by Nathaniel R
Brie Larson training with a real pilot
As you've undoubtedly heard given that half the internet (at least) is a conveyor belt for Marvel Studios propaganda news, Captain Marvel began shooting yesterday. Brie Larson headlines Marvel's first female driven superhero film. Despite the company's cultural prominence they didn't get to female heroes first. That honor actually belongs to the all but forgotten Supergirl (1984). If you only want to count the modern superhero film era (i.e. post X-Men, 2000) the honor belongs to the much-reviled Catwoman (2004), which was followed by the also-reviled Elektra (2005), and the also-also reviled My Super Ex Girlfriend (2006). If you want to only count the post-Marvel Studios world (i.e. 2008's Iron Man,was ground zero) they still didn't manage "first!" dibs but we shouldn't dwell on their priority problems. Thankfully Warner Bros / DC's Wonder Woman (2017) was beloved and hopefully signalled a turning point in the fate of the female hero subgenre...
That it even has to be a subgenre is maddening since women make up half the population! (Sigh)
Contrary to frequent internet rumors for the past two years, Captain Marvel will not be appearing in Avengers: Infinity War and, as it turns out, her film is set in the 1990s. From the press release:
Brie running to Jude Law on set
The story follows Carol Danvers as she becomes one of the universe’s most powerful heroes when Earth is caught in the middle of a galactic war between two alien races. Set in the 1990s, “Captain Marvel” is an all-new adventure from a previously unseen period in the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Given that Carol Danvers is from Earth and Earth is somehow involved, isn't it a bit odd that nobody in any of the contemporary set Marvel films have mentioned her? Or is this a sneaky way to reboot the whole universe and recast younger cheaper actors as all the A-list heroes going forward? Sorry. We shouldn't give them any ideas since we like the current actors.
Joining Brie Larson in the cast are mandatory regulars and presumably de-aged S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Samuel L. Jackson and Clark Gregg. Djimon Hounsou and Lee Pace will be reprising their Guardians of the Galaxy roles. Ben Mendelsohn and Gemma Chan are the villains. Rounding out the cast are Lashana Lynch, Algenis Perez Soto, Rune Temte, McKenna Grace, and Jude Law as the original Captain Marvel (who presumably hands the title over to Brie at some point?). The film is due in theaters on March 8th, 2019 so next year we actually get TWO female superhero films -- *GAY GASP* -- since Wonder Woman 2 is due in November, 2019.
In the meantime we'll just be over here waiting for the long long looooong overdue Black Widow movie. STILL. Even Ant-Man has two movies already (almost). And we'll be over here wondering when we're getting a gay superhero though we won't hold out breath.
Petition for Marvel to stop using the rainbow to promote the MCU films until they give us an LGBTQ hero pic.twitter.com/fP6XCt62ED
— Nathaniel Rogers (@nathanielr) March 26, 2018
[Re: this tweet -- You'll remember they also used rainbow colored character posters to promote Thor Ragnarok!]
At least Marvel deigned to let TWO female superheroes be prominently featured in movie posters for Infinity War with Black Widow and Scarlet Witch. Is this a promise that they'll actually have something major to do in the movie? Probably. We hear that Scarlet Witch and Vision's romance is a major thread in Infinity War though we won't hold our breath for a magical android sex scene since Marvel doesn't acknowledge body parts unless they're used for punching or kicking... or split-second bare-chested pride in how hard the male stars have been working out.