Brie Larson could be next 'Captain Marvel'; all you need to know about the female superhero

Captain Marvel’s release date is almost three years away on 8 March 2019, but the movie will mark a hallmark moment for the Marvel cinematic universe: it is the first solo female superhero movie that the studio will be producing. Oscar winning actress, Brie Larson, who swept us away with her performance in Room last year, is the front runner for the role. In fact, Chris Evans aka Captain America,  also vouched for her. With Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige promising Captain Marvel’s star and director announcement to come out sometime in summer, prospective moviegoers are already picking up Captain Marvel comics to find out more about her. Who is Captain Marvel and why does she deserve her own movie? [caption id=“attachment_2822692” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Captain Marvel/Twitter[/caption] Marvel Comics debuted Air force pilot Carol Danvers in a 1968 comic book, originally as a secondary character. Carol Danvers starts out as a combat pilot, but ends up working with Nick Fury in the CIA thanks to her superior spy skills. Her superhuman powers are a result of an accident involving a crime-fighting alien, the original Captain Mar-vell. Carol Danvers, or Ms Marvel as she was known back then, was one of the only female superheros that the comic books had produced who was not modelled on a male counterpart, like She-Hulk or a la Spider-Woman. Plus her almost 50 years of comic book history make her an ideal candidate for her own movie. What are her superpowers? With badass military qualifications and Type A personality traits, Carol Danver’s alien accident gave her many superpowers which are just an added bonus:

• superhuman strength, endurance, stamina,flight, including the ability to fly through space without a suit,
• And as a result of her days as a CIA operative, she comes with a superior set of combat and espionage skills.

The Feminist POV Carol Danvers, and her crime fighting avatar Ms Marvel were transformed into Captain Marvel with a new story-line and costume in 2012 thanks to writer Kelly Sue DeConnick, who has also penned comics like  Bitch Planet and Pretty Deadly that explore feminism in a political and social context. Carol Danvers is a control freak with a big temper, and is unapologetic about her strong masculine personality. The comic books have had their share of twisted sexist story-lines, but the feminist point of view of the character remains constant. In fact, the 1977 comic had Carol Danvers fighting for equal pay in her job as a editor for a woman’s daily. Kelly Sue DeConnick mentioned in an interview with Time magazine that she wants to change how women are portrayed in comics. She said,

“….I don’t want all of our female characters to be good or to be role models. I just want them to have an interior life. If you can’t answer for me what does this character want in this scene, you’re not writing a woman, you’re writing a lamp. Start over.”

The excitement of a feminist icon gripping the screen is electrifying. With Jessica Jones doing well with the audience on the small screen, let’s hope that the feminist icon is as popular on the silver screen as it is in the comic verse.