Before the Marvel Cinematic wraps up Phase Three in May 2019 with Avengers 4, moviegoers will be treated to the franchise's first superheroine-led movie, Captain Marvel. Brie Larson will be bring Carol Danvers to life in live action, and over the past few months her supporting cast has started to fill in. The latest update is that Marvel has tapped Jude Law to play a key role in Captain Marvel: Carol's mentor.
Jude law is currently in negotiations with Marvel to hop on board Captain Marvel as one of the leads, Dr. Walter Lawson, better known by comic book fans as Mar-Vell. Variety's Justin Kroll also mentioned in a separate tweet that Keanu Reeves also considered taking this role, but ultimately passed. While Brie Larson is the only officially confirmed Captain Marvel star right now, Samuel L. Jackson is expected to reprise Nick Fury, while Ben Mendelsohn is being eyed to play the movie's main villain.
In the Marvel Comics universe, Mar-Vell was originally a Kree spy sent to determine if Earth posed a threat to the Kree empire, but he soon became one of humanity's newest superheroes, Captain Marvel. It was through his Dr. Walter Lawson human guise that he met Carol Danvers, and when Carol was caught in the explosion of a Kree device, Mar-Vell shielded her from the radiation. That event led to Carol absorbing some of Mar-Vell's Kree DNA, subsequently giving her superpowers and kicking off her superhero career as Ms. Marvel. Mar-Vell perished in the early 1980s of cancer, but he has occasionally been resurrected or seen in the afterlife, and Carol is now carrying on the Captain Marvel title in his memory. Outside of the comics, Mar-Vell has appeared in the animated series Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, as well as several video games.
Jude Law is no stranger to Hollywood franchises, having starred as John Watson in the Robert Downey Jr.-led Sherlock Holmes movies and will soon be seen as Albus Dumbledore in Fantastic Beasts and the Crimes of Grindelwald, but is a deal is finalized on Captain Marvel, it will be his first foray into the world of superheroes. As for the Captain Marvel movie itself, it will take place in the 1990s and see Carol Danvers battling the shape-shifting Skrulls, who, like in the comics, have been at war with the Kree for years. Presumably the Skrulls' presence on Earth is the reason that Mar-Vell has established a human identity in Captain Marvel; the Kree want him to find out what their enemies are up to. Super spy Nick Fury, who at this point in time still has two working eyes, will also somehow be drawn into this mess.
Directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, with Geneva Robertson-Dworet tackling the most recent script draft, Captain Marvel flies into theaters on March 8, 2019. You can also browse through our Marvel movies guide to see what other projects this franchise has coming soon.
