In the fantastic world of the Marvel Universe, family is found in unexpected places. Captain Marvel, aka Carol Danvers, knows this to be true. During her tenure as a superhero, she's forged a found family of costumed champions. She's also reunited with a Kree half-sister, Lauri-Ell, who now serves as Chief Accuser of the Kree/Skrull Alliance. The recent "Last of the Marvels" arc of Captain Marvel, by writer Kelly Thompson and artists Sergio Dávila, brought all of Carol's superpowered family together for a grand adventure and introduced a new member to the clan -- the sentient energy being Carol created with her powers named Binary.

In Captain Marvel #37, by Thompson and Julius Ohta, Binary became close with Carol and her family. However, the issue ended with Captain Marvel being abducted. In May's Captain Marvel #38, the kick-off chapter to the brand-new "Trials" arc, by Thompson and artists Juan Frigeri and Alvaro Lopez, Binary fulfills the heroic duties of her missing family member. CBR spoke with Thompson about Binary, the new arc, and the adventures Captain Marvel will become embroiled in this summer. Also included with this interview is an exclusive sneak peek at two pages of Frigeri's interior artwork and two pages of Lopez's interior artwork for Captain Marvel #38, respectively. All four pages are colored by Jordie Bellaire.

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CBR: It seems to me that "The Last of the Marvels" was very much a story about the family you create for yourself. We saw Carol fight alongside a large number of friends and allies, and she created a now sentient energy life form known as Binary. Was telling a story about family your intention?

Kelly Thompson: I think I’m always writing about families a little bit -- because there are so many different kinds of families and they’re so vital to us. It's such a relief when we find somewhere we're truly accepted and loved. It's definitely been a theme of this run from the beginning as I wanted to bring Carol back to earth for some more earth-based stories in part to better connect her with her supporting cast (some new, some old). And then, with the new origin we inherited, a half-sister made a lot of sense and created a lot of richness for us to explore there -- so we can see all the sides of Carol’s family.

Captain Marvel #37 saw both Carol and her sister, Lauri-Ell, bond with Binary in a pretty big way. Can you talk about how they feel about each other going into Captain Marvel #38? Is there a sense of familial kinship there?

Headed into Captain Marvel #38, Lauri-Ell and Binary are definitely friendly. They’ve got a lot of slightly weird things in common, and they’re building on that… But I’m not sure how long they’ll remain friends. Ooooh! Mystery and intrigue!

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[laughs] Captain Marvel #37 ended with a cliffhanger that saw Carol vanish after being enveloped in bright light. April's Captain Marvel Annual #1 by Torunn Gronbekk and Carlos Gomez is a stand-alone cosmic tale though, correct? What can you tell us about that issue?

Yeah, the timing on this is a bit unfortunate. The annual is indeed a standalone tale that does not come after the events of Captain Marvel #37. The events that follow Captain Marvel #37 are… Captain Marvel #38 [laughs]. But because the Annual releases between the two issues I know it might confuse some folks.

Torunn and Carlos' story stands on its own in a wonderful way, and you can slot it just after "Last of The Marvels," I think… Or after this new "Trials" arc. Wherever! But for the diehard collectors out there that feel better when they know exactly how everything fits together -- the Annual will be collected in Trade Vol. 8, either in front of Captain Marvel #37 or after Captain Marvel #41.

The solicits for Captain Marvel #38, which kicks off the "Trials" arc, suggest that Binary steps into the spotlight in the wake of Carol's disappearance. Is that true?

"Trials" has a sort of dual narrative. One of those narratives is indeed Binary trying her best to fill in for Captain Marvel as Carol’s presence is very much missed in New York City. But Binary is still learning who she is, so stepping into that role is… Confusing and while a lot of it comes naturally -- it’s in her DNA after all! -- other parts of it are completely foreign to her. But I think this story is a great way to push her development faster and really show off who and what she can become in a great way.

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Will Binary be working side by side with any of Carol's friends and family? If so, what's it like bouncing her off of those characters?

Yes! Spider-Woman is sort of acting as Binary’s guide and… Babysitter? Trying to both help her to navigate the world she’s now part of, but also to sort of put her on the right heroic path, as Carol and Monica did a bit in Captain Marvel #37. Jess is a very fun teacher. Don't tell Carol I said this, but definitely more fun than Carol. But that's part of the beauty of Carol and Jess’s voices, I think. They bounce off each other so wonderfully. Lauri-Ell will also be around, as previously mentioned, but in what capacity you’ll have to see!

I read that the parts of this story that follow Carol and where she went could be tied to her magical adventures in Captain Marvel #28-30. What can you tell us about those portions of this next arc?

In the "Strange Magic" arc, Carol, while trying to learn magic, tricked Enchantress into poisoning her son Ove. Some of the repercussions of those actions are coming back her way in this arc, which the eagle-eyed [reader] will remember I had Wanda warn Carol about when she first set out on this path back in the "Strange Magic" arc. All that said, I think this arc stands on its own pretty well. It's fun to know the context and minutia, but at its heart, it’s just a story of revenge and justice, of finding yourself and knowing yourself.

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What's it like to be teamed with artists Juan Frigeri and Alvaro Lopez for "Trials?" What are some elements they added to the story that might not be readily apparent?

I like this question because I love these guys and thanks to their awesome talent we're doing such a weird, fun, exciting arc here. This split narrative gave us the opportunity to get Juan and Alvaro to each take a narrative and really lean into everything they’re so excellent at doing. They're delivering wildly different worlds for those two narratives, and I love how it’s come together. Juan has this sublimely gorgeous and slick traditional "superhero-style." Alvaro has this beautiful stripped-down and understated euro-comics style… So we leaned into both of those ideas and I love where we ended up.

Finally, what sort of hints and teases can you leave us with about Carol's adventures after this next arc and further down the road?

Carol is getting an AXE tie-in issue directly following this arc, which will probably also feature both Lauri-Ell and Binary, and then we’re doing a big exciting new arc as we lead up to our landmark oversized issue 50! I can't say much about 43-49 as we're still locking it down but so far it's looking very space-y and with awesome horror vibes and some guest stars a lot of people have been wanting to see in Carol’s book for a while. Fingers crossed!