During her appearance at Heroes Con over the weekend, fan favorite comic book writer Kelly Sue DeConnick announced that she would be finishing her character-defining run on ‘Captain Marvel’ when ‘Secret Wars’ comes to an end. Since DeConnick started writing Carol Danvers, the character flew to new heights that she had never been before with any of her previous mantles. In fact, that besides inspiring legions of fans around the world through her comics, the writer’s take on the former United States Air Force officer turned alien-powered Avenger will be the basis for the upcoming Marvel Studios film scheduled for 2018.
But with other projects like her developmental deal with Universal TV in play, the Carol Corps commander will pass the ‘Captain Marvel’ baton to a new creative team when the All-New All-Different Marvel initiative launches this fall. And really, if Kelly Sue was getting replaced, Marvel couldn’t have chosen a better pair of successors.
Marvel Comics announced this week ‘Agent Carter’ showrunners Tara Butters and Michele Fazekas would be the new writers on ‘Captain Marvel’ after ‘Secret Wars’. With their work with Peggy Carter earning critical acclaim in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, they’ll now bring their talents to the House of Ideas with the help of popular artist Kris Anka, who has given our hero a slight redesign with a new haircut. In an interview with Fast Company, series editor Sana Amanat described what this creative shake up means for Carol:
“This is really meant to be the next level for Captain Marvel. Carol is really meant to be a soldier and a commander, and also a diplomat. We’re really trying to build up this space complex and this space world. You’ll really feel like there’s an extension of the Avengers world into space, but not necessarily lost out in the Guardians of the Galaxy cosmos. It’s rooted in Earth but also an extension into the galaxy.”
Co-writer Fazekas then went on to talk about the next mission for Captain Marvel and her new place in the Marvel Universe thanks to this mission:
“Marvel really wanted us to design what her mission is within the universe. We know what S.H.I.E.L.D.’s mission is, we know what the Avengers’ mission is, we know what Guardians of the Galaxy’s mission is. So how does Captain Marvel fit into all that? We’re not so much changing anything as building on what already is there. I love that she’s conflicted about things; she’s so different than Captain America or other superheroes. Does she even want this?”
But what exactly is this mission? Apparently, the military agency S.W.O.R.D. (which stands for Sentient World Observation and Response Department) that acts as Earth’s front lines in space will be no more in the post-‘Secret Wars’ world, so it’s Captain Marvel’s job to step in for the sake of the planet. Here’s the official synopsis for ‘Captain Marvel’ #1:
Carol’s been from one end of the universe to the other, and through her journey she’s discovered the hero and the leader she was born to be. Now she’s back – and if you want to get to Earth, you’ve got to get through Captain Marvel first! That’s right, Earth’s highest flying, hardest punching heroine is the planet’s first line of defense against any and all extraterrestrial threats. With an entire fleet and a state of the art Space Station at her command, if you come here looking for trouble, you won’t know what hit you! But when an abandoned ghost ship appears in our galaxy carrying mysterious cargo – does it spell doom for everything Carol’s built for herself?
This is certainly a lot to take in, Carol Corps! But what do you think about the new creative team for ‘Captain Marvel’? Are you sad to see Kelly Sue DeConnick go? How do you think the ‘Agent Carter’ showrunners will do as her replacements? And how does Carol Danvers’ new mission in the Marvel Universe sound to you? Sound off in the comments!