The first trailer for Captain Marvel has finally been released. The next Marvel movie isn't due out until March 2018, but Marvel Studios has held back with their marketing, presumably allowing audiences time to digest the cliffhanger ending of Avengers: Infinity WarCaptain Marvel will take a step back from the overarching narrative of Thanos's genocidal act; the film is set in the '90s, and will see the young Nick Fury encounter aliens for the first time.

But the marketing push for Captain Marvel finally began a fortnight ago, with EW publishing a series of exclusives that gave viewers their first taste of the MCU's most powerful hero to date. Marvel's usual approach is to follow that kind of exclusive up with a trailer, so anticipation has been building ever since.

Related: What's The Captain Marvel Trailer Music?

The Captain Marvel trailer was finally been released on Good Morning America, and it's blown the lid on a lot of major plot details. It finally shows us Brie Larson's Carol Danvers in action, teaming her up with lower-level S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Nick Fury and the young Phil Coulson, and reveals that the Skrulls aren't the only villains. Here are the main takeaways from the first trailer.

33. Captain Marvel Falls To Earth

Captain Marvel crashing pod

The Captain Marvel trailer opens with an explosion in space, and Carol Danvers comes crashing down to Earth, her spaceship destroyed. In that opening shot, you can see she's in some sort of escape pod, which breaks apart as she enters the atmosphere. It's unclear in the trailer whether this is an accident or not, but as we'll see there's certainly not a simple explanation for why Captain Marvel has come home.

32. Blockbuster Video Reveals The Year

Blockbuster in Captain Marvel

Marvel has always stressed that this film is set in the '90s, but this long, lingering clip showing a Blockbuster Video store is our first solid hint as to precisely when Captain Marvel takes place. The first of these stores opened in 1985, and by 1987 a new Blockbuster Video was opening every 24 hours. Peak Blockbuster was the early '90s, but by 1993 profits were beginning to suffer due to changes in the industry; Blockbuster simply couldn't compete with video on demand and cable television. The company was renamed Blockbuster Entertainment in 1996, and the stores were rebranded that year. It looks as though Captain Marvel is set before that rebrand.

Read More: Captain Marvel Trailer Clues Reveal WHEN The Movie Is Set

31. Carol Danvers is a Renegade Soldier

Brie Larson as Captain Marvel green suit

That's followed up by a voice-over from Samuel L. Jackson, in which he declares war to be a universal language. "I know a renegade soldier when I see one," he observes. "Never occurred to me that one might come from above." It's a key line of dialogue, in that it suggests Carol is in conflict with both the Skrulls and the Kree Starforce. She's gone renegade, her exploration of America awakening something buried deep within her mind.

Marvel has always been open about the fact that Captain Marvel is inspired by the Kree-Skrull War. Written by Roy Thomas, that was one of the most popular Avengers stories of the '70s. Crucially, this arc didn't present either of the two alien races as heroes. As Roy Thomas observed in an afterward for the omnibus edition, the Kree and the Skrulls were portrayed as two "rapacious, galaxy-spanning races" who were locked in war. "Their conflict would be threatening to spill over onto the Earth," he added, "turning our planet into the cosmic equivalent of some Pacific island during World War II." It looks as though Captain Marvel is indeed being true to the Kree-Skrull War of the comics, with Carol going renegade and working with S.H.I.E.L.D. on Earth.

30. Carol Danvers and S.H.I.E.L.D.

Brie Larson as Carol Danvers in hat in Captain Marvel

EW had previously released a photo showing Carol Danvers in civilian clothes, complete with a S.H.I.E.L.D. hat. One scene in the trailer elaborates on that, showing Carol walking through what appears to be a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility of some kind. It's suggested Fury's bringing her there.

The thumbprint-scanner looks to be a biometric system, a sly piece of evidence that even in the early-1990s, S.H.I.E.L.D. was definitely ahead of their time.

29. Experimenting Upon a Skrull

It looks like something serious is going down in the S.H.I.E.L.D. base: the next shot shows an autopsy on one of the shape-shifting Skrulls. This likely comes after the organization's first run-in with one of the aliens, teased throughout the trailers, with them trying to figure out just what they're up again. This could potentially be a P.E.G.A.S.U.S. installation, a joint venture between S.H.I.E.L.D. and NASA that IMDb casting details suggest will play a part in the film.

There's a lot more to this shot than at first seems, however. Present is Ben Mendelsohn, who plays Skrull leader Talos, in his human form; he's infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. as Fury's boss. Fury also has an ice pack over his eye. While that may appear to be linked to his iconic eye-patch, this is actually misdirection: EW photos showed Jackson with stitches over his left eye.

Page 2: Captain Marvel's First Act & The Kree Homeworld

28. First Contact With The Skrulls Or Kree

A quick shot shows some sort of human aircraft is flying up through the atmosphere, headed straight towards this cloaked alien spaceship. The design is reminiscent of that of the Bus, a plane flown by Coulson in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 1. Appropriately enough, Coulson said that the Bus was a type of S.H.I.E.L.D. aircraft that was used a lot back in the '90s.

As for what it's heading towards, it could be a Kree or Skrull craft, although the former is more likely given we later see Ronan surveying the planet from a similar vantage point.

27. A Car Chase Turned Subway Fight

Brie Larson as Captain Marvel train closeup

The Captain Marvel trailer wastes no time getting into the action, with a car chase and fight atop a metro train. It would appear that this happens early on, based on her Kree costume, the connection to her arriving confused in a metro station, and Nick Fury even throwing in a reference to a "big car chase". It's definitely going to be a good early show of Carol's powers, with her sending off blasts of energy at an unseen foe.

26. Fury Meets Carol Danvers

Samuel L Jackson and Brie Larson in Captain Marvel

The relationship between the young Nick Fury and Captain Marvel is clearly at the center of this story. Fury is a relatively junior S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, a "desk jockey" who's never imagined he'd come face-to-face with what he initially believes to be an alien powerhouse. The Captain Marvel trailer shows Fury working with the police, pulling up at an airport where Carol has presumably caused something of a scene. We then jump ahead to another scene, with Nick asking Carol if she's "from around here." Carol's response is that she's not entirely sure; she keeps getting flashes of memories that suggest she may well come from Earth after all.

Related: Captain Marvel Theory: How Nick Fury Loses His Eye

It's interesting that Fury was on the verge of quitting S.H.I.E.L.D. when he encountered Captain Marvel. That suggests this really is an origin story for Fury; his encounter with Carol Danvers gives Fury the motivation to become one of Earth's greatest protectors.

25. Carol Danvers Suffers From Amnesia

Lee Pace as Ronan the Accuser in Captain Marvel

It seems the film will open with Captain Marvel believing she's a Kree soldier; when she arrives on Earth, she'll discover that her memories have been altered. The film will chart Carol's attempt to recover her past, and to learn just how she truly became a cosmic warrior in the Kree Starforce. There are a number of flashbacks, running all the way from Carol's childhood to her time as a pilot.

There's a strong comic book precedent for this arc. Captain Marvel is heavily influenced by Kelly Sue DeConnick's popular run, which began in 2012. One arc saw DeConnick stress that Carol's powers came at a physical cost, with exposure to Kree energy creating a third lobe in Carol's brain, one responsible for controlling her powers. Excessive use of her abilities led Captain Marvel to begin developing lesions in the brain, causing debilitating headaches and ultimately leading to total amnesia. It was ultimately revealed that the lesions were being caused by an old enemy, the Kree commander Yon-Rogg. There's been some speculation that Jude Law is playing Yon-Rogg in Captain Marvel, so everything seems to tie together neatly.

24. A Starforce/Kree Spaceship

Although Kree architecture tends to be angular, their spaceships are beautiful sleek vehicles, perfectly designed for both space-travel and atmospheric entry. This shot from the trailer presumably shows Starforce returning home, and it also seems likely Carol was flying one of these spacecraft when she was shot down over Earth.

23. The Kree Homeworld of Hala

Hala in Captain Marvel

The Captain Marvel trailer provides the first look at the Kree Homeworld of Hala. Although the planet was mentioned in Guardians of the Galaxy, it's never been shown on the big screen before. Note the strange, blocky architectural styles, that fit in perfectly with the tastes we've had of Kree designs in both Guardians of the Galaxy and the TV spinoff series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. It's unclear whether the film will explore Hala as part of the plot, or simply through flashbacks to Carol's (possibly fake) memories.

Page 3: Captain Marvel's Secret Life On Earth And Starforce

22. Carol Danvers' Time as a Pilot

Arriving on Earth appears to have triggered Carol's true memories, and she's struggling to work out just who she really is. A number of the flashback scenes show Carol remembering her time as a pilot, something we've known is important from the very start of filming - Larson trained with actual Air Force pilots. This pilot background defines Carol in the comics, and hopefully will here.

21. Maria Rambeau

Brie Larson and Maria Rambeau as pilots walking in Captain Marvel

In the pilot flashes, there's a brief shot in which Carol walks next to Lashana Lynch's character, Maria Rambeau. Maria may be quite important; she's a crucial anchor for Carol's memories, and could tell her the truth about her past on Earth. Production shifted to New Orleans - the home of the Rambeau family in the comics - for the final few weeks of filming.

In the comics, Maria has a daughter named Monica who herself becomes the superhero Photon/Spectrum. Given Captain Marvel is set in the '90s, Marvel could quite easily add Photon into the mix in Phase 4.

Related: Captain Marvel Preps Spectrum As A Post-Avengers 4 Hero

20. Carol Danvers' Training

Brie Larson as Carol Danvers training in Captain Marvel

A number of flashbacks show Carol Danvers in her childhood, and then training as a cadet in the US Air Force. The training scenes deliberately parallel those Steve Rogers went through in Captain America: The First Avenger, a smart homage to Marvel's other period film. This may be a subtle hint that Captain Marvel will define the post-Phase 3 MCU in the same way Captain America defined the last decade's worth of Marvel movies.

Read More: Captain Marvel and Captain America Share A Specific Backstory Connection

One of the strangest scenes here shows a circus tent. Carol has never had a connection to the circus, so that detail is pretty unclear.

19. Captain Marvel Held Captive

One of the strangest moments of the film is this rotating shot of Carol held in place as her head is hit with lasers. This may well be a crucial moment in the film, with Carol's enemies channeling some sort of energy into her mind. It's possible this is the device the Kree have been using to brainwash her, implanting false memories that suggest she has always been loyal to their race. That's what the trailer editing suggests; this scene is followed up by shots of Carol working alongside the Starforce.

The device being used is visually reminiscent of one used on Carol by the Brood in Uncanny X-Men #164, back in 1982. There, it unlocked Carol's true powers and potential. Here, the sparks of energy around her brain suggest it serves a different purpose.

18. The Kree Starforce

Carol Danvers leads Starforce in Captain Marvel movie.

On Hala, we also get a glimpse of the Starforce in action. An elite unit of warriors assembled by Jude Law's as-yet-unidentified commander, the Starforce are all characters who are traditionally enemies of Carol Danvers in the comics. They include Djimon Hounsou's Korath the Pursuer, Algenis Perez Soto's Att-Lass, Rune Temte's Bron Char, and Gemma Chan's Minn-Erva. None of these characters are A-list villains, and Minn-Erva is probably the best known; she's a Kree geneticist with no qualms about experimenting upon "lesser races" such as humans. Given one scene appears to show experiments being conducted upon Carol Danvers, it's possible Minn-Erva is important to the plot.

Page 4: Captain Marvel's Villains And Carol's Dreams

Jude Law as Yon Rogg Captain Marvel

17. Jude Law As ???

Although Jude Law's mysterious commander was originally reported to be the "male lead" in Captain Marvel, he doesn't really feature much in the trailer. Law was initially believed to be playing Mar-Vell, the Kree superhero who inspired Carol Danvers in the comics. Ever since those first reports, though, Marvel has been pretty ambiguous about just which character Law is portraying. Shortly after he was cast, Law went to great effort to avoid a direct answer. "Yes, it’s been reported I’m playing Mar-Vell," he observed. "I’m not going to confirm or deny that." He immediately changed the subject. Even EW was unable to get a name out of Marvel, noting that "the filmmakers declined to reveal [Law's character's] name." That's led to speculation that Law is actually playing the part of Yon-Rogg, a brutal Kree warlord who conspired with Ronan the Accuser in an attempt to overthrow the Supreme Intelligence and lead the Kree back to their militaristic roots.

Read More: Theory: Who Jude Law Is REALLY Playing In Captain Marvel (It's Not Mar-Vell)

16. Carol Was Always A Pilot

McKenna Grace as Young Carol Danvers in Captain Marvel

One of the of several quick-cut montages of Carol throughout her life in the Captain Marvel trailer shows he go from a kid in a kart of some form to a pilot in a jet. The hero's connection to her past is evidently something the marketing is leaning on, and this is one of the most heartwarming, showing Carol Danvers as driven and with clear dreams.

15. Pre-Captain Marvel Carol Danvers In Space

Carol Danvers in space Captain Marvel

Captain Marvel is, obviously, a heavily cosmic MCU film, and it seems that wil be true of Carol Danvers' life before she gained her powers. A shot at the end of the pilot montage shows her in a jet of some sort against a backdrop of stars. Based on the tech and getup, this is Earth-based, making this her first flirtation with the stars. The outreached hand shows her desire to go out there, making gaining powers a form of wish fulfillment, and her subseqeunt memory loss all the more tragic.

14. "Her" to "Hero"

Hollywood insiders have traditionally argued that female-led superhero films just don't work. That particular glass ceiling was shattered by last year's Wonder Woman, and although Marvel is late to the party, they're clearly determined to emphasize that Captain Marvel is the MCU's first film to star a female superhero. The cover to EW's exclusive declared that "The Future is Female," and now this trailer has stressed the transformation from "Her" to "Hero." This is definitely going to be at the center of Marvel's marketing.

13. The Skrulls At Last

Skrulls in Captain Marvel

Captain Marvel will introduce a terrifying new threat to the MCU, the alien race of shapeshifters known as the Skrulls. They've begun to infiltrate Earth's power-structures under the lead of Ben Mendelsohn's Talos, who has used his powers to make his way into S.H.I.E.L.D. The Captain Marel trailer hints that they're based in a cloaked spaceship that's orbiting the Earth - presumably the Skrull were the ones who blasted Carol's own spacecraft out of the sky - but carefully avoids showing much of the Skrulls, and we don't see their shapeshifting in action.

This alien race are an important addition to the MCU, and many believe Marvel is setting up Secret Invasion arc for Phase 4. This was a 2008 event in which the Skrulls successfully infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers, and almost succeeded in conquering the planet.

Notice that the trailer only gives a few brief glimpses of the Skrulls. That's probably because the CGI still isn't finished.

12. Captain Marvel Punches An Old Lady

Brie Larson as Captain Marvel on train with Old Woman

The Skrulls aren't just in that one shot though. One of the most perplexing elements of the Captain Marvel trailer is when Carol punches a kind old lady at random. However, she clearly believes she a Skrull. In fact, this alien may be the subject of the entire car/metro chase.

Read More: Why Captain Marvel Punches An Old Lady

Page 5: Returning MCU Characters (And A Starforce Mission)

11. A Starforce Mission To Torfa

EW's cover story described a Starforce mission to the planet Torfa, a world created by legendary Captain Marvel scribe Kelly Sue DeConnick, on the hunt for a missing spy. It's almost less than a flash, but one shot appears to be part of that Torfa mission, with it possible that this leads to Starforce discovering the Skrull invasion of Earth.

10. Ronan the Accuser

Lee Pace as Ronan the Accuser in Captain Marvel

Lee Pace is reprising the role of Ronan the Accuser, making this a backdoor origin story for the villain of Guardians of the Galaxy. Ronan is an important figure in the comics, and Pace played the part well - his promise to "unfurl one thousand years of Kree justice on Xandar" is so ferocious even Thanos took notice. Unfortunately, the plot largely failed to develop his motives and character. If Captain Marvel does explore Ronan in detail, he could easily become as notable an MCU villain as Loki.

Read More: All The MCU Characters Who Return In The Captain Marvel Trailer

9. The Young Phil Coulson

Lee Pace as Ronan the Accuser in Captain Marvel

Clark Gregg's Agent Coulson played a major part in the MCU's Phase 1, and Captain Marvel will present his backstory. Gregg has teased that this may not be Coulson's rodeo, but he's still pretty new to the S.H.I.E.L.D. business. According to Gregg, the film will also see Coulson and Fury meet the first time, in what he described as a "meet-cute moment." As he added, though, "I don’t think Sam will put it that way."

Related: Marvel Has Perfected CGI Deaging - Here Are The Movies They Should Make

Marvel has certainly perfected the use of CGI to de-age actors. They've de-aged everyone from Michael Douglas to Robert Downey Jr., with the most recent example being scenes featuring a rejuvenated version of Michelle Pfeiffer in Ant-Man and The Wasp. This is our first look of a young Phil Coulson, and it's another success for Marvel.

8. Nick Fury's Original Pager

Captain Marvel pager

The post-credits scene of Avengers: Infinity War saw Nick Fury send out a desperate Mayday to Captain Marvel, even as his own body dissolved into ash. This is definitely the same pager, although before it was heavily modified. Its presence would seem to confirm that Captain Marvel will explain how it was upgraded, although also raises some questions. If Fury has actually had the ability to summon Captain Marvel all the time, why hasn't he done so before now? Why didn't he call on Carol Danvers when the Chitauri invaded, or when Ultron attempted to wipe humanity out?

7. Starforce In Action

Star Force Underwater in Captain Marvel

Starforce are going to play a key role in Captain Marvel, and here in the trailer we get to see them in action, speeding together towards some unknown threat. What's interesting is that, from the lighting and air bubbles surrounding the team, this appears to be an underwater sequence, meaning that alongside space travel we'll get some other, unique action.

6. Captain Marvel's Mohawk Look

Captain Marvel underwater

Captain Marvel draws heavily on Kelly Sue DeConnick's Captain Marvel run. Back in 2012, DeConnick worked with artist Jamie McKelvie to dramatically redesign Carol Danvers's costume, and the MCU version is heavily influenced by McKelvie's designs. McKelvie imagined Carol's outfit as having a retractable helmet; in some versions, he sketched her with a mohawk that showed through the helmet.

Read More: Captain Marvel WILL Have Her Classic Mohawk

Page 6: Captain Marvel's Origins And Full Power

Lee Pace as Ronan the Accuser in Captain Marvel

5. Captain Marvel's Origin

In the comics, Carol Danvers gained her formidable powers after she was exposed to alien radiation when a Kree device known as a Psyche-Magnetron exploded near her. It looks as though Carol's MCU origin is the same, with this scene showing she was stood next to something alien when it was blasted apart by cosmic energies. Interestingly, the explosion effects in this scene look very similar to those we saw in Ant-Man & the Wasp, suggesting that in the MCU Captain Marvel's body may well have been exposed to energy from the Quantum Realm; we've long known that Captain Marvel will revisit the Quantum Realm in some way, but this is the first hint as to how that could be the case.

Read More: Captain Marvel's Trailer Hides Her MCU Origin In Plain Sight

4. Captain Marvel's Helmet

Captain Marvel blast explosion

We already saw the mohawk a few shots ago, but near the end of the Captain Marvel trailer we get a proper look at her helmet. The Kree helmet has been part of the character's iconography since Mar-Vell held the mantle, and has been reimagined in various forms over the years. This goes right back to the classic version, and works surprisingly well with the more modern green costume.

As for where this scene comes, not much is shown of context, but it presumably is from the same mission seen earlier, possibly on Torfa.

3. A Lifetime of Fighting Back

Carol Danvers crash lands in Captain Marvel

According to the trailer, Captain Marvel's defining character trait is a simple one; however many times she falls, she always gets back up. Carol Danvers isn't one to back down or give up; whether as a child with dreams of being a pilot, as an adult struggling to complete her training, or as a superhero battling to save the world, she will always fight back. This particular sequence, showing her throughout the years, is stunning and effective.

2. A Glimpse of Captain Marvel's Real Villain

Captain Marvel clenched fist

The montage culminates in Carol making a fist facing off against a mysterious villain - but who could it be? The costume design certainly looks Kree, while the skin-color could suggest this is Jude Law's character. That would mean we definitely shouldn't trust Jude Law's character; could he actually be Yon-Rogg after all?

1. Captain Marvel's Powers

Brie Larson as Captain Marvel eyes

Kevin Feige has described Carol Danvers as one of the most powerful heroes to enter the MCU to date. "Her powers are off the charts," he's observed, "and when she's introduced, she will be by far the strongest character we've ever had." The trailer doesn't give too much away about Captain Marvel's power levels, settling for a couple of scenes in which she projects powerful energy blasts. The most stunning sequence, though, is at the very end of the trailer, in which dazzling energy coruscates around Carol's body. In the comics, Captain Marvel has the power to transform into a so-called "Binary" form, in which she can tap into the power of a "white hole" and manipulate stellar energies to an unprecedented degree. This appears to be the MCU's version of the Binary form.

More: Captain Marvel's Origin Story, Powers & Movie Changes Explained

Key Release Dates