Samuel L. Jackson Is Honored to Help ‘Captain Marvel’ Succeed

When Captain Marvel hits theaters in March, it may not be the first solo superhero movie to center around a female hero, but it will be the first one for Marvel Studios. It’s a significant milestone for the studio and for Samuel L. Jackson, it’s an honor to be a part of it.

Jackson told ComicBook.com during a visit to the Captain Marvel set that he knows how important it is for the film to succeed — because he sees the need for representation reflected in his wife and daughter.

“I have a daughter and I have a wife who feels undervalued,” Jackson said. “Because she is a black woman, she is in the business and she’s been in this business longer than I have. She was a professional actor when she was a kid and doing all this stuff. And she’s a specific body type and a specific…skin tone. Which is not the preferred skin tone of this business basically. I mean, Viola Davis is the biggest dark skinned star. And… being able to uplift women in a very specific way, I grew up in a house full of women. Who always made me feel special. And made me tow a specific line. I understand a lot about who they are and what they felt just because I heard it. And I had to experience it every day. How hard the world is for women specifically.”

He went on to recall that while he was aware of the challenges of black women specifically, it took meeting Captain Marvel star Brie Larson to realize that all women suffer from a lack of representation and now, he says it’s a “real joy” to be part of what he called the “enormous responsibility” of Captain Marvel‘s success.

“And to work with Brie who has a very political aware sense of self, who not afraid to use her platform to push female agendas has been a real joy,” he said. “This is my third movie with her. I did Kong with her, so we went all over the world. And then I did her movie, Unicorn Store. And to be a part of this specific story where she has such an enormous responsibility, especially in the success of the Marvel Universe and what it means every time there’s a Marvel film. And to look at what happened last year with Wonder Woman, DC almost figured it out with that movie. To know what’s going to happen when this movie does actually hit theaters for women and little girls is going to be amazing.”

And as for women and girls seeing the movie, a GoFundMe campaign to send young girls to see the film inspired by Captain Marvel herself Brie Larson currently sits at $23,000, ensuring that girls from various backgrounds in Los Angeles will get an opportunity.

Captain Marvel follows Carol Danvers as she becomes one of the universe’s most powerful heroes when Earth is caught in the middle of a galactic war between two alien races. Set in the 1990s, Captain Marvel is an all-new adventure from a previously unseen period in the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Captain Marvel stars Academy Award® winner Brie Larson (Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel), Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury), Ben Mendelsohn, Djimon Hounsou (Korath), Lee Pace (Ronan), Lashana Lynch, Gemma Chan (Minn-Erva), Algenis Perez Soto, Rune Temte, McKenna Grace, Kenneth Mitchell (Joseph Danvers), with Clark Gregg (Phil Coulson), and Jude Law.

Captain Marvel launches on March 8, 2019, while Avengers: Endgame hits on May 3, 2019, followed by Spider-Man: Far From Home on July 5, 2019.