With the introduction of both Spider-Man and Black Panther as part of Captain America: Civil War, all of the characters who will be leading Marvel films for the foreseeable future have now made their big screen bow, except one. While it sits near the end of Marvel’s Phase Three schedule, we know very little about what the studio’s plans are for Captain Marvel. The wheels do appear to be turning, however, as Marvel has reportedly met with an independent film director to discuss helming Marvel’s first female-led superhero movie, White Girl director Elizabeth Wood.
While certainly not a household name, Elizabeth Wood’s debut received a Grand Jury Prize nomination at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, and was picked up for distribution by Netflix. According to We Got This Covered, Wood met with Marvel last week to discuss directing Captain Marvel. The meeting was reportedly setup by Wood’s husband, producer Gabriel Nussbaum, though it’s not clear which side made the initial inquiry. Certainly, if the meeting took place, there was some degree of mutual interest.
While a brand new director like Elizabeth Wood might seem like an unusual choice, it’s not completely unlike Marvel. They recently tapped Taika Waititi to sit in the chair for Thor: Ragnarok, and while he has a bit more experience directing features than Wood, he’s just as new to comic book blockbusters, and also not a household name.
There is one name that is well-known that has been mentioned in connection with Captain Marvel previously, that of Angelina Jolie. It’s not clear how much truth there was to the report that Marvel was interested in getting the Unbroken director to help them create the MCU version of Carol Danvers. The fact that we haven’t heard anything in a year, and Marvel is reportedly talking to other directors, seems to imply that either that was never going to happen, or Jolie decided not to take the job.
While Marvel Studios has been able to build a remarkable cinematic universe that routinely breaks box office records, while also winning admiring critics, one place where they have been criticized has been their films’ diversity. This is why Captain Marvel is such an important film for the studio. It will be the first female-led feature within the MCU, and it will come two years after DC releases Wonder Woman as part of their DC Extended Universe, which is in its infancy compared to Marvel.
With a little under three years before Captain Marvel’s scheduled release date, there is certainly still enough time for Marvel to look at all of their options and make the best choice they can. At some point, however, they will need a director and a star in order to start getting an idea as to what this movie will eventually look like. Nearly every actress who has ever thrown a punch on screen has been rumored as a possible candidate for Carol Danvers, but no clear frontrunner has yet emerged.
