Captain Marvel made quite an impact in
Avengers: Endgame, but her future is very much up in the air as we currently have no idea whether her next solo movie will take place in the present day or return to the past to fill in some big gaps in the character's history.
Considering the fact that
Captain Marvel made over $1 billion at the box office, a sequel will definitely happen, but when I recently asked directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck about which time period they would select for a follow-up, the former chose her words carefully.
"I think that there are a ton of options for Carol and different storylines that could be explored. There's just a wealth of opportunity and I'll just leave it at that [Laughs]."
Fair enough! However, I had to ask if the filmmakers would be interested in following in the footsteps of the Russo Brothers by working on an
Avengers or female-led
A-Force movie, and after Boden responded with,
"Are you offering us a job? [Laughs]" Fleck added:
"I think we're fans of all these characters just like everyone else and we're just as excited to see what the potential is for all of them moving forward."
So, the directors are clearly keeping their options open and choosing their words carefully, but I did manage to get their thoughts on Carol's role in
Avengers: Endgame.
"I mean, [Endgame] is one of my favourite movies," Boden said.
"I loved it so much. It was such a rush to see her in that film when she comes in during the third act for that final battle, I literally almost jumped out of my seat and I definitely screamed very loudly [Laughs]. It was really exciting."
We'll have more for you from both directors later today, but it's hard to imagine Marvel Studios not bringing them back for
Captain Marvel 2. Throw in the fact that the departure of the Russo Brothers means they need to find someone new to take charge of
The Avengers franchise, and we could see Boden and Fleck's role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe increase greatly moving forward.
For some big Captain Marvel reveals from Kevin Feige, hit the "View List" button below!
The Big Reveal That Annette Bening Is Mar-Vell
"It was late in the development of the movie," Feige says when asked where the idea to include Mar-Vell in such an unorthodox manner came from. "[As] we were approaching shooting, we were casting male -- We were looking for a male Mar-Vell and developing the script at the same time. We spoke to a few people, but as you've now seen in the movie, it's a limited role."
"It was, I believe, Anna [Boden] who came up with the suggestion in a script meeting that, "Why don't make the S.I., the vision that she sees, Mar-Vell?" It's interesting learning how things came together and it sounds like it was then that they decided Annette Benning was the best choice to play both Mar-Vell and the Supreme Intelligence.
"The idea was just before we brought Annette on. So, it was relatively late in the development process and one of a handful of things that happened as the script was taking on its final form, that was an epiphany that Anna had, and it was like, "Oh, of course! That's perfect!" And we stopped looking for another actor."
There Are Multiple Options On The Table
"We have ideas for both," Feige says when asked if the next movie will actually remain in the past or jump ahead to a post-Avengers: Endgame MCU. "We'll see. We always think and dream about potential additional adventures, but really focus on the one we literally finished a week and a half ago. [Laughs]"
As for whether or not there's a timeline mapped out for Carol Danvers, he adds: "In a general fashion. The blanks are filled in as we make the movies, and until it solidifies into an actual film, there are multiple branching timelines."
Are We Getting A Phase 4 Slate Announcement?
Fans are understandably anxious to know what comes next for the MCU and Feige had this to say when he was asked whether or not some sort of slate reveal is coming a little later this year:
"You know, we very specifically have been holding back on anything leading up to Endgame, and as connected to that, Far From Home. Because that was our focus, that's where we wanted the focus of the fan base to be on. Once those films are out, I think is when we'll announce what's coming next. How far we'll announce in the future? I'm not sure we'll announce five full years necessarily, although we know five full years. But we'll be making some sort of announcement, yes, and I'll pull back the curtain on what's been in the works."
You have to believe that some announcements will be made at Comic-Con - assuming that Marvel Studios doesn't skip the event. It's also feasible that we'll get another "Marvel Event" of some sort.
That Touching Stan Lee Tribute
Captain Marvel begins with a lovely tribute to "The Man" as the regular content in the Marvel Studios logo is replaced with his cameos before a message pops up thanking him. What led to that becoming a reality? Based on Feige's remarks, an awful lot of thought was put into that.
"It was soon after he passed, and we were thinking about what to do and how to do it and whether to release something or put something out online. And we figured, as we always have, the way to pay honor to him is the way we've been trying to do while he was alive, which is the movies. I had always thought in the back of my head, should that day ever come -- which as I've previously said, I wasn't sure it would.
"Like, I envisioned him at 127 -- that I would want something sort of touching and rousing up front, as opposed to sort of depressing at the end. I know that, not specifically but in general, a celebration is what Stan always wanted as opposed to any sort of mournful event. So, it happened very, very quickly soon after we got the unfortunate news.. We put that together and our visual development department, led by Ryan Meinerding, illustrated all those illustrations of him that you see, before we then go into the clips."
Some Teases For The Future
When the interviewer told Feige that they want to see Kamala Khan, Nova, an LGBT superhero, and Taika Waititi's next project, he had this to say about the likelihood of them happening.
"I think all of those are percolating and-- Let's put it this way: They're all percolating. I do want to keep the focus on this one and on the immediate future, but everything you just named are percolating, some closer than others." That's an interesting tease, and we'll hopefully learn much more soon...