We now know Brie Larson is playing Carol Danvers in Marvel Entertainment's Captain Marvel film but the studio has yet to decide on a director. Today there's more news on that front with three women apparently being considered.
The last time we spoke of possible Captain Marvel directors there were three names in the mix. There's three again this time, but only one is the same.
Last time it was New Zealand director Niki Caro (Whale Rider), Australian Jennifer Kent (The Babadook), and American Emily Carmichael (who recently joined Lumberjanes) being discussed. This time, The Hollywood Reporter says Caro, Lesli Linka Glatter, and Lorene Scafaria are on the shortlist.
I had originally thought Marvel might announce both director and lead actor at Comic-Con last month. Only one of those got announced, but THR writes, “A decision won't be made anytime soon as Marvel is being very deliberate in its search, according to sources; the movie has a release date of March 8, 2019. Sources caution that there may be names yet to surface. Marvel had no comment.”
Apparently the next step is to give the directors treatments to work on for a presentation. It's definitely a far cry from being handed a blockbuster because a filmmaker reminds the previously-attached director of himself. Though it's reminding me of that story about the fight for Warner Bros.' Wonder Woman script.
Looking at these new names, Glatter is almost exclusively a TV director having worked on Homeland, The Newsroom, Mad Men, and more. Scafaria is a writer and director (New Girl, Seeking a Friend for the End of the World) who has had less experience overall than Glatter. One thing's for sure – no male director names have surfaced in relation to this project. That means along with Guardians of the Galaxy's Nicole Perlman and Inside Out's Meg LeFauve, who wrote the script, this could be an almost completely female-led project.
Overall I find Marvel's reach into different creative backgrounds to be very curious. While Larson is busy getting into the zone, we haven't heard all that much about the direction of the film. Though from what Perlman recently said about Captain Marvel's origins being too close for comfort with DC's Green Lantern, something tells me the inevitable is likely – we'll be seeing Carol's early days.