Captain Marvel Movie Trailer #2 Breakdown & Analysis

Nearly three months ahead of the film's theatrical release, Marvel Studios has debuted the second, action-packed trailer for Captain Marvel. Providing the most extensive look at the movie yet, the new trailer provides more insight into Carol Danvers while hinting that her past is tied to the interstellar conflict Earth has been drawn into.

The two-minute trailer largely revolves around an ongoing conversation between Brie Larson's Captain Marvel and Samuel L. Jackson's younger Nick Fury. Interspersed throughout are scenes of Carol Danvers as a space-faring member of Starforce as well as her past as an Air Force pilot, mixing sequences on Earth with bombastic space action while teasing a war of epic proportions.

Here are some of the big moments and takeaways from the second trailer:

KREE-SKRULL WAR

The trailer immediately revisits the infamous scene from the teaser of Carol slugging a seemingly kindly, old woman on board a rail car. However, the scene than continues as the woman is unfazed by the super-powered haymaker and retaliates with a devastating attack of her own after emitting an inhuman growl.

"So Skrulls are the bad guys? And you're a Kree, a race of noble warriors?" begins Fury, providing an introduction of sorts to the film's two warring factions of extraterrestrials and confirming that the old woman is, in fact, a Skrull in disguise.

"Heroes," Carol clarifies before breaking into a smile. "Noble warrior heroes."

ANNETTE BENING REVEALED

After the Marvel Studios logo is displayed, the action cuts to a desert crash site, where Carol seen in her flight suit, barely conscious. As a visibly dazed Carol attempts to recover, electric blue energy is seen emanating off her as she is approached by what appears to be a Kree warrior.

"We found you with no memory," explains Annette Bening's mysterious Kree figure in her first official appearance in the film's marketing. "We made you one of us."

Later sequences showing Carol being flung from what appears to be her aircraft in a blue explosion, perhaps her latent Kree physiology kicking in to protect her from danger.

GENETIC UPGRADE

As the first look at Bening on what appears to be the Kree homeworld of Hala continues, Carol is shown receiving what looks like a Kree blood transfusion, along with additional augmentation of her abilities to superhuman levels.

"You could live longer, stronger, superior," Bening's character continues over footage of Carol using her new powers while outfitted as a member of Starforce. "You were reborn."

The revelation that the genetic experimentation has increased Carol's lifespan most likely explains why the character will appear the same physical age in Avengers 4 as she does in her own, 1990s-set film.

SQUADRON SUPREME

Brie Larson Carol Danvers Captain Marvel

As Carol has flashbacks to her past as a child and as an Air Force pilot, viewers get another look at Lashana Lynch as Carol's wingman, Maria Rambeau. As the two pilots exchange a friendly "hang loose" sign as they climb into their respective cockpits, Maria's call sign is displayed on her aircraft as "Photon."

That's a reference to the eventual superhero persona of Maria's daughter, Monica. The second character in the comic books to take on the name Captain Marvel after Mar-Vell, Monica Rambeau developed light-based powers after being exposed directly to extra-dimensional energies. Introduced in 1982 by writer Roger Stern and artist John Romita Jr., the character has gone by a variety of code names, including Photon, Binary and Spectrum, while serving with the Avengers.

NEXT PAGE: The Quinjet Takes Flight -- and the Skrulls Attack

FIRST FLIGHT OF THE QUINJET

Carol and Fury are depicted in the film's mid-'90s setting breaking in to what appears to be a top-secret government hanger. Among the aircraft is what appears to be an early model of the Quinjet, later used for transportation by S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers. With the duo apparently on the run, Carol takes the controls as Fury slides into the co-pilot seat.

"Do you know how to fly this thing?" asks an incredulous Fury. "We're about to find out," Danvers coolly responds.

"... that's a yes-or-no question," retorts Fury after a beat before they take to the skies.

ATTACK OF THE SKRULLS

The trailer also provides a more extensive look at the Skrulls, the warrior race of shape-shifting aliens at war with the Kree. Interestingly, as additional footage of Carol's crash site is revisited, a Skrull is seen walking through the wreckage, targeting the dazed pilot with a blaster.

"Would you like to know what you really are?" growls Ben Mendelsohn as the Skrull Talos, suggesting Carol's otherworldly heritage may not be as simple as it initially appears, and Bening's character is not being entirely trustworthy in her previous explanation of Carol's origins.

JUDE LAW, FRIEND OR FOE?

While the new trailer doesn't reveal the identity of Jude Law's mysterious Starforce commander, it does provide more footage of the character -- including a shot of him on Earth in his Kree armor.

"You've come a long way," he tells Carol, presumably after a training session. "But you're not as strong as you think."

Law had previously described his character as a mentor figure of sorts, who attempts to help Carol grow accustomed to her powers as she leads Starforce in the field.

SECRET INVASION

Scenes of the intensifying conflict between the Skrulls and Kree are depicted playing out above Earth, under the watchful eye of Lee Pace's Ronan the Accuser. The action then returns planetside, with Ben Mendelsohn's Talos in human form leading a squad of armed agents into the government hangar where Carol and Fury come across the Quinjet.

"This war is just beginning," Talos growls over footage of Carol powering up.

While the revelation that the Skrulls are disguised among humanity is not a new one, the reveal of Mendelsohn's character as a human confirms that the alien race is lurking on Earth as more than just old ladies, perhaps setting up a greater, more insidious conflict to come.

NICK FURY, CAT PERSON

In the final moments, Carol and Fury venture into a government facility to learn more about her past. As Carol enters the archives, Fury is distracted by her cat, who has accompanied them inside.

"Aren't you just the cutest little thing? What's your name?" coos the normally reserved Fury as he pets the friendly feline before Carol reminds him of their mission.

"I'll be back," Fury promises the cat as he rejoins Carol.

Directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck from a script they wrote with Liz Flahive, Carly Mensch, Meg LeFauve, Nicole Perlman, and Geneva Robertson-Dworet, Captain Marvel stars Brie Larson as Carol Danvers, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Jude Law as the commander of Starforce, Clark Gregg as Phil Coulson, Lee Pace as Ronan the Accuser, Djimon Hounsou as Korath the Pursuer, Gemma Chan as Minn-Erva, and Ben Mendelsohn, Lashana Lynch, Algenis Perez Soto, McKenna Grace, and Annette Bening in as-yet-undisclosed roles. The film arrives on March 8, 2019.