The story of how Carol Danvers became Captain Marvel is stamped into comic book history. But when comic book writer Kelly Sue DeConnick came into the picture, she had her own spin—one that tapped into Carol’s feminist identity and made her the source of her own power. Marvel may not have been big on her idea at the time, but it did end up inspiring the Brie Larson movie.
In the video interview below, DeConnick and Mary Livanos, director of production and development for Marvel Studios, chat with io9’s Charles Pulliam-Moore about the Carol Danvers origin story that Marvel rejected for In Pursuit of Flight. It involved a time paradox, a rescue mission, and a rejection of the idea that Mar-Vell (who is a male character in the comics) needed to be the one who “created” Captain Marvel.
While it may not have ended up on the page, according to Livanos it did play an important part in shaping Carol’s origin story onscreen in Captain Marvel.