Captain Marvel released its best teaser/trailer yet during the Super Bowl. I wish we could go back in time and have this be the first teaser, and then build up from there because this is a great tone to strike for Carol Danvers. It’s exhilarating and cool and fun, everything she is at her best in the comics (do not mention Civil War II, that sh-t never happened). Did you see the part where she punches the jet? Cool! (If she doesn’t punch a planet at some point in the next couple months, I will be low key disappointed.) And strutting to her jet with Maria Rambeau, Top Gun style, and saying, “Higher, further, faster baby”? The best! Writer Kelly Sue DeConnick reinvented Carol Danvers with a comic book run titled “Higher, Further, Faster, More”. I love that they have worked that into the movie, making it not just an Easter egg but an integral part of the tone of the character and the movie. This and the first trailer give the best impression of Carol Danvers.
I have caught some “why so serious?” comments about Carol in this new teaser, particularly the bit where she’s in her Air Force uniform at some kind of ceremony. “Why isn’t she smiling?” men shriek, unnerved by a woman who does not court their approval. Well, let’s do some historical math. Captain Marvel is set in the 1990s. Carol Danvers begins as an Air Force pilot, a real job held by real people. Women in the Air Force weren’t allowed to fly fighter jets until 1993 (though there were female aviators before that). We see Carol flying a fighter jet, along with Maria Rambeau (mother of Monica, a future superhero). Work that out, and Carol must be among the first class of female pilots in the Air Force approved for fighter training. That’s a momentous thing. And there was a real “keep your head down” attitude among the first wave of women to break barriers in military aviation. So Brie Larson’s presentation in that scene is in keeping with the attitude of the time. In short: Shove it with your “why isn’t she smiling?” bullsh-t. Just let us enjoy Captain Marvel in peace.
