Captain Marvel is a 2019 American superhero film based on Marvel Comics featuring the character Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the 21st film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film was written and directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, with Geneva Robertson-Dworet also contributing to the screenplay. Brie Larson stars as Carol Danvers, alongside Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Djimon Hounsou, Lee Pace, Lashana Lynch, Gemma Chan, Annette Bening, Clark Gregg, and Jude Law. Set in 1995, the story follows Danvers as she becomes Captain Marvel after Earth is caught in the center of a galactic conflict between two alien civilizations.
Development of the film began by May 2013. It was officially announced in October 2014 as Marvel Studios’ first female-led superhero film. Nicole Perlman and Meg LeFauve were hired to write the film the following April after submitting separate takes on the character, and borrowed elements from Roy Thomas‘ 1971 “Kree–Skrull War” comic book storyline. Larson was announced as Danvers at the 2016 San Diego Comic-Con, with Boden and Fleck hired to direct in April 2017. Robertson-Dworet was soon hired to re-write the script, with the rest of the cast added by the start of filming. Location shooting began in January 2018, with principal photography starting that March in California and concluding in Louisiana in July 2018. Several actors reprise their roles from previous MCU films in Captain Marvel, including Jackson and Gregg who were digitally de-aged in post-production to reflect the film’s 1990s setting.
Captain Marvel premiered in London on February 27, 2019, and was theatrically released in the United States on March 8, as part of Phase Three of the MCU. The film grossed over $1.1 billion worldwide, making it the first female-led superhero film to pass the billion-dollar mark. It became the fifth-highest-grossing film of 2019 and was the 23rd-highest-grossing film of all time during its theatrical run. The film received generally positive reviews from critics with praise for the performances of the cast, particularly that of Larson. A sequel, The Marvels, is scheduled for release on July 28, 2023.