Captain, My Captain (Marvel)… yes, the studio has now formally announced the lead actress for their first female-led superhero outing…
Despite a significant number of popular female characters, Marvel has yet to place one in their own solo outing. Even Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) has failed to get her own tentpole release. the closest the studio has come is in the character of Agent Carter (played by Hayley Atwell) but even that television show has now been cancelled and the character passing from old age in the most recent Captain America outing). Heck, even DC‘s Wonder Woman has beaten Marvel to the punch.
Marvel has announced that there will be a Captain Marvel film and today at the SDCC there was the official confirmation that the character will be played by Brie Larson, Oscar winner for her role in The Room and about to be seen in Kong: Skull Island. It’s something of a worse-kept-secret with her name being in the mix for some time. However she appeared on stage at the San Diego event when the announcement was made. Other names who had previously been fan favourites to win the role were the likes of Emily Blunt and Battlestar Galactica‘s Katee Sackhoff
Larson will play Carol Danvers, the most recent recipient of the superhero mantle in the comics continuity and a key player in the current Civil War II story-arc playing out in Marvel’s monthlies. The original Captain Marvel was the alien character that was famously killed off in 1982’s The Death of Captain Marvel graphic novel, passing due to cancer – a radical and darkly realistic move at the time. Carol Danvers became Ms Marvel in the late 1970s though had a name change and redesign to honour the original in 2012. It is this modern comics version, a more militaristic take and emphasising her background as an Air Force-trained pilot that is believed to be the focus of the eventual film.
It is not known if the character will appear before her solo outing, currently destined for March 2019.
