We are excited about Brie Larson’s return to the powerful title role in The Marvels, which opens today (November 10, 2023) as a part of Phase Five of the MCU. Kevin Feige’s film is the follow-up to Captain Marvel (2019) and a continuation of the television miniseries Ms. Marvel (2022). It might surprise you to learn that Feige’s choice to cast her as Carol Danvers / Vers / Captain Marvel was accepted by the Captain Marvel writers without hesitation.
They were convinced that the Academy Award-winning star would be the perfect choice for the role of Carol on the big screen. The writers discovered that one important quality that distinguished Larson was her sincere empathy. That being said, you may be asking yourself what superhero attire has to do with empathy. Well, Larson genuinely cares, which is why it makes all the difference.
Why Was Brie Larson The Perfect Fit For Captain Marvel?
Carol Danvers’ journey is multifaceted; she must battle both the forces of evil and her inner demons. After being initially devoted to the Kree Empire, she fights alongside the Starforce against the Skrulls, but in the end, she goes back to Earth and gets her memories back. She awakens a host of latent abilities, including superhuman strength and flight. An actor who can access the emotional depth and bring out the strength and vulnerability of the role is necessary to truly embody it.
Thus, for that reason alone, the Captain Marvel writers were truly convinced that Brie Larson was the perfect choice for the role. Nicole Perlman was quoted as follows in the book MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios:
“It was really important that the Skrulls weren’t actually the bad guys; they were the refugees.
Perlman attributes the significant change to Larson, saying:
“When Meg [LeFauve] and I first met Brie, we were just so bowled over by her empathy. I think that was the first time we started talking about empathy as a superpower, just being impressed by how Brie Larson really gives a sh*t.”
Kevin Feige took great care in choosing Captain Marvel’s cast members because he knows that the MCU has succeeded in large part because of Marvel’s history of making wise choices in casting. Consequently, Larson’s profile made her an ideal fit for the MCU. He told Cinemablend:
“Carol Danvers needs to be as rich and textured and real as the best of our characters. Maybe even more so. And we got very lucky that Brie — who has all of those attributes, and an Academy Award now — was still very interested in signing up and joining us to bring this character to life.”
Kevin Feige: Brie Larson Was ‘very human and very relatable’ for Captain Marvel
Given that Captain Marvel is the first female-led film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there was a lot of pressure on Marvel to succeed. An important factor in the success of the film was the actors cast to play Carol Danvers in her big-screen debut. Kevin Feige explained to Variety why Brie Larson was the perfect match:
“With Captain Marvel, who has powers that approach a level that we haven’t seen before in our films, you need to counter- balance that by finding somebody who is also very human and very relatable and can get into a groove with the audience, where they’re willing to see her fly through the sun and punch a moon away from a spacecraft. At the same time, we need her to land and have relatable flaws.”
Knowing that Larson will put in endless effort to bring this beloved character to life again is one of the reasons we are excited for The Marvels. The Nia DaCosta-helmed film already premiered in Las Vegas on November 7, 2023.
While The Marvels opens in theaters today, Captain Marvel is available to stream on Disney Plus.
