Captain Marvel

Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel movie is going to be a pretty big deal, not only because it’s Marvel’s first ever female-led superhero movie. It also stars Brie Larson, who is perhaps Hollywood’s most exponentially rising star. Larson recently talked a bit about the role and how she’s been working with Marvel to create the character of Carol Danvers.

Now that it has not one director, but two, Captain Marvel is off to the races. And not a moment too soon, if we’re to expect this movie to still come out in March 2019. Can you believe we still have to wait almost two whole years for Marvel’s first female-led superhero movie? The movie has its star in Brie Larson, but we still have no idea what the plot is going to be, or if any other superheroes we know are going to be in it. What we do know is that it’ll start filming in a little over 9 months from now.

Captain Marvel landing not one, but two directors came as a bit of a surprise yesterday — and was a teeny bit disappointing to fans whose hopes were raised by Marvel’s dedication to find a woman for the job. Directing team Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck come mostly from the indie drama scene, although they have had some more high-profile jobs like a few episodes of Showtime’s The Affair and Billions. Kevin Feige revealed that he had met with Boden and Fleck a number of times about the job, and that they had impressed him at every turn.

No, you’re not reading that incorrectly, and it’s not a typo: Marvel has hired not one, but two directors to take on Captain Marvel, the studio’s highly-anticipated (and first) solo female superhero film featuring Brie Larson in the title role. Mississippi Grind directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck have officially signed on to helm Captain Marvel — an interesting and unexpected choice (or choices) for sure, but one that may be somewhat disappointing to fans.

If you’d asked me at the beginning of the Marvel Cinematic Universe whether Nick Fury should get his very own movie, I’d probably have said no. I love Samuel L. Jackson as much as the next guy  —  perhaps even more after hearing his outstanding vocal work in the documentary I Am Not Your Negro  —  but Fury always seemed better on the periphery, a character who pull the strings in the shadows. Still, after seeing how well the Russo Brothers used Jackson in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, I’m willing to change my tune. Maybe a Nick Fury standalone movie wouldn’t be such a bad idea after all.

Well, so much for Kevin Feige’s promise to announce the director of Captain Marvel before the end of 2016 — but we can’t fault the Marvel Studios president too much, especially since Brie Larson’s superhero solo film isn’t hitting theaters until 2019, and it’s hard to criticize the studio for making sure they have the right script and director for the job. Still, it would’ve been a nice little holiday treat for those of us who are anxious to see Marvel’s first female superhero project get off the ground.

By now, most of you have probably seen Doctor Strange, and if you’re a more dedicated Marvel fan, you might have even seen it twice or three times. In that case, you may have picked up on a few things others missed, like a potential easter egg connecting the Sorcerer Supreme to Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel, perhaps? But if for whatever reason you haven’t yet made time for the latest MCU installment, this post contains minor (like, very minor) spoilers. Still with us?

Earlier this year, Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige assured anxious fans that a director and star for the upcoming Captain Marvel film would be revealed before the end of the summer. At Comic-Con, Brie Larson joined the MCU family in Hall H to announce her casting as Carol Danvers in the highly-anticipated film, which is still seeking a director. According to Feige, we’ll know who’s helming the project before the end of the year, but until then, he has another great reason for you to be excited about Captain Marvel.

The Captain Marvel movie that the studio has been planning since 2014 is finally gaining ground with the recent casting of Brie Larson in the title role, and will be Marvel’s first female-led superhero film in the Iron Man-MCU era. And it’s about time. Although apparently Carol Danvers was supposed to show up in the final moments of Avengers: Age of Ultron, Kevin Feige scrapped those plans in favor of giving her a film all of her own. Now, he’s officially confirmed that Captain Marvel’s movie will be an origin story.

It’s tough to overstate the influence that superheroes can have on kids. While comics have evolved to a place where mature themes are regularly explored, pre-teens are more likely to see the simple transformations of the characters from outsider to superhero. Steve Rogers was a scrawny youth who became one of the all-time good guys; Peter Parker was a science nerd who now protects the streets of Manhattan. The things that made these characters stand outside their peers are ultimately what allowed them to become some of the most recognizable heroes of page and screen. There’s real power in being able to tell our kids that what makes them different also makes them special.