San Diego Comic-Con 2016: Oscar Winner Brie Larson Joins MCU as Captain Marvel
By now every genre fan worth their DSL connection has heard the biggest news announced by comic/movie/television behemoth Marvel at the 2016 San Diego Comic-Con (discussed in our H2O podcast).
Oscar-winning actress Brie Larson (Room, 2015) will star as iconic Air Force test pilot turned human-alien hybrid superhero Captain Marvel. While no director has been announced, Meg LaFauve (Inside Out) and Nicole Perlman (Guardians of the Galaxy) are working on the screenplay for the scheduled 2019 release.
2019’s Captain Marvel and the “Untitled Avengers Sequel” will be the last movies released in “Phase Three” of the Marvel Cinematic Universe release plan overseen by Marvel Studios head honcho Kevin Fiege.
While it’s wonderful to see a longstanding and beloved character like Captain Marvel in the solo feature spotlight, it also reminds fans of a puzzlement. That being the mystery of now a movie series as successful as the MCU has been in both commercial and financial terms cannot find room in it’s schedule for the female character who’s been a part of the series since 2010’s Iron Man 2.
That character, of course, is Black Widow.
Black Widow waits for her solo feature film … and waits … and waits
Has the time passed for Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (in her current incarnation at least) to get her own movie? Is Scarlett Johansson just too busy? SciFi4Me podcasts have been discussing the “Black Widow issue” since 2015 (H2O) and 2016 (SciFi4Chicks). Whatever the actual reasons, MCU has had a long standing challenge bringing their female superheroes to the big screen (and toy section shelves).
For all the flaws in planning (or lack thereof) and execution, Warner Bros. has demonstrated a corporate flexibility to adapt their plans for their movies as circumstances dictate that Marvel Studios has not; from deciding to reconfigure the second Man of Steel movie into the beginning of their Cinematic Universe to restructuring their entire studio setup after underwhelming box office and critical reception to Batman V Superman. The reception of the Patty Jenkins-directed Wonder Woman solo feature in 2017 may change those plans yet again.
So while fans cheer Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel’s introduction in one of the last movies of Marvel’s Phase Three, let’s hope they find some room in Phase Four to send Natasha Romanoff on her own big screen Black Widow adventure.
Comic-Con – Official Site
