With exactly two months to go until Captain Marvel arrives in theaters, the promotion for Carol Danvers’ solo debut seems to have kicked up a notch this week, between the release of another trailer and some dazzling new posters. What’s more, directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck have teased further details in an interview with Fandango, and with a few vague statements, the pair has got the internet wondering if Tony Stark could be making an appearance in the upcoming flick.
The moment came when the duo behind Mississippi Grind were asked how Captain Marvel fits into the wider MCU. Boden was the first to respond, remarking on the film’s placement in the Marvel timeline:
“All we can say is this is a ’90s film, a ’90s period film. Where Sam Jackson is a younger version of Nick Fury.”
Fleck then chimed in with an unprompted reference to a certain Phase 1 Avenger:
“And Tony Stark hasn’t figured out how to become Iron Man yet, so …”
At this point, Boden simply affirmed, “That’s all we can say,” leaving fans to wonder what else there is to say.
Granted, it’s possible that Fleck brought up Stark to simply emphasize that the story’s taking place years before any of the MCU’s present-day players have assumed their superhero identities, but there’s no harm in speculating that the film may use its ’90s setting to offer a glimpse of Stark’s early years. After all, as the son of the wealthy Howard Stark, the young Tony might well be a minor celebrity in his own right, creating an opportunity for the character to at least get a nod somewhere in the course of Carol’s story.
In any case, the new interview also yields a few insights on the tone that the movie’s going for, with Boden explaining that the film draws inspiration from the buddy cop genre in its pair-up of Carol and Nick Fury:
“We approached this movie as being, at the heart of it, this mystery of self-identity for Captain Marvel. It has a lot of playfulness in it, and that kind of buddy-cop vibe that Captain Marvel has with the Nick Fury character was really an important touchstone for us.”
Fleck goes on to single out 48 Hrs. and Lethal Weapon as influences, observing that these films have “a really terrific sense of humor.” We’ll find out if Carol can have a little fun before the seriousness of Avengers: Endgame when Captain Marvel hits theaters on March 8th, 2019.