Unless you’ve been living under a rock, or have inexplicably time-travelled back to the ’90s, you’ll be aware that Captain Marvel – the latest instalment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe – is hitting cinemas soon. Very soon.
You’ll also probably be aware that it’s the story of Carol Danvers, as US Airforce Pilot, who’ll go on to become a member of Kree military team Starforce, not to mention one of the most powerful heroes the MCU has ever seen.
Played by Oscar-winning actress Brie Larson (Room), Captain Marvel is the person Nick Fury chose to contact in his final moments after Avengers: Infinity War’s fateful snap. Set in the ’90s, the film is a sort of origin story for Captain Marvel, and should explain why Fury opted to keep her on speed-dial (well, speed-page).
You can take a new look at the new Marvel movie in the exclusive images below, courtesy of our sister publication Total Film magazine, featuring Brie Larson’s Danvers in a leather jacket and Nine Inch Nails T-shirt, as well as a behind-the scenes shot of Larson on set with directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, and Ben Mendelsohn as shapeshifting Skrull, Talos. Check them out below:
Taking inspiration from the Kelly Sue DeConnick comics run, the film will take the ‘higher, further, faster’ mantra and run with it. Directors Boden and Fleck were attracted to Danvers’s “grit, determination, humour, her friendships with other women, her heart,” they tell Total Film, but as they are best known for indies like Mississippi Grind and Half Nelson, they reached out to another director from the Marvel stable before leaping in.
“When we were first circling this movie, we got a great piece of advice from [Black Panther director] Ryan Coogler,” says Fleck. “He said, ‘It’s multi-years of your life. You better damn well like this character. And you better be telling a story you want to tell.'” Adds Boden, “There have been a lot of moments where we’ve been driven to sheer exhaustion. Just being able to be like, ‘Phew. We love this movie and we love this character’ has been really important.”
Star Larson is also better known for smaller indie movies, so equally had some trepidation when it came to fronting a huge franchise film. “I realised what they were trying to do with this movie was basically everything I ever wanted on this crazy international scale,” Larson tells Total Film. “And I just felt like I needed to believe in myself – that I’m clever enough to figure it out.”
Captain Marvel opens in the US and the UK on March 8, and you can read all about it in the new issue of Total Film magazine, which hits shelves this Friday, February 8. For much more from Larson, Boden, Fleck, Samuel L. Jackson, Clark Gregg and Gemma Chan, check it out.
If you’re a fan of Total Film, why not subscribe, so that you never miss an issue, and you’ll also get exclusive subscriber-only covers like the one below, delivered directly to your doormat before it hits shelves? What are you waiting for?!
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