Here’s Why ‘Captain Marvel’ Is Going on Hiatus After Filming This Week

Fans finally got their long-awaited first look at Brie Larson suited up as Carol Danvers during the first week of production on Captain Marvel. But this only a temporary week of shooting, as filming on the Marvel Studios movie will go on hiatus until March.

Now the question is, why the two-month gap?

The sleuths over at MCU Exchange did some digging on the reason why, following up on their scoop from November that such a break would even take place. It turns out there’s a very valid reason for this short week of shooting, and it has to do with financials and tax breaks.

With Kevin Feige taking a production back to Los Angeles for the first time since Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Marvel Studios through company Warbird Productions LLC took advantage of the California Film Commission’s (CFC) Tax Break 2.0, granting them over $20 million in tax credits in July 2017.

When MCU Exchange did some digging on the CFC’s guidelines, they learned that one of the stipulations for Tax Break 2.0 dictated that a production receiving the credits must begin within 180 days after being issued, lest that money gets forfeited. And since we’re now just about six months removed from that issue date, Marvel Studios had to start filming without the full crew assembled.

But the calendar requirements for the tax credits also state a production can go on a planned hiatus for 120 days after filming begins, hence the delay until March when the full cast and crew are set to join the production.

So it’s all a matter of money and meeting the requirements of the CFC’s stipulations for the tax credits to film in Los Angeles. It’s not exactly a controversial or a tumultuous story, but it tracks better than the conspiracy theories you might find on the Internet.

It also helps explain the Cobie Smulders and Samuel L. Jackson set photos from Atlanta last week, as those were actually for the untitled Avengers 4 movie and not Captain Marvel.

Filming for Captain Marvel is now underway, and will begin in earnest in late March. The movie is scheduled to premiere March 8th, 2019.