Does Carol Danvers' Menacing MCU Nickname Tease Marvel's Most Overpowered Team?
Throughout the Marvel Cinematic Universe's history, simple and subtle moments have worked as great teases to mega moments still to come. They're either big winks to the audience, like when Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) makes Mjolnir squeak in "Avengers: Age of Ultron" or in "Iron Man 2" when Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) has Wakanda and Atlantis circled long before we visit them. In the case of Carol Danvers' (Brie Larson) next outing as Captain Marvel, there might be a tease in the second trailer for "The Marvels" of another team yet to assemble in the MCU that is truly out of this world.
In between the awesome mix of the Beastie Boys' "Intergalactic" (the song in "The Marvels" trailer), Danvers' new foe, Dar-Benn (Zawe Ashton), goes for the usual villain route of cursing her opponent to the broken moon of Titan and back, even revealing the moniker she gave Carol after her people, the Kree, were destroyed: Captain Marvel, the Annihilator. While it's a pretty extravagant name to give someone, this A-word, much like "Avenger," isn't thrown around haphazardly. It could be referring to the space-based squad of superheroes, the Annihilators, comprised of some heroes who have already appeared in the MCU and others yet to make their debut.
The Annihilators are the galaxy's last resort
There came a day when space was in a real mess and needed to be set straight. On that day, The Annihilators are formed and consist of some of the most brutal folks in the galaxy, of both good and evil. In the comics, the team is formed by Cosmo (last seen being a good dog in "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3") at the behest of the then-dead Star-Lord. Comprised of Quasar, Beta Ray Bill, the Silver Surfer, and Ronan the Accuser, who is still very much alive, they work together to take on space invaders, even reaching Earth at one point. Of course, you may have noticed Carol "The Avenger" Danvers isn't on the roster, which is fine, but then, has the MCU ever gone strictly by the comic books they're based on?
With that in mind, after Carol saves the world and most likely a large portion of space in "The Marvels," there might be time to form her own sub-team before she inevitably joins the Avengers to face off against the Kang Dynasty. It doesn't have to stick to the original team from the comics, either. There are some once-spaced-based do-gooders currently back on their home turf and could also be an entry point for other Annihilators.
Star-Lord helped form The Annihalators in the comics -- he could join them in the MCU
The final message of "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3" confirms Chris Pratt's MCU future when the credits end with "The Legendary Star-Lord Will Return." What better way to bring him back than in a team that Star-Lord died trying to form in the comics? Given their respective histories, it would be great to see Carol Danvers working with Peter Quill to protect Earth. As for the rest? With Chris Hemsworth's return to the MCU as Thor still not set in stone, now would be a great time to bring in his part-time comic stand-in, Beta Ray-Bill, who had a cameo in "Thor: Ragnarok."
Regarding the other member, the arrival of the "Fantastic Four" movie could mean Norrin Radd, aka the Silver Surfer, will turn up eventually, so why not swerve by into this band of hard-edged heroes? Also, with Gladiator being part of the Shi'ar Empire, which has ties to X-Men leader Charles Xavier, there's an entry point there as well, albeit one that's pretty far off in the MCU timeline. For now, of course, this is all super-sized speculation, but one that would undoubtedly mark an interesting alliance in a universe that's getting bigger. Carol Danvers is only one space cop, after all, so what better backup than the Annihilators?