(Likely spoilers for Captain Marvel will be found below…)
While promoting Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Jude Law fielded a lot of questions about Captain Marvel. The delightful scamp could barely say anything due to Marvel’s notorious (and necessary) shroud of secrecy, although he did reveal that he wore a cloak over his suit while on set, so no one would figure out if he was truly playing the alien warrior Mar-Vell (a member of the Kree race). There was also apparently a man whose only job was to make sure that no one photographed Law in costume, but all of this effort might have gone down the drain, thanks to a Funko Pop figure reveal on a pre-order page.
This puts a wrinkle in Marvel’s evasive attempts, of course. Law is actually listed on IMDb as playing Walter Larson/Mar-Vell (the first Captain Marvel from the comic books), but thanks to some folks over at Reddit, the apparent Funko Pop character leak is spreading and was also noted by CBR. The below embed shows a few variants on Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers, Goose the Cat, a Nick Fury figure (Sam Jackson, youthfully CGI-ed in the film), and Law’s apparent true character, who’s referred to only as “Star Commander” (second row and far-right), which would indicate that he’s actually Yon-Rogg.
Previously, Law told EW that his character was a Kree leader, who was “driven by a belief in the divine leadership of the Kree people” and “a devout warrior — unquestioning, conservative, but inspirational.” This was vague enough of a description to suggest Mar-Vell but potentially keep a different character under wraps. As CBR concisely explains, Yon-Rogg definitely fits the bill as well:
That would perfectly tie in to the promotional image of Law as a Starforce commander working with Lee Pace’s Ronan the Accuser, as both conspired in the comics to overthrow the Supreme Intelligence and take Kree throne. Apart from Yon-Rogg’s traitorous ways, he repeatedly tried to kill Carol in the comics.
To elaborate slightly, Law’s character was shown standing alongside Danvers in some EW promotional imagery, but he also may be visible standing near Lee Pace’s villainous Ronan the Accuser. At the time those images released, Slashfilm theorized that Law’s character could be a traitorous one, and it seems that the stars are further aligning in that direction, thanks to the toy leak.
Still, god only knows what tricks are up Marvel’s sleeve at this point. This could all be smoke and mirrors with Funko Pop on board! We can probably say for sure, however, that Jude Law does not play the old lady (who must be a member of the Skrull shapeshifting alien race) who gets punched in the face by Captain Marvel in the trailer.
Captain Marvel opens on March 8, 2019.