Why Brie Larson Was Perfect For Captain Marvel, According To Kevin Feige

Brie Larson in The Gambler

At the tail end of the massive Marvel panel on Saturday night, Marvel President Kevin Feige gathered the immense talents from his upcoming casts of movies such as Black Panther, Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Spider-Man: Homecoming for a group photo. But before he could take the shot, he said they needed one more member of the MCU family, and they introduced Room star Brie Larson as Captain Marvel. It was an awesome moment, though too brief for our tastes. So we met with Feige to ask him for more.

After the panel, CinemaBlend was lucky enough to interview Kevin Feige, and I asked that if he had more time on Hall H, what else would he have told us about Captain Marvel, and the Oscar winning actress who just joined the MCU. Feige gushed about a talent who he feels is perfect for the role, telling us:

Listen, we set the bar very high with the first casting decision we ever made with Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark. Since then, every single choice we've made, we have asked, 'Could it meet that bar?' Because that is what people expect of us, and that is what ... it's a very high bar. 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.

It goes without saying that the casting of Robert Downey Jr. was a risk at the time, and an unlimited reward ever since. He has been a rock-solid foundation on which to build, and seeing the talents gathered on stage in Hall H tonight, it really is mindblowing the caliber of actor who is fighting to work with Marvel. Black Panther has the likes of Michael B. Jordan and Lupita Nyong'o. Thor: Ragnarok has Cate Blanchett and Jeff Goldblum. Spider-Man will fight Michael Keaton, and Kurt Russell is in the Guardians. And yes, Brie Larson is an Oscar winner.

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We do have quite some time until Brie Larson will PLAY Carol Danvers in a Captain Marvel movie. Marvels Studios has the film down for 2019, and a lot can change between now and then. But that's why Kevin Feige thought Brie Larson would be perfect for the role. What do YOU think?

Sean O'Connell
Managing Editor

Sean O’Connell is a journalist and CinemaBlend’s Managing Editor. Having been with the site since 2011, Sean interviewed myriad directors, actors and producers, and created ReelBlend, which he proudly cohosts with Jake Hamilton and Kevin McCarthy. And he's the author of RELEASE THE SNYDER CUT, the Spider-Man history book WITH GREAT POWER, and an upcoming book about Bruce Willis.