Warning: spoilers for MCU’s Capitan Marvel, MCU’s Avengers, Netflix’s Jessica Jones season two and rubikanon’s Extinction.
You set up something early in a story, and later you pay off this setup, preferably in some unexpected way. Also if there is a big interval between setup and payoff, you should remind your readers about the setup. This is a basic yet powerful tool of a writer. Some of the ways to make this tool more powerful are playing with expectations and making a double payoff.
