly okay if you didn’t, and we’re happy to use our hard-earned knowledge to enlighten and entertain in this capacity.
So, in case you didn’t realize it, this article contains MASSIVE SPOILERS for Avengers: Infinity War, so if you haven’t seen it yet, please turn around. And if you haven’t and you’re seeking out this information in order to ruin the experience for others, just remember what Uncle Ben told Peter Parker right before he got murdered by a thief who looks a whole hell of a lot like Bizarro World Robert De Niro: “With great power comes great responsibility.” And, if you don’t abide by that creed, Thanos will fuck you up. We’ll resume this discussion after a panel from our favorite comic featuring the Mad Titan:
Alright, if you’re still here, let’s get down to business.
As you know, there isn’t a mid-credits sequence in Infinity War, probably because Uber-Producer Kevin Feige and directors the Russo Brothers would like you to linger upon the fact that THANOS JUST KILLED HALF OF THE UNIVERSE BY SNAPPING HIS FINGERS. Excuse us for the all-caps, we’re still just a bit stunned. There’s no crazy CGI credits, either: Just white text on a black background, accompanied by a somber piano music. So, stay and sit in stunned silence if you really want to, but we bet after two hours and 30 minutes of hot superhero-on-superhero action you’ll probably have to take a leak.
Anyways, after the credits are over and you’ve supposedly emptied your bladder, we’re transported to the middle of what we think is Washington D.C., where Nick Fury (in his first film appearance since the last Avengers movie, Age of Ultron) and his right-hand woman Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) are driving towards something while keeping abreast of the situation in Wakanda. Suddenly, a car swerves out of control and causes Fury and Hill to crash their vehicle. Hill goes to check on the driver, and she discovers that the car is, in fact, empty. The two are briefly stunned for a second, before a Helicopter starts to spiral out of control and crashes into a building behind Fury. Hill then begins to turn into ash — a victim of Thanos’ meddling with the cosmos — and Fury flees between disintegrating civilians and he talks of a “code red.” He pulls out a small device and activates it, right as he himself begins to disappear.
That device falls to the ground, and on closer inspection, we realize that it’s a pager modified with some sort of alien tech. As it dials, a familiar logo takes over the pager’s screen, and nerds everywhere lose their shit. Why? Well, it belongs to this badass lady:
That’s Carol Danvers or, as she’s known in the comics, Captain Marvel, an Air Force colonel (yes, she outranks Captain America) who inherited incredible powers from an encounter with an alien artifact made by the Kree, whom you’d know best as the race that Guardians villain Ronan the Accuser belongs to. For many years, she played second banana (at least in reputation) to the original Mar-Vell, who was a Kree warrior of note and a beloved hero in his own right until his in-canon death. She remained as “Ms. Marvel” for years, before a company-wide push, headed up by the writer Kelly Sue DeConnick brought her to the forefront of the company, where she quickly became a fan favorite in her own right. Her devotees, and they are legion, call themselves the Carol Corps, and they’ll be pumped to see even the slightest hint of her in an MCU film.
If you know a little bit about the studio’s upcoming schedule, you probably know that her movie, directed by Half Nelson directors Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden, is currently filming and is slated for release on March 8, 2019. Oscar winner and Vanyaland fave Brie Larson was cast as Danvers a few years back, and some images have leaked out from the set that show her in a garb somewhat similar to the one she wears in the comics, albeit with a different color scheme. We have a theory about this as well — that she’s wearing the typical battle armor of a Kree warrior which she’ll ultimately make her own by altering the colors — but you just want to see the pictures, so here you go:
Captain Marvel en costume !@LLDNofficiel pic.twitter.com/RcuGwDGpO6
— Max (@V727Mr) January 25, 2018
It sounds like it’s going to be one crazy plot, given that it’s a ’90s-set origin story that will cover the fucking Kree-Skrull War, and perhaps explain why she’s been missing from Earth of all of this time. Jude Law will play Mar-Vell, Jackson will return to play Fury again (which is presumably why he calls on her with some ’90s tech at the end of Infinity War), and Ben Mendelsohn will play an as-of-yet unspecified villain. To say that we’re excited for this one is an incredible understatement, and the wait is now just that more difficult for both Captain Marvel and the Infinity War sequel.
Thanoscopter image via Comic Book Resources. Captain Marvel image via Marvel Comics.