Since its first issue back in 2019, the current Captain Marvel series has seen its protagonist face a myriad of challenges both personal and external. From Galactic threats to home-grown enemies, writer Kelly Thompson has led a stellar team of creatives as they have taken Carol Danvers to the stars, the future, and the depths of her own mind. With the series about to close, Thompson agreed to take a bit of time to answer some of my questions concerning her fantastic time with the character. Enjoy!
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But Why Tho: Thank you so much for taking some time to answer a few questions. The end of your Captain Marvel run is almost here, how do you feel? Are you satisfied with the journey you got to go on with the character?
Kelly Thompson: Mostly yes. I’m very proud of what we’ve done, but it’s undoubtedly bittersweet. It’s hard to walk away after such a long run — you really get attached, both to the characters and to the creative teams. As a freelance writer, it’s so rare and lucky to have a long run like this that lasts years.
But Why Tho: Throughout your run on the book, I feel like there has been a constant focus on not just Carol, but the friends around her. From mainstays like Spider-Woman and Hazmat to guest spots from the current core Avengers roster, the characters that surround her have often been just as much a source of her strength as her superpowers. Was this always the plan?
Kelly Thompson: Yeah, I really wanted to reconnect Carol to a lot of more earth-based heroes and friends and family. She’s always a character that wants to go up and she SHOULD go up. But she’d just been (mostly) in space for a lot of years and so it felt like the thing to do was to bring her back down to earth — giving her a new base of operations and a regularly recurring supporting cast. I don’t want to brag and say it worked, but it certainly seemed to, didn’t it!?
But Why Tho: I would say it did. Also, did you have a favorite side character you always wanted to work into the book when you could? Your work with Hazmat is actually how I discovered the character and it lead me to go back and read the Avengers Academy/Arena/Underground trilogy of series to get more of her story. So thank you for introducing her to me.
Kelly Thompson: You’re welcome! I hope a lot of others are following your lead — she’s a great character that deserves another shot. I put her on the “unofficial team” for a lot of reasons but that was one — just getting more people to get their eyeballs on her. Hazmat was a favorite for sure, but I’d be hard-pressed to pick anyone other than Jessica Drew/Spider-Woman. I love her. I find her hilarious and weird and super interesting and a great foil for Carol as both best friend and person that knows how best to push her buttons.
But Why Tho: The one character whose presence in the book I feel like I have to ask you about in particular though is Rogue. She appears in both the first and last arcs of your run. Was this important for you to use your time with Carol to get them to “bury the hatchet” as it were? And how daunting was it to take that step, given how long their first encounter has been such a momentous part of both characters’ stories?
Kelly Thompson: I think…this was two-fold for me. On the one hand, I’m personally very interested in Rogue and in Rogue/Carol, their history and dynamic. But I’m also just interested in this as an ongoing issue for Carol. Even in the strange lives these superheroes lead, having a villain steal your psyche and powers and have to rebuild your entire life from a shell — that’s a pretty big deal. It’s an even bigger deal if that villain eventually becomes a great hero in her own right. It’s incredibly rich and beautiful stuff that I think is ripe for exploration. There have been a few significant interactions between Carol and Rogue over the years, but they never quite were what I personally felt was needed as a writer and as a fan. And so of course I tried to dig into those ideas myself. I feel pretty good about where they both are and what we did. That said, especially given the still very much unresolved dynamic between Carol and Mystique — it would be very easy to pull on a few threads and kick a few things over and have Carol and Rogue at odds again. It was an amazing gift to be allowed to write a story like this for Carol, the same way it was when I wrote a story like that for Rogue in Mr. & Mrs. X. They’re incredible characters that have stood the test of time for a reason. And I’m honored I got to add to their lives in a significant way.
But Why Tho: Your run with Captain Marvel has seen her take on a wide variety of challenges. But I think the most interesting one thematically is how she ends up really immersed in the magical side of the Marvel Universe. I don’t remember the character ever dealing much with these elements before. Is this someplace you always wanted to take the character, or was there something that prompted it?
Kelly Thompson: I think it mostly came about pretty organically as I was searching for things Carol would and could struggle with/struggle against. When you have a character as powerful as Carol is at this point you really have to search for reasonable threats for her. If you don’t want to blow up the world every arc — then you need some more personal stories too — and her realizing that as strong as she is she still has a real weakness to magic/magic users is rich storytelling territory — both for us and for the future. I hope we’ve told some great stories there and also set that up for future stories.
But Why Tho: While I love seeing heroes taken out of their comfort zones, your drawing magic into Carol’s tale had the added benefit of taking her back to the Captain Marvel: The End timeline. Was this due to fan reaction to the one-shot, or did you just love the setting and want to go back?
Kelly Thompson: I just loved the setting and wanted to go back! And I knew fans really responded to it as well. I think we were both (me and the fans) excited about the world, ideas, and characters we’d set up there and I thought taking Carol there — unstuck from time — would give her a real perspective that would challenge her as a person and hero — but that would also be a real pandora’s box of things she was concerned about. My only regret there was time/space. We probably needed another issue to land everything in a way I was totally happy with. Especially when telling a big story like that with a lot of characters it can be hard to still keep it feeling like a CAROL story and making sure you don’t lose that focus sometimes means you miss out on other cool things you would have liked to try.
But Why Tho: Did you have a favorite arc that you felt just really came together? The closing run with the Brood was epic, introducing the world to Lauri-Ell had to have been a delight, and bringing all the Marvels together for the showdown with Vox was such a moment of pure hype. So many to choose from I suppose, huh?
Kelly Thompson: I think, if I’m picking just one, I gotta go with The Revenge of The Brood arc. I just had a really good time playing with the X-Men and Carol together and getting to delve a bit deeper into some of Carol’s nightmares — which are also some of the things that helped build her into who and what she is. And I think the Carol/Rogue stuff at the end of that arc is good stuff, that’s always the kind of stuff I’m hoping for, and Sergio Davila and Javier Pina really delivered just really gorgeous work. But I also really loved The Last Avenger arc. That’s when it felt like we really had something special on our hands — and it felt like Marvel really let me take the gloves off on that one and it just worked. I also think the Trials arc — with the alternating art by Alvaro Lopez and Juan Frigeri and colorist Jordie Bellaire was something special. It was an atypical story for Carol, but it felt like the kind of story we needed in such a long run.
But Why Tho: While there are so many fantastic moments I could ask about, I know you have limited time, so I will keep it to one. Captain Marvel #15 saw Carol forced to confront Steve Rogers. How Cap responds to Carol is one of my all-time favorite comic book moments. Can you tell me anything about how that moment came together? From Steve’s actions to Carol’s response, it was just a perfect moment. And how Garbett and Bonvillain brought the moment to life complemented it wonderfully.
Kelly Thompson: I agree. I sorta had that idea in my pocket and I wasn’t sure what editors Sarah Brunstad and Wil Moss were going to say. And so I turned in the script very anxious and they just really thought it worked and I was so relieved. But just because it works on the page in the script, doesn’t mean it comes together as perfectly as that eventually did. Artist Lee Garbett and colorist Tamra Bonvillain really just got it and nailed it. Perfect quiet emotional moments. One of my favorite moments in the whole series, for sure. And the fan response to that moment was really vindicating. People loved it. Felt great.
But Why Tho: With issue #50 just around the corner, I’m sure there are a lot of long-time fans that are already bracing for the Thompson withdrawals that are sure to come. For those wondering where else they can enjoy your work what other books are you working on now, or in the near future?
Kelly Thompson: Haha. It feels weird to hope for people to miss you because you want the readers to be happy, but you also want to feel like you made an impact and aren’t easily replaced — it’s weird! My Image book BLACK CLOAK with Meredith McClaren is out now — a detective procedural set in a cool sci-fi fantasy world. I’ve also got another Image book launching in August with Mattia De Iulis called THE CULL. And my first DC project — a short with Annie Wu in HARLEY QUINN: BLACK + WHITE + REDDER #2. And there’s much more news to come soon!
There you have it. A quick glimpse back at the fantastic time Thompson has crafted with one of Marvel’s most iconic characters. I hope you will all join me in wishing her the best in all her future endeavors.
You can pick up the Captain Marvel by Kelly Thompson Omnibus May 30, 2023.
