The First Captain Marvel Trailer Will Pummel You with '90s Nostalgia
Hello, fellow kids, do you remember the '90s? Flannel? Riot grrrls? Pulp Fiction? Lacing up the ol' Doc Martens and going to the comics shop? Don't worry if you don't; Marvel is here to remind you.
Yes, the long-awaited first trailer for the MCU's long-awaited Captain Marvel is finally here, and it's full—nearly too full—with Clinton-era references and sight gags.
There's the Blockbuster Video store that Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel (Oscar winner and all-around delight Brie Larson) crashes into in the trailer's opening shot. Then there's the pager, and the shot of the Los Angeles bus terminal of yesteryear, and the not-quite-visible-but-we-know-it’s-there Nine Inch Nails shirt that Danvers wears. So many '90s signifiers are crammed into the not-quite-two-minute trailer that you'd be forgiven for thinking Marvel's plan to defeat the Skrulls was to pummel them with references.
Why the '90s, anyway? Well, Captain Marvel needs an origin story, and the mid-20th century was taken up by Steve Rogers/Captain America, Agent Carter, and Tony Stark's dad, Howard. The 21st century belongs to the Avengers as we know them. So, strictly in terms of continuity—and the fact that over at DC, Wonder Woman has the Cold War locked down—the best place to put Carol Danvers is in the grunge era. Just enough technology that we recognize the world, just old enough that we don't need cellphones in every scene. Not to mention the added synchronicity of Marvel's first female-centered standalone film happens during the birth of Third Wave feminism.
It also makes sense as fan service. Most of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Day One fans, and the comics fans that begat them, are Gen Xers and Gen Yers—people who came of age in the 1990s and might be feeling phased out by the end of the MCU's Phase 3, which wraps up with next year with Captain Marvel and the Avengers: Infinity War sequel. That's not to say those fans won't stay with the franchise during Phase 4 and beyond, but as folks like Chris Evans/Captain America leave and make way for the new generation of Spider-Men and their ilk, Marvel would be smart to appeal to fans’ warm memories of bygone days.
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But there’s a fine line between easter eggs and overkill. If the plan is to tickle fans’ nostalgia bone, directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck need to do it carefully. The beeper shown in the trailer makes sense—it’s a tie-in to the Infinity War post-credits scene, when Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) pages someone—presumably Danvers—as Thanos wipes out half of the Earth’s population. The Blockbuster is cute, because Hey, remember when we used to have to go out to rent movies? If the movie becomes a game of reference-spotting Whack-a-Mole, though, it’ll get old fast.
“The ‘90s doesn’t feel that long ago to us because we’re really old,” Boden told Entertainment Weekly. “But doing this movie has really made us realize how out-of-date so much stuff from the ‘90s actually is, and we’ve been having a lot of fun with that.” Have fun, but just remember: One of the joys of Marvel movies is that they’re always a little out of step with the real world. They mention World War II and occasionally other current events, but the Avengers aren't out here like the X-Men, taking on President Nixon in Days of Future Past. If President Clinton shows up for a boxers-or-briefs joke, the suspension of disbelief might kinda be shot.
Moreover, if the goal is nostalgia, visual cues and throwaway lines won’t cut it. The better bet would be to recreate the feel of the ‘90s, not just the logos and objects people remember. Stranger Things does this (for the most part) effectively, even when the show turns Eggos into plot devices. Nostalgia clicks in when we’re reminded of something, not shown it outright. If Captain Marvel does that, it will have succeeded—and given Marvel’s first headlining superheroine the movie she deserves.