The early Marvel Studios movies featured a lot of love interests (Pepper Potts, Jane Foster, Peggy Carter, etc.) but
Captain Marvel bucked that trend and took things down a different route.
Brie Larson's Carol Danvers wasn't romantically involved with anyone, as Yon-Rogg was simply her mentor and Nick Fury was obviously just an ally. Now, Kevin Feige has shed some light on why the decision was made to prioritise the HERo's friendship with Maria Rambeau, a character many moviegoers have since shipped into a romantic relationship with Captain Marvel!
"Well that was something as we were developing the script and queuing off of the comics as always, it never even occurred to have a love interest," Feige said. "That's not what the movie was about. It was about Carol finding herself and growing and making mistakes and being bolstered up by her female mentors and female friends. And that relationship with Maria was very important."
"It was something that was, and frankly I give all credit to Lashana who was amazing and who, and I don't know if it's a spoiler or not, but the unique structure of the origin story that this movie has," he continued.
"Initially we were like, is that bond going to be strong enough? Are we having not experienced it in real time upfront when they get to Louisiana? Is it going to land?"
"And we saw the audition and then the dailies. Oh it's landing there. They're amazing."
For the time being, it obviously remains to be seen how Marvel will handle Captain Marvel's future love interests; there are those who would like to see her end up with Thor after that
Avengers: Endgame trailer, and others who think the character should be taken down a different route by coming out as gay.
What do you think? Let us know your thoughts on that in the comments section below.
For a spoiler-filled Captain Marvel breakdown from Kevin Feige, hit the "View List" button!
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...