Marvel Studios has kept a lot of details pertaining to Captain Marvel under wraps, but now that filming has wrapped we’re starting to learn a lot more about the film.
The first followup to Avengers: Infinity War is packing an all-star cast, and while it seemed obvious who the film’s major villain would be, it was only speculation. Until now, that is.
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A new report from Discussing Film points out Ben Mendelsohn as playing the movie’s villain. Given his role in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, this is hardly surprising. But knowing that he’ll be playing a Skrull general is certainly a bit of news.
Speculation ran rampant after the casting news was reported, with only Brie Larson and Samuel L. Jackson’s roles being confirmed, while fans had many theories about the roles of Mendelsohn and Jude Law. Law has since been confirmed to be playing Mar-Vell, the original Captain Marvel from the pages of Marvel Comics. In the source material, Mar-Vell gives Carol Danvers her powers, and she becomes Ms. Marvel.
There’s no word on exactly which Skrull will be played by Mendelsohn. He could be playing Dorrek VII, the emperor of the Skrull Empire, though it seems more likely that he’ll be playing more of a military tactician who leads an assault on the Kree rather than ruling from afar.
Previous casting calls hinted at the inclusion of various new Skrull characters, though there’s no word on who they will be. Some fans are speculating this could lead to an eventual adaptation of Secret Invasion, so the Skrull Queen Veranke could be hinted at in Captain Marvel.
The synopsis teases the adaptation of the Kree-Skrull War storyline, revealing the ’90s will be an important era in the MCU:
“The story 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.”
Since Captain Marvel has yet to be seen in the present-day MCU, it makes sense. Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige gave his reasoning for setting the film at this time.
“The answer is, you’ll see in the storytelling of the movie.” Feige explained. “But it allows us to play in an area that we have never played in before and tapping into a ’90s action genre was fun for us and being able to see an earlier part of the MCU before Nick Fury knew anything about aliens or anything about super-powered people and also tapping into the Kree-Skrull War, which in the comics was a huge part of the comic mythology, seemed like a fun thing to try and a fun way to give Carol Danvers her own standalone origin story.”
Captain Marvel premieres on March 8, 2019.
