The Marvels have landed.
The first teaser for the newest MCU adventure, which brings together Carol Danvers, Monica
Rambeau, and Kamala Khan, is packed with treats for fans with keen eyes.
The internet at large's fascination with cat videos is proof that a cute feline is often
a welcome addition to anything.
Make the cat an eldritch tentacle abomination, and suddenly, one has the fearsome creature
known as a Flerken.
Though these beings appear to be simple house cats, Flerkens are actually incredibly intelligent
and contain pocket dimensions that allow them to hide their deadly tentacles.
"The cat?"
"This isn't what you're afraid of, is it?"
"That's not a cat."
The species was originally introduced to the MCU in "Captain Marvel" by way of Goose, whom
nobody initially realizes is an alien.
But it soon becomes apparent how dangerous these creatures are.
In the teaser trailer for "The Marvels," Kamala is quickly introduced to Goose's true nature,
much to her horror.
For fans of "Captain Marvel," it's great to see Goose back in action, but it also appears
that there might be an entire litter of Flerken kittens running about, which is an adorable
yet terrifying prospect for any foe.
It will be fascinating how these deceptive and cunning creatures fit into the movie's
greater plot.
From Mar-Vell's laboratory to the Kyln, the MCU's characters love to visit space-based
facilities whenever the opportunity presents itself.
And with "The Marvels" set to explore the cosmos, the franchise is adding a space station
to the mix.
The opening moments of the "Marvels" teaser trailer take place on the SABER Space Station,
which looks a whole lot like the comics headquarters of SWORD, the Sentient World Observation and
Response Department, SHIELD's space-based counterpart.
In the MCU, Monica Rambeau's mother, Maria, founded SWORD, and Monica served as a SWORD
agent in "WandaVision."
The MCU acronym is slightly different from the comics, with the "W" standing for "Weapon."
With the Skrulls set to play a major role in the future of the MCU, it's entirely possible
that the SABER Space Station will be used to explore their corner of the galaxy.
For now, the station's purpose is unknown, although Kamala does wonder…
"Is this an Avengers test?"
Although one might assume that "The Marvels" will showcase three different variations of
the same powers, each character has a unique set of skills that are born from their specific origins.
Carol gains hers from exposure to an experimental energy source, Kamala gets hers from a bangle
in combination with her alien heritage, and Monica's powers come from repeated forays
across Wanda Maximoff's energy barrier around Westview in "WandaVision."
Kamala can create hard light constructs and Carol can harness a powerful galactic power source.
Monica, meanwhile, explains that she can manipulate light energy, which allows her to project
energy blasts as well as become intangible.
Considering her comic book counterpart, who is sometimes called Photon, is able to control
energy on the entire electromagnetic spectrum, Monica stands to develop even more powers
over the course of "The Marvels."
Either way, she's sure to be a powerful hero.
Making use of alien technology is a recurring trend for SHIELD.
From the very first "Avengers" movie, it becomes apparent that Earth is hopelessly outgunned
and outmatched on an intergalactic scale.
So Nick Fury has no qualms with scavenging weapons research from HYDRA or experimenting
on the Tesseract to develop a powerful new energy source that would better defend Earth
from alien invasions and interdimensional warlords.
At the beginning of the teaser trailer for "The Marvels," Monica reports on her proximity
to the perimeter of a Jump Point, which shows that Earth is experimenting with jump technology.
This type of technology is featured predominantly in the "Guardians of the Galaxy" franchise,
and it is the means by which space-faring beings travel quickly across the universe.
Although the Jump Point shown in the teaser trailer doesn't seem to be nearly as refined
or advanced as the Universal Neural Teleportation Network depicted in "Guardians," its mere
appearance implies that Earth is quickly catching up to the rest of the universe.
Considering the sheer number of aliens who have interacted with Earth over the past decade
or so, it makes perfect sense as to why SHIELD and Fury would want to learn as much as they
can as quickly as they can.
Whether or not Earth develops this technology independent of outside influence is anybody's
guess, but it is reassuring that humanity is rapidly advancing.
2023 is looking to be a big year for Nick Fury.
The superspy and former Director of SHIELD seems to be getting cozy up in space, but
his eye patch may signal when "The Marvels" takes place in the MCU timeline.
In late March 2023, Vanity Fair dropped a piece on "Secret Invasion" in which Jackson
said his character sheds the iconic eye patch in the Disney+ series as part of his character
development, making it seem like the accessory will become a relic of the past.
However, in "The Marvels" teaser trailer, Fury is still wearing his eye patch, meaning
that the sequel almost certainly takes place before the events of "Secret Invasion" in
the MCU timeline.
Marvel Studios' most recent release, "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania," is the latest
event in the MCU timeline, with "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" before it and "Thor: Love
and Thunder" in the timeline before that.
Presumably, "The Marvels" will take Ant-Man's place as the most recent MCU entry, though
it does also seem to take place at least partially immediately after the "Ms. Marvel" Disney+ series.
It seems like Marvel planned for "The Marvels" to come out before "Secret Invasion," or at
least at roughly the same time.
But that's not the case.
"Secret Invasion" debuts June 21, while "Marvels" is slated for November 10, after being pushed
back from a July release.
That said, neither story is likely to suffer because of the shakeup in the release schedule.
But it will be interesting to see a grizzled Nick Fury taking on the Skrulls before teaming
up with the light-hearted Kamala Khan in "The Marvels."
That's assuming Nick Fury in the trailer actually is the real Nick Fury, and not a Skrull, like
in "Spider-Man: Far From Home."
When it comes to Fury, all bets are off.
One of the mechanisms that brings the heroes together in "The Marvels" is a mysterious
process that causes Ms. Marvel, Monica, and Captain Marvel to switch places whenever one
of them powers up.
At one point, Monica explains that their powers are somehow intrinsically connected.
"OK, so, our powers are entangled."
This place-swapping team-up was teased long ago at the very end of the "Ms. Marvel" Disney+
series, which features an incredibly confused Carol Danvers manifesting in the Khan household,
being launched into Kamala's closet and finding herself surrounded by Captain Marvel merchandise.
Now, it's clear that the scene also appears in "The Marvels," and it's expanded upon in
the teaser trailer, as the experienced hero tries to take in the fact that she's gone
from battling alien forces to standing in a nerdy teenager's room.
Kamala Khan changed the game when she was first introduced to Marvel Comics in 2013.
She's the first Muslim superhero to ever headline her own comic book series, as well as the
first Muslim character to spearhead a live-action Marvel property.
She's been a fresh addition to the MCU, especially in regard to diversifying its roster of superheroes.
The Disney+ series "Ms. Marvel" received heaps of praise for these elements, and it seems
that "The Marvels" will continue to honor the character's cultural heritage.
The teaser trailer for the upcoming blockbuster includes some scenes in which Nick Fury and
Monica Rambeau visit Kamala's family and explain how their powers are entangled with those
of their daughter.
The footage makes it clear that the Khan family will play a key part in the movie, suggesting
that the franchise will continue to illustrate the importance of her cultural background
and how it influences her as a superhero as she matures.
When news broke of Zawe Ashton joining "The Marvels," Marvel Studios shrouded her role
in their typical secrecy, only revealing that she's playing the movie's villain.
A press release from Marvel accompanying the teaser trailer confirmed that her character
is an all-but-unknown one from the comics: a gender-swapped version of the Kree General
Dar-Benn.
In the teaser trailer, we see her surrounded by an army of Kree soldiers, carrying a staff
oddly reminiscent of Ronan the Accuser's weapon in "Guardians of the Galaxy" — more on that
in a bit! — and with a female Accuser trailing her.
If Dar-Benn's name doesn't immediately ring a bell, that's to be expected, as the general
is a relatively obscure character from Marvel Comics.
There's not much to know about Dar-Benn other than he's a general who became an emperor
for the Kree Empire.
The villain seems like the perfect sort of obscure character for the studio to bring
into the MCU, since there's lots of room for reimagining Dar-Benn to suit the needs of
the story.
Speaking of characters carrying interesting staffs, the teaser trailer for "The Marvels"
shows Carol Danvers getting a weapon of her own, when we see our titular superhero group
facing off against an antagonist who appears to be Zawe Ashton's Dar-Benn.
Captain Marvel, Spectrum, and Ms. Marvel all sport brand-new costumes, but we can't help
but notice that Carol's holding a staff behind her back.
Pair that with the shot of her swinging at the villain with a hammer-like staff a few
seconds later, and it all but confirms Captain Marvel will wield a weapon in the movie's
climactic fight.
This weapon looks a lot like a Kree Cosmi-Rod, the weapon of choice for the Accusers.
MCU fans saw Ronan wield one in "Guardians of the Galaxy," and the trailer also shows
Ashton's villain carrying her own Cosmi-Rod, if it isn't the same one.
While Captain Marvel is generally known more for energy blasts than melee attacks, we can't
wait to see what one of the MCU's strongest heroes is capable of with such a powerful
weapon in hand.