'Captain Marvel' Screenwriter on the Challenges of Bringing Hero to the Big Screen

Originally announced back in 2014, there's been little news about Marvel's Captain Marvel movie, which has been seemingly sluggish in getting underway beyond the announcement of Brie Larson as the movie's lead and the hiring of the movie's writers. Now, Nicole Perlman, one of the two writers assigned to the feature, has talked about some potential reasons behind the delay.

"Meg [LeFauve] and I were hired a long time ago but we didn’t have our marching orders until recently," Perlman said on the latest episode of the Great Big Beautiful Podcast, when talking about the current state of the Captain Marvel screenplay. (The two were brought onboard the project two years ago.) "Marvel is a little bit of a house of cards in a sense that everything influences everything around it even if its very modular. Figuring out where the story fits in the MCU influences things as well."

Continuity isn't the only problem, Perlman suggested; there's also finding a space for Captain Marvel inside the increasingly crowded MCU. "She’s an incredible character, but I will also say that since Marvel has done so many movies already, you really have to go out of your way to make sure her story is fresh and doesn’t borrow too heavily from the other films," she said. "She’s an incredibly strong and wonderful hero, but all the Marvel characters are. So you just need to figure out how to bring her to life in a way that's unique to her story but in a way that honors the canon and also gearing out the roles that she needs to play with everything that’s going on in the MCU."

All of those pressures, she suggested, makes Captain Marvel "a little bit of a Twister game whereas Guardians [of the Galaxy, Perlman's previously screenplay for Marvel] is very free, where it’s like the sky is the limit."

And that's even before you get to the fact that Perlman and LeFauve have to navigate the fact that the movie will be Marvel's first female-led feature in more than a decade of filmmaking. "I think theres a tendency to have that back and forth conversation of 'Should it affect the story at all?' or 'Should it affect the writing?'" Perlman admitted, adding, "There are certain tropes you can get away without having to examine too much if you’re not writing the first female Marvel Studios lead; that could be read into a lot or that could diminish hero own proactivity, strength, and independence. There are things you wouldn’t think twice about Iron Man but you would think twice about for Captain Marvel."

The feature is currently scheduled for a March 8 2019 release, although it has already been pushed back twice since its initial announcement; it was originally targeted for July 6, 2018.

'Captain Marvel' Finds Its Directors

Mississippi Grind directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck will direct Brie Larson in Captain Marvel, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.

Guardians of the Galaxy's Nicole Perlman and Inside Out's Meg LeFauve wrote the script for the Marvel Studios film, which will be produced by Kevin Feige.

Boden and Fleck landed the job after an extensive search. Last summer, Marvel had whittled down its list of contenders to Niki Caro, Lesli Linka Glatter and Lorene Scafaria for the highly coveted helming gig, which will mark Marvel's first female-centric tentpole. The studio was making the hiring of a woman a priority for the project.

But Marvel was very deliberate in its decision-making, conducting several rounds of additional searches. The studio met with Lucia Aniello, who directed the upcoming female-centric raunchy comedy Rough Night, earlier this year even as it continued sharpening the script. Fifty Shades of Grey's Sam Taylor-Johnson, who helmed the highest-grossing movie of all time for a female director, also is said to have been approached. Earlier in the process, Jennifer Kent (The Babadook) and Jennifer Yuh (Kung Fu Panda 2) had been in the mix.

Along with Mississippi Grind, Boden and Fleck's other feature credits include the the 2006 Ryan Gosling starrer Half Nelson, which earned the actor his first Oscar nomination, though the bulk of the duo's work has been done in TV, including episodes of The Affair and Billions.

The pair is not the first that Marvel has pulled from television. The Russo brothers, who directed the last two acclaimed Captain America films and will helm the next Avengers installment, Infinity War, were also filmmakers that did a bulk of their work on the small screen.

Captain Marvel has a release date of March 8, 2019, which will come nearly two years after DC releases its own female superhero movie, Wonder Woman, directed by Patty Jenkins (Warner Bros. opens the Gal Gadot starrer on June 2).

Boden and Fleck are repped by WME and Management 360.

Captain Marvel is a period piece

The ‘90s are hot right now, as are films about woman superheroes set in the past (thanks, Wonder Woman!). So why not combine the two and set Captain Marvel, which won’t be out until 2019, in the ‘90s? Who wouldn’t want to see Carol Danvers feeling bummed as the music of Stone Temple Pilots plays?

Feige revealed only a very little bit about the upcoming Captain Marvel film, which hasn’t even started shooting yet and only recently acquired its directors (Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, the indie auteurs behind movies like Half Nelson). But flashing back to the ‘90s will allow Carol to hang out with a version of Nick Fury with two eyes, so Samuel L. Jackson won’t have to wear that eyepatch all the time.

Oh, and the villains in the film? They’ll be the Skrulls, alien impersonators from outer space who played an important role in the Marvel crossover Secret Invasion, which is hotly rumored to play into the still-untitled Avengers 4, which is slated for release in 2019. The presence of the Skrulls in Captain Marvel suggests that may well be the case.

The only period Captain Marvel movie I want to see would be featuring Billy Batson, Dr. Sivana, Beautia,
and Venusians invading the Earth during the the 1940s World Fair.

Ben Mendelsohn in Talks to Play 'Captain Marvel' Villain

Ben Mendelsohn will spar with Brie Larson in Captain Marvel.

The Rogue One actor is in talks to play the villain in Marvel Studios' first female-fronted stand-alone, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.

Filmmaking duo Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, who directed Mendelsohn in 2015's Mississippi Grind, are helming the pic. The most recent draft for the 1990s-set feature comes from Tomb Raider writer Geneva Robertson-Dworet.

Captain Marvel, which has a release date of March 8, 2019, follows Carol Danvers (Larson), an Air Force pilot who gains powers after her DNA becomes fused with an alien after an accident. Samuel L. Jackson will play Nick Fury in the film.

There is no word yet on who exactly Mendelsohn will be playing. But at San Diego Comic-Con earlier this year, Marvel Studios head Kevin Fiege told Hall H that the movie's villains will be the The Skrulls, a race of shape-changing aliens who were introduced early on as antagonists in Marvel's comic book universe. They have been at the center of key storylines, including the 1970s Avengers arc The Kree-Skrull War, which saw them battle the Kree, an alien race featured in the 2014 movie Guardians of the Galaxy. They also used their shape-shifting abilities to infiltrate Earth over a number of years in the comics, resulting in the 2008-09 storyline Secret Invasion, in which it was revealed that key members of the comic book universe had long ago been replaced by aliens and they were now ready to take over.

Captain Marvel will not be the first foray into comic book fare for the English actor, who previously appeared in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises. Mendelsohn will next be seen as King George in the Winston Churchill drama The Darkest Hour and is set for Steven Speilberg's Ready Player One. He is repped by CAA and the U.K.'s United.

'Captain Marvel' Casts 'She's Gotta Have It' Star DeWanda Wise

DeWanda Wise is on her way to the Marvel Universe.

Wise, known for her work on the Spike Lee Netflix series She's Gotta Have It, is joining Marvel Studios' Captain Marvel in a supporting role, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.

Brie Larson is starring as the Marvel superhero for a film directed by duo Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck. Jude Law is also starring in the film, which is set in the 1990s and features Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury. Ben Mendelsohn is playing the film's villain. In the comics, Captain Marvel is the alter ego of Air Force pilot Carol Danvers, who becomes a hero when her DNA is fused with an alien's after an accident.

Wise stars as Nola Darling on She's Gotta Have It, which began streaming in November, and last year she was seen in the Fox event series Shot's Fired.

Captain Marvel opens March 8, 2019. Wise is repped by UTA.

Looks like the current comics costume with the color scheme of the original.

Gemma Chan Joins Brie Larson in 'Captain Marvel'

Gemma Chan, who starred on AMC’s Humans, has joined Brie Larson in Captain Marvel, Marvel Studios’ latest big-budget feature that is set to begin shooting next month, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.

Mississippi Grind directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck are helming the project that is set in the 1990s and tells of Carol Danvers (Larson), an Air Force pilot whose DNA fuses with that of an alien, sending her headlong into an intergalactic adventure.

The movie is Marvel’s first female-fronted superhero effort.

Chan will play Captain Minnerva, a geneticist from the alien race Kree. She is one of Marvel's antagonists in the comics.

Chan, who is repped by UTA and Independent Talent Group in the U.K., will next be seen in Crazy Rich Asians, Warner Bros.’ adaptation of the novel by Kevin Kwan, and previously appeared in Transformers: The Last Knight.

Lashana Lynch Replacing DeWanda Wise in 'Captain Marvel'

Lashana Lynch is in final negotiations to replace DeWanda Wise in Captain Marvel, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter.

The English actress would be joining the Marvel Studios feature after Wise had to drop out of the project due to scheduling conflicts with the second season of Netflix and Spike Lee's She's Gotta Have It.

Marvel could not be reached for comment.

Filmmaking duo Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck are directing the superhero studio's first female-fronted standalone, which stars Oscar-winner Brie Larson. Jude Law and Ben Mendelsohn will also star in the film, which is set in the 1990s and features Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury (with two eyes!).

In the comics, Captain Marvel is the alter ego of Air Force pilot Carol Danvers, who becomes a hero when her DNA is fused with an alien's after an accident.

Captain Marvel — out March 8, 2019 — marks the biggest role to date for Lynch, a Shondaland alum, who starred in the short-lived ABC period drama Still Star-Crossed. Lynch, who was awarded the Laurence Olivier Bursary while a student at AES, has also appeared in indie features Fast Girls and Brotherhood.

She is repped by ICM, the U.K.'s BWH and Alan Siegel.

'Captain Marvel' Rounds Out Cast with Familiar Marvel Names

Captain Marvel is going to be a blast from the past in more ways than one.

Fans already knew the '90s-set film would see Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) back in action, but Marvel Studios revealed Monday a number of familiar faces will be joining him.

Perhaps most noteworthy will be the return of Clark Gregg's Agent Phil Coulson, who was the glue of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's early films, popping up for small roles in Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Thor and The Avengers — where the character died (only to be revived to headline ABC's Agents of SHIELD). He has not appeared in an MCU film since.

Marvel also revealed Monday that two Guardians of the Galaxy actors will be reprising their roles from the 2014 film. Lee Pace once again will play Ronan the Accuser, who in the first Guardians film was a fanatical member of the alien race the Kree. He was thwarted as he attempted to destroy the planet of Xandar using an Infinity Stone. Djimon Hounsou will once again play Korath the Pursuer, a mercenary who works with Ronan (and who hurt the feelings of Chris Pratt's Star-Lord because he'd never heard of him).

Brie Larson leads Captain Marvel as Carol Danvers, a pilot who becomes a powerful hero after an accident involving an alien. The film follows Danvers as she finds herself with her powers when a galactic war fought by two alien races (presumably, the Kree and the Skrull) come to Earth. Production has begun on the film, and to celebrate Marvel released a photo of Larson researching the role at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada recently. It seems the film will take inspiration from the Kree-Skrull War storyline Marvel published from 1970-71 in Avengers #89 – 97. It went on to become one of the publisher's most influential arcs, as it saw the two alien races' battle come to Earth, as the Avengers, Fantastic Four, Captain Marvel and more tried to keep them at bay.

"If there were these two major, warlike races running around in the cosmos, it made sense to me that their intergalactic ambitions would eventually clash, if they hadn't already," writer Roy Thomas told The Hollywood Reporter in 2016 of penning the classic comics.

Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck are directing Captain Marvel, which also stars Ben Mendelsohn in a villain role, Jude Law, Lashana Lynch, Gemma Chan, Algenis Perez Soto, Rune Temte and McKenna Grace.

Captain Marvel is set to open March 8, 2019.

Coulson, Ronan and Korath.