Captain Marvel (film)
| Captain Marvel | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by |
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| Produced by | Kevin Feige |
| Screenplay by |
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| Story by |
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| Based on |
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| Starring | |
| Music by | Pinar Toprak |
| Cinematography | Ben Davis |
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Production
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| Distributed by | Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures |
Release date
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Running time
| 124 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $152–175 million[2][3] |
| Box office | $1.128 billion[4] |
Captain Marvel is a 2019 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Carol Danvers. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the twenty-first film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film is written and directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, with Geneva Robertson-Dworet also contributing to the screenplay. Brie Larson stars as Danvers, alongside Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Djimon Hounsou, Lee Pace, Lashana Lynch, Gemma Chan, Annette Bening, Clark Gregg, and Jude Law. Set in 1995, the story follows Danvers as she becomes Captain Marvel after Earth is caught in the center of a galactic conflict between two alien civilizations.
Development of the film began as early as May 2013. It was officially announced in October 2014 as Marvel Studios' first female-led superhero film. Nicole Perlman and Meg LeFauve were hired as a writing team the following April after submitting separate takes on the character. The story borrows elements from Roy Thomas's 1971 "Kree–Skrull War" comic book storyline. Larson was announced as Danvers at the 2016 San Diego Comic-Con, with Boden and Fleck hired to direct in April 2017. Robertson-Dworet soon took over scripting duties, with the remainder of the cast added by the start of filming. Location shooting began in January 2018, with principal photography beginning that March in California before concluding in Louisiana in July 2018. Jackson and Gregg—who, among others, reprise their roles from previous MCU films—were digitally de-aged in post-production to reflect the film's 1990s setting.
Captain Marvel premiered in London on February 27, 2019, and was theatrically released in the United States on March 8, 2019, in IMAX and 3D. The film grossed over $1.1 billion worldwide, making it the first female-led superhero film to pass the billion-dollar mark. It is currently the third-highest-grossing film of 2019, and became the ninth-highest-grossing superhero film of all time as well as the 22nd-highest-grossing film overall. The film received praise for the performances of the cast, particularly that of Larson. A sequel is in development.
Plot
In 1995, on the Kree Empire's capital planet of Hala, Starforce member Vers suffers from amnesia and recurring nightmares involving an older woman. Yon-Rogg, her mentor and commander, trains her to control her abilities while the Supreme Intelligence, the artificial intelligence that rules the Kree, urges her to keep her emotions in check.
During a mission to rescue an undercover operative infiltrating a group of Skrulls, alien shapeshifters with whom the Kree are at war, Vers is captured by Skrull commander Talos. A probe of Vers's memories leads them to Earth. Vers escapes and crash-lands in Los Angeles. Her presence attracts S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Nick Fury and Phil Coulson, whose investigation is interrupted by a Skrull attack. In the ensuing chase, Vers recovers a crystal containing her extracted memories while Fury kills a Skrull impersonating Coulson. Talos, disguised as Fury's boss Keller, orders Fury to work with Vers and keep tabs on her.
Using her extracted memories, Vers and Fury go to the Project Pegasus installation at a U.S. Air Force base. They discover Vers was a pilot presumed to have died in 1989 while testing an experimental light-speed engine designed by Dr. Wendy Lawson, whom Vers recognizes as the woman from her nightmares. After Fury informs S.H.I.E.L.D. of their location, a team led by Talos disguised as Keller arrives. Fury discovers Talos's ruse and helps Vers escape in a cargo jet with Lawson's stowaway cat Goose. They fly to Louisiana to meet former pilot Maria Rambeau, the last person to see Vers and Lawson alive.
Rambeau and her daughter Monica reveal that Vers is Carol Danvers, who was once like family to them. Talos, arriving unarmed, explains that the Skrulls are refugees searching for a new home and that Lawson was Mar-Vell, a renegade Kree scientist helping them. Talos plays a recovered recording from Lawson's jet, prompting Danvers to remember the crash: Lawson was killed by Yon-Rogg to prevent her from destroying the engine before the Kree could recover it. Destroying the engine herself, Danvers absorbed the energy from the ensuing explosion, gaining powers but losing her memory.
Danvers, Talos, Fury, and Rambeau locate Lawson's cloaked laboratory orbiting Earth, where Lawson hid several Skrulls, including Talos's family, and the Tesseract, the power source of Lawson's engine. There, Danvers is captured by Starforce and interfaces with the Supreme Intelligence. During their conversation, Danvers removes the Kree implant that was suppressing her powers, allowing her to reach her full potential. In the subsequent battle, Fury retrieves Goose, who is revealed to be an alien Flerken. Goose swallows the Tesseract and scratches Fury, blinding his left eye. Danvers destroys a Kree bomber, forcing Kree officer Ronan the Accuser and his squadron to retreat, before overpowering Yon-Rogg on Earth and sending him back to Hala with a warning to the Supreme Intelligence.
Danvers departs to help the Skrulls find a new homeworld, leaving Fury a modified pager to contact her in an emergency. Meanwhile, Fury drafts an initiative to locate heroes like Danvers, naming it after her Air Force call sign, "Avenger". In a mid-credits scene, set in 2018, the activated pager[N 1] is being monitored by the Avengers when Danvers appears.[N 2] In a post-credits scene, Goose climbs onto Fury's desk and regurgitates the Tesseract.
Cast
- Brie Larson as Carol Danvers / Vers / Captain Marvel:
An ex-U.S. Air Force fighter pilot and member of an elite Kree military unit called Starforce whose DNA was altered during an accident, imbuing her with superhuman strength, energy projection, and flight.[7][8][9] Larson described Danvers as a "believer in truth and justice" and a "bridge between Earth and space",[10] who must balance her "unemotional" Kree side that is an "amazing fighter" with her "flawed" human half that is "the thing that she ends up leading by."[9] Larson also called Danvers aggressive, quick-tempered, and invasive—attributes that help her in a fight but prove to be character flaws.[11] Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige said Larson was cast because of her ability to balance the character's vast powers with her humanity.[12] Due to concern that Larson (who was 26 when she was cast) was too young to portray an accomplished airman, screenwriter Nicole Perlman consulted with the Air Force, who said it was possible for someone "to go very far" between the ages of 28 and 34.[13] Larson trained for nine months for the role, learning judo, boxing, and wrestling.[9][14] She also visited Nellis Air Force Base and met with active duty airmen, including Brigadier General Jeannie Leavitt and Thunderbirds pilot Major Stephen Del Bagno, in preparation for the role.[15][16][17] Mckenna Grace portrays the 13-year-old Carol Danvers,[15][18][19] while London Fuller portrays her as a 6-year-old.[19] - Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury:
The future director of S.H.I.E.L.D., who at this time is a low-level bureaucrat.[20] Fury appears without his signature eye patch as the film is set before he loses his eye.[21] Feige explained that Danvers is the first superhero that Fury has come across,[22] which sets him on a path to where the character is in the modern MCU films.[23] Jackson described Fury at this point as a desk jockey, who has not yet become cynical towards bureaucracy and who learns in the film that there are superpowered beings who could help S.H.I.E.L.D.'s cause.[24] Jackson added that trusting Danvers plays a key role in his development, as they become "compatriots" throughout the film.[25] Jackson was digitally de-aged by 25 years, the first time Marvel has done this for an entire film.[26] - Ben Mendelsohn as Talos / Keller:
The shape-shifting leader of the Skrull invasion of Earth, who is working undercover within S.H.I.E.L.D. as Fury's boss, Keller.[27] Mendelsohn described Talos's human persona as "buttoned up" compared to his "more laid back" Skrull persona. Mendelsohn differentiated between the two by using an American accent inspired by former United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld for the human disguise, and his native Australian accent for Talos; the latter was chosen, after a "lengthy discussion", due to what Mendelsohn called "earthy correctness". The makeup and prosthetics necessary to portray Talos took "a couple of hours" to apply.[27] Executive producer Johnathan Schwartz added that "it's sort of fun to show off both the Skrull's powers and Ben's range as an actor because he's very different in all of those parts."[25] Emily Ozrey and Abigaille Ozrey portray Talos's surfer girl forms while Duane Henry does Talos's Kree soldier disguise. - Djimon Hounsou as Korath:
A Kree swordsman and second-in-command of Starforce.[28][29] Hounsou explained that Korath was "at his infancy" in the film compared to his appearance in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), but was "still a humorless machine".[30] - Lee Pace as Ronan the Accuser:
A high-ranking Kree official.[28][31] Compared to his appearance in Guardians of the Galaxy, Ronan is not yet a "radical zealot", with his role in the Kree military intersecting with Starforce "in an interesting way".[25] - Lashana Lynch as Maria Rambeau:
One of Danvers's oldest friends and a fellow Air Force pilot who goes by the call sign "Photon". She is a single mother to daughter Monica. Lynch described Rambeau as "resilient" and someone "that you don't feel like you need to help".[32] Larson called Rambeau "the representation of love" in the film and "an incredible badass". She described the friendship between Danvers and Rambeau as equal, with "a playful competitiveness [and a] mutual respect".[33] Like Larson, Lynch met with active duty airmen in preparation for the role. In particular, she met with pilots who are also mothers. Lynch was excited to portray a character the audience would be proud of and could relate to, especially mothers and members of the black community, helping to continue "a real through-line" for African-American characters in the MCU after Black Panther (2018).[32] - Gemma Chan as Minn-Erva:
A Kree sniper and member of Starforce.[30][34] Chan explained that Minn-Erva was "the star of Starforce" before Danvers joined the team and is "slightly threatened by someone else who has come in and is also very talented."[30] - Annette Bening as the Supreme Intelligence and Mar-Vell / Dr. Wendy Lawson:[35]
An artificial intelligence that is the collective embodiment of the greatest minds of the Kree people, and the ruler of the Kree Empire.[36][37] The Supreme Intelligence appears in different forms to each person, specifically as Dr. Wendy Lawson to Vers. Jude Law stated each member of Starforce has a "particular relationship" with the Supreme Intelligence, and that his character has a "divine sense of purpose because of his relationship with this greater being".[25] Bening also portrays rebel Kree scientist Mar-Vell, who uses the name of Dr. Wendy Lawson to disguise herself on Earth. As Dr. Lawson, she was also Danvers's old boss.[35] - Clark Gregg as Phil Coulson:
A rookie agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. who works closely with Fury.[20] Gregg stated that Coulson would be younger in the film and "a bit of a new guy in S.H.I.E.L.D. ... It's the earliest we will have seen him [in the MCU], so when he says, 'Mr. Stark, this isn't my first rodeo' in Iron Man (2008), this is maybe the rodeo he's talking about."[38] He felt "there was something really special about going back to the early days when [Coulson] was just kind of coming up the ranks" and had to work to portray Coulson "a little less crusty and jaded" as he is in the present of the MCU.[20] Responding to the fact that Coulson has encountered the Kree on the MCU television series, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Schwartz stated that in Captain Marvel, Kree is not even "part of his vocabulary yet", and the film gets "to focus on him as he is so we don't need to worry about the stuff he's going to encounter later".[39] Like Jackson, Gregg was digitally de-aged by 25 years.[26] - Jude Law as Yon-Rogg:[19][40]
The commander of Starforce and Danvers's mentor, who trains her to use her new powers.[11][41][42] Law said that his character is "driven by a belief in the divine leadership of the Kree people. So he's almost a devout warrior—unquestioning, conservative, but inspirational." Law also stated that his character has a special relationship with Danvers, whom he views as a protégée, which becomes a source of tension in the film with the other members of Starforce. Robert Downey Jr., who portrays Tony Stark in the MCU films and who co-starred with Law in Sherlock Holmes (2009) and its sequel (2011), counseled him on working with Marvel before Law took the part.[34]
Additionally, Algenis Pérez Soto and Rune Temte portray Att-Lass and Bron-Char, respectively, both members of Starforce; Att-Lass is the marksman of the team, while Bron-Char is the "bigger, stronger guy who fights with his fists".[15][29] Maria's daughter, Monica Rambeau appears, played by Akira Akbar as an eleven-year-old, while Azari Akbar portrays her as a five-year-old.[19][43] Sharon Blynn portrays Soren, Talos' wife.[44] Robert Kazinsky appears as a biker nicknamed "The Don".[19] Vik Sahay plays a Torfan.[19] Chuku Modu portrays Soh-Larr.[19] Colin Ford appears as Danvers's brother, Steve,[19] while Kenneth Mitchell plays their father.[19] Danvers's comic book cat Chewie (named for the Star Wars character Chewbacca) appears in the film, renamed Goose for the Top Gun (1986) character Nick "Goose" Bradshaw,[25][45] and is portrayed by four different cats, Reggie, Archie, Rizzo and Gonzo. Each cat was chosen based on their actions and personalities.[25]
Real life air force pilots Matthew "Spider" Kimmel and Stephen "Cajun" Del Bagno appear as themselves.[19] Del Bagno died months prior to the film's release,[46] and it is dedicated to his memory.[47] Captain Marvel comic book writer Kelly Sue DeConnick has a cameo as a train station passerby,[25] and Stan Lee, co-creator of the first Captain Marvel, appears posthumously as himself as a train passenger memorizing the lines for his Mallrats cameo.[48] Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, and Don Cheadle appear as Steve Rogers / Captain America, Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow, Bruce Banner / Hulk, and James Rhodes / War Machine in the mid-credits scene, which ties directly to Avengers: Endgame.[6]
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