Major Avengers: Infinity War spoilers below, of course.
Things look pretty rough for the titular do-gooders at the conclusion of Avengers: Infinity War. Malthusian super-baddie Thanos succeeds in assembling the cosmic MacGuffin known as the Infinity Gauntlet. He uses it to wipe out 50 percent of all life in the universe (or at least sentient life; we don’t find out what happened to the amoeba equivalents of the Guardians of the Galaxy). Suddenly, many of our most beloved Marvel personages evaporate into ashen dust while the survivors look on in horror. After the credits roll, we see a little scenelet in which spymaster Nick Fury and his aide-de-camp, Maria Hill, both succumb to the mystic decay. But right before he disappears like so much dust released from a Hoover bag, Fury sends out a distress signal on a beeper. In the film’s final image, the beeper’s screen shows that the signal was sent to …
… well, it doesn’t actually say. The device just shows a little visual pattern of blue, red, yellow, and a little starburst. Unless you’ve received a certain number of Marvel merit badges, that pattern will mean nothing to you and you’ll be baffled as to why people in the theater are shouting. So, for those not in the know: That was a representation of the logo for none other than Captain Marvel! For comparison, see below for a gander at what her costume looks like:
What, you’re still lost? Fair enough — we haven’t actually met CapMarv on the big screen yet. Her debut will come in next March’s appropriately titled Captain Marvel, where she’ll be played by Brie Larson. The short version: She’s an Air Force pilot named Carol Danvers who, after some sci-fi mishegoss binds her DNA with that of an alien, gains various powers, including flight and superhuman strength. Her solo flick is set during the 1990s, well before Tony Stark’s 2008 self-outing as Iron Man, which raises the questions of where she’s been and why no one seems to have heard of her. We can’t answer those questions just yet! But it would appear that Fury has some kind of direct line to her in case of a grave emergency. Expect Captain Marvel to be the setup and Untitled Fourth Avengers Movie — out in almost exactly a year — to be the superpowered punch line. Help us, dear Carol!