'Captain Marvel' Release Date, Cast News: Ben Mendelsohn to Play Villain?
Casting for "Captain Marvel," which will headline Oscar-winning actress Brie Larson, is slowly taking shape. Ben Mendelsohn is reportedly in talks to become the villain and it's a part that fits the actor perfectly.
Mendelsohn will play the leader of the Skrulls in "Captain Marvel" if negotiations go well. Movie fans will recognize the actor in another villainous role. He played the big bad Orson Krennic who antagonized Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) and Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) in "Star Wars: Rogue One."
Marvel studio president Kevin Feige stated during the Comic-Con event in June that Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers will be up against aliens and the Skrulls aren't new to the world of Marvel. Their race, which has the ability to shape-shift, was introduced in the Marvel "Fantastic Four" comic series in 1962. The Skrulls also appeared in "X-Men: The Animated Series" in the 1990s.
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Filming for "Captain Marvel" will begin in February 2018 with a March 2019 theater release. The movie will be set years before the events that took place in the 2008 "Iron Man" film, which anchored the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and ushered the "Avengers" franchise.
Feige revealed that Captain Marvel was in space the whole time the Avengers fought its enemies on Earth. Hence, her character will mark her first appearance in "Avengers 4," which will also be released in theaters in 2019.
Her solo movie, however, will be a completely separate story from the MCU. "Captain Marvel" will be the studio's first female-led superhero flick and Feige teased she is Marvel's strongest character.
"If you had the collector cards of the Marvel characters and you could see the power levels, she would be off the charts compared to anyone that we've previously introduced in a film," the head honcho told Variety.
The character is an officer of the U.S. Air Force who injured herself during an explosion of an alien device. She later developed superhuman abilities and became a human-Kree hybrid. Aside from her superior endurance, power, and stamina, Captain Marvel can resist poisons and manipulate energy and gravity. She can also travel at light speeds and survive in space.
