Brie Larson Could Be Marvel's Captain Marvel

Room Oscar-winner Brie Larson could become the hero known asCaptain Marvel.

Emphasis on “could.”

The actress, also known for her roles in Short Term 12, 21 Jump Street, and (going further back) the teen comedy Sleepover, is in talks to take on the lead in the March 2019 film.

Sources close to the project confirm to EW the studio and Larson are in early conversations about the movie, which does not yet have a director, and that she is the likely choice, barring any major breakdown. Justin Kroll of Variety was the first to report the news of her involvement. Marvel Studios declined to comment.

Captain Marvel would be the first female title character in a Marvel Studios film, and she’s one fans have been clamoring to see for years. (In the DC universe, Gal Gadot debuted as Wonder Woman earlier this year in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and will headline her own movie, scheduled for release June 2, 2017.)

Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige announced the project in October of 2014, and confirmed immediately that this version of Captain Marvel would be a female character.

“Let me clarify,” Feige said. “Captain Marvel has gone by many names in the comics, has had many people who’ve inhabited that costume and used that power base. I want to make it very clear: This hero’s name is Carol Danvers.” 

Danvers was created in 1968, appearing in Marvel Super-Heroes #13 — a Captain Marvel story — as an American security officer working alongside Captain Mar-Vell, an alien sent to study the planet Earth. She debuted as the super-powered character Ms. Marvel in the pages of Marvel Comics after her human DNA was fused with genes from the alien race known as the Kree. She went on to inherit the title of Captain Marvel in 2012.

Feige previously said this cinematic version of the character will “straddle two worlds. Her origins are very much Earthbound, but her adventures and power base come from the cosmic realm.”

The character almost appeared in a cameo at the end of Avengers: Age of Ultron, except … they didn’t have an actress at the ready.

Unless thing go awry with Larson (as sometimes happens as Marvel tries to cast these films), that doesn’t seem to be a problem any longer. 

CREDIT:EW