The rumour mill is running wild with reports that Charlize Theron is going to suit up as the ‘Avenging’ Captain Marvel with Angelina Jolie as Director (!!!).
Captain Marvel’s origin story will be written by Nicole Perlman (who co-wrote Guardians of the Galaxy) and Meg LeFauve, and will also be Marvel Studios first ever film lead by a female character, as part of their Phase 3 line-up.
In the comic books, Captain Marvel (who for many years went by the codename ‘Ms. Marvel’) is Carol Danvers, a former fighter pilot turned Avenger, who is Marvel’s answer to a cosmic Superman and is really quite powerful. An accident exposed her to alien technology which altered her human genes and gave her a set of incredible powers.
Putting it simply, she can fly fast through space, punch as strong as Thor, deflect bullets, and do lots of really powerful things with all kinds of energy like absorb it and blast it from her hands.
Her greatest power though is that she’s a strong-willed feminist who doesn’t take shit from anyone.
Yep, she’s a whole lot of badass.
You get the picture. Charlize physically looks like Captain Marvel, as if she was lifted from the ink of the comic books pages, so much that their likeness is uncanny.
But it’ll take more than “looks” to pull off Carol Danvers. Naturally, Charlize would make an excellent Captain Marvel and from what we’ve seen of her on screen she’d be just the person who’d give Carol justice, given the amount of gravitas and layers she can bring to a character, even one that is so badass.
Although Carol Danvers is the tough talking, brawling and brave Captain Marvel we know and love, Carol is also loved for her flaws with her impatience, quick temper and stubbornness sometimes taking the lead (and getting her into trouble).
She struggles with problems that she can’t fix with a punch. Although she can be a “shoot first, ask questions later” kind of person and could make a powerful enemy, Carol’s heart is true and she’s kept grounded by her love for her friends and a deep sense of loyalty to them and a vulnerability that she rarely lets anyone see.
Captain Marvel was going to debut in Avengers: Age Of Ultron but Marvel Studios Head of Production Kevin Feige said in an interview that her cameo would be a disservice to the character,
[Captain Marvel] was in a draft. But to me, it would have done that character a disservice, to meet her fully formed, in a costume and part of the Avengers already when 99% of the audience would go, ‘Who is that?’ It’s just not the way we’ve done it before.Thanos is the good ‘Who’s that,’ because he’s clearly a bad guy, for comic fans he represents a specific storyline, you can get the buzz started from fans to non-fans with that cameo – as opposed to a title character, who deserves their own story. Even Black Widow you don’t meet in the last two seconds of Iron Man 2 wearing her costume – you evolve that going forward.
The way we reveal Scarlet Witch [in costume] at the end of the movie? Those were Captain Marvel plate shots. Joss said, ‘We’ll cast her later!’ And I said, ‘Yeah Joss, we’ll cast her later.’ [Whispers to an invisible associate who isn’t Joss] ‘We’re not putting her in there!’
Finally Joss was like ‘Let’s use those plates to let Scarlet Witch fly into frame, give her a big entrance?’ And that makes sense – she’s come to their side, and she deserves the cool intro, which will feed into another movie we start shooting in a few weeks.
A scene from Age Of Ultron that Feige is referring to, in which Captain Marvel was going to appear.
It’s uncertain when Carol will be introduced to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, whether or not she will debut earlier than the self-titled Captain Marvel movie in 2018, but receiving her powers from an alien race called the Kree is more than possible, as their existence was confirmed in Marvel’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Guardians Of the Galaxy.
Marvel’s focus at the moment is on bringing in the new Spider-Man for Captain America: Civil War, but it would be wise to bring in Captain Marvel to aid the Avengers before Avengers: Infinity War. Carol Danvers is a powerhouse and the Avengers will need all the help they can get to fight Thanos, with the combined power of the Infinity stones and his armies at his command.
Here’s a few fun facts about Captain Marvel to get you excited for her entrance to the Marvel Cinematic Universe:
1. She outranks Captain America
“Captain” Marvel retired from the United States Airforce as a Colonel (which outranks a Captain), being one of the youngest superior officers in history, having quickly risen the ranks. Her title of “Captain Marvel” is only a heroic call sign, not of rank. Captain America is still leader of the Avengers and a great friend to Carol. It would be great to see this included in the films!
2. Her best friend is Spider-Woman
Carol’s best friend is Jessica Drew (who’s a little bit weird but in an endearing way), she’s also known as Spider-Woman. They have fantastic banter between each other which I hope to see make it to the big screen some day.
3. She loves Star Wars
Carol is a passionate Star Wars fan (her cat is also named ‘Chewie’!).
4. She’s friends with the Guardians Of the Galaxy
Through her adventures across the universe, Carol has fought alongside the Guardians on a few occasions and has a somewhat antagonistic friendship with Rocket who tried to kill her cat once on the belief that it was an alien.
5. She has been an airline for many heroes.
Carol’s strength and power to fly has been useful many times, here’s some of the heroes Carol has lifted up when they needed it the most:
Captain America
Spider-Man
Black Widow
Scarlet Witch
Star Lord
6. Someone else is Ms. Marvel now
Carol’s former Avengers codename that she had for many years, ‘Ms. Marvel’, is now being honoured by Kamala Khan, an Inhuman with the power to shapeshift, who is also a very big fan of Carol Danvers.
7. She hates snakes.
Including snake people. She probably loves Indiana Jones, too.
While there are many actresses rumoured to be attached to the role of Captain Marvel, let’s hope that Marvel Studios are listening and that Charlize Theron is up for it, because I couldn’t imagine anyone but her as our flying-punching-blasting Avenger Carol Danvers!
Captain Marvel is in cinemas November 2 2018 (sigh. such a long waaaait.)
