We finally know who’s going to helm “Captain Marvel.” After months of speculation and rumors, Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck have been announced as the directors of the highly anticipated Marvel project starring Oscar winner Brie Larson. Variety broke the news.
Best known for writing and directing critically acclaimed indies “Mississippi Grind” and “Half Nelson,” Boden and Fleck have been collaborating for over a decade. The biggest production budget they’ve worked with is probably $8 million for 2010’s “It’s Kind of a Funny Story,” and “Captain Marvel’s” budget is sure to exceed $100 million, so this is a big step up for the twosome. The married couple has historically gravitated towards intimate character-driven dramas, so it will be very interesting to see their take on a special effects-laden blockbuster.
“Marvel made it clear they wanted a female guiding the ship on this film’s voyage,” Variety writes. Last summer, The Hollywood Reporter revealed the shortlist of directors being considered for the gig: Niki Caro (“The Zookeeper’s Wife”), Lesli Linka Glatter (“Homeland”), and Lorene Scafaria (“The Meddler”).
We like to think Larson played a part in ensuring “Captain Marvel” has a woman at its helm. The “Room” actress was recently asked how she thinks that depictions of female characters can improve, and she emphasized the need to focus on who works behind the scenes. Larson observed, “I think the best place to start would be more female film directors.”
According to Variety, Marvel “met with multiple contenders for the directing job, and sources say that [they] not only wanted to make sure that the search was thorough, but that the script was in the right shape before signing a director.” Boden and Fleck reportedly impressed Marvel “with their vision for the heroine.”
Meg LeFauve (“Inside Out”) and Nicole Perlman (“Guardians of the Galaxy”) are currently penning “Captain Marvel’s” script, “which follows Carol Danvers, an Air Force pilot whose DNA is fused with that of an alien during an accident. The resulting alteration imbues her with the superpowers of strength, energy projection, and flight.”
When we asked Boden her advice for other female directors, she said, “I guess the first thing that comes to mind would go for any director, which is to try to be yourselves as directors — whether you’re in the room with a potential financier or on set with your actors.” The two-time Independent Spirit Award nominee continued, “Sometimes there can be the tendency to imagine the qualities that a director is supposed to possess and try to act in the way that perfect director would act, but I always find people respond to me best when I put away those ideas of who I should be and start embracing who I am, complete with all my strengths as well as my vulnerabilities.”
“Captain Marvel” is expected to hit theaters March 8, 2019.
