'Captain Marvel' Official Site Confirms Jude Law as Mar-Vell

Marvel Studios and Disney may have just unintentionally spoiled one of the biggest (non-)mysteries of the upcoming Captain Marvel movie as the film's official site has just dropped confirmation that Jude Law is in fact playing the Marvel Cinematic Universe version of classic Marvel Comics character, Mar-Vell!

Take a look at this photo caption on Jude Law's character image from the official Captain Marvel website:

So there you have it: "Jude Law as Mar-Vell, the leader of Starforce." With that one line we find ourselves in a situation very similar to when Doctor Strange actor Benedict Cumberbatch made an appearance in the Star Trek reboot sequel, Star Trek Into Darkness. As soon as Cumberbatch was cast, fans began to speculate and guess that he was playing franchise icon Khan Noonien Singh; the studio, cast, and director J.J. Abrams, all vehemently denied it, but when the film was released, Cumberbatch was indeed Khan.

It was surmised that an actor of Jude Law's caliber was being sought for a role as big and iconic as Mar-Vell, but Marvel Studios played coy, if not outright denying the casting. However, the matter got largely dropped when a line of Captain Marvel toys seemed to confirm that Law was playing "Yon-Rogg," a Kree commander who was a rival for Mar-Vell in the comics.

However, the first Captain Marvel trailer created space for a theory that Mar-Vell indeed fits into the movie in a big way. You can click the link to read the full breakdown, but here's the long and short of it:

In Marvel Comics lore, Carol Danvers gets her powers from Dr. Walter Lawson, who is actually Kree spy Mar-Vell in disguise. Carol is nearly killed when a Kree device called a "Psyche-Magnetron" explodes near her, but Mar-Vell intervenes and saves her. The explosion merges Carol and Mar-Vell into a human-Kree hybrid, making her "Ms. Marvel." In the movie trailer, we see Carol Danvers piloting a fighter jet after alien craft, which leads to her first encounter with the Kree and Skrulls. During that encounter we see some kind of explosion that creates a wave of energy that hits Carol, and somehow converts her into a Kree/human hybrid of immense power (as indicated by green blood flowing from her nose).

Remembering the comics, it wouldn't be a surprise if Law's Mar-Vell were the Kree race's champion who is disabled by a Skrull device negating his powers. That device could mistakenly transfer the cosmic power of Mar-Vell into Carol; it would also explain why Law then becomes Carol's mentor and instructor: to keep her close and use her properly as a weapon, while perhaps searching for a way to reverse the process. Carol's mission to stop the Skrull commander Talos (Ben Mendelsohn) could be more than a skirmish in the Kree/Skrull War; it could be the very chance Mar-Vell has been waiting for to finally reclaim his glory.

Avengers: Infinity War is now available on home video and Netflix. Upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movies include Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019, Avengers: Endgame on April 26, 2019, and Spider-Man: Far From Home on July 5, 2019.