Three outstanding female directors are on the short list to direct “Captain Marvel,” the first female-led superhero movie from Marvel Studios. The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that those women are Niki Caro, Lesli Linka Glatter, and Lorene Scafaria.
Caro’s directing credits include 2002’s Oscar-nominated “Whale Rider,” the Charlize Theron sexual harassment drama “North Country,” and “The Zookeeper’s Wife,” an upcoming adaptation of Diane Ackerman’s 2007 bestselling book of the same name. Jessica Chastain stars in the latter, and published an essay about her experience working with Caro and many other women on the set.
Glatter is an extremely successful television director with four Emmy award nominations and an Oscar nomination. She’s the main director on “Homeland,” for which she also serves as an executive producer, and has also directed for “Mad Men,” “The Newsroom,” “The West Wing,” and “True Blood.”
Scafaria made her name as a writer before turning to directing. She wrote “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist,” and wrote and made her directorial debut with “Seeking a Friend for the End of the World.” This year, she wrote and directed the well-reviewed dramedy “The Meddler,” starring Rose Byrne and Susan Sarandon.
Captain Marvel is a character whose role has been taken on by many people in the comics universe. Both men and women have held the title. Thankfully, Marvel decided to utilize Captain Marvel’s most recent identity of Carol Danvers, also known as Ms. Marvel, rather than making another male-led superhero flick. Danvers first appeared as Ms. Marvel in 1968 and assumed the Captain Marvel mantle in 2012. Brie Larson signed on to play the character last month.
The upcoming iteration of the story, we previously reported, will follow Danvers as “an air force pilot involved in an accident that combines her DNA with that of an alien. This then leads to her possessing super strength.”
Though these three women are on the short list, THR says there may always be more names considered. No word on when the official choice will be finalized. “Captain Marvel” has a release date of March 8, 2019.
