Credit: Marvel StudiosIt has been four years since audiences were introduced to Captain Marvel in the MCU, and now more information has been shared about Brie Larson’s replacement.
Captain Marvel in the MCU
In 2019, Brie Larson arrived in Kevin Feige’s Marvel Cinematic Universe following the devastating ending of Avengers: Infinity War (2018). Directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, Captain Marvel (2019) was a box-office success and netted over $1 billion globally while setting up the climactic Avengers finale, Avengers: Endgame (2019).
Captain Marvel teamed up Larson’s Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel with Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury in a 90s buddy cop adventure spanning time and space. After appearing in her own movie as well as the Avengers Phase Three films and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021), Larson will return in her own ensemble sequel, The Marvels (2023).
From director Nia DaCosta, The Marvels will return with the cosmic-powered characters set up in Captain Marvel, WandaVision, and Ms. Marvel, and see Larson joined by Teyonah Parris’ Monica Rambeau/Photon and Iman Vellani’s Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel.
Not much is known about how much impact The Marvels will have on the overarching MCU, and it looks like Zawe Ashton’s Dar-Benn will be the main antagonist for the trio, judging by what has been seen via the trailer.
The Marvels will be the last MCU movie to release this year, following Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023) and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023). Together, they act as the first three movies of Phase Five, joined by the small screen endeavor, Secret Invasion, which itself is an extension of the Captain Marvel franchise.
Phase Five comes after a rather troubled and turbulent Phase Four, which began amid the industry-wide pandemic shutdown. As such, Phase Four began on Disney’s streaming service, Disney+, and eventually went on to include movies like Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022), and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022).
The Multiverse became a key factor following the reign of Thanos (Josh Brolin) during the Infinity Saga, with Phase Four and beyond eventually being coined the Multiverse Saga. As such, many of the movies and shows delved into this rather untapped world of the Multiverse, including the Phase’s biggest box office hits, Spider-Man: No Way Home and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
For the latter, Marvel Studios saw Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange navigate the Multiverse with America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez) while being hunted by the Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen). During the exploits, Strange ends up on an alternate Earth, Earth-838, where he encounters the Illuminati.
Rumors had been rife over who might appear in Sam Raimi’s Doctor Strange sequel, especially following the return of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Eventually, it was revealed that characters like X-Men’s Professor X (Patrick Stewart), Fantastic Four leader Reed Richards (John Krasinski), and Captain Carter (Hayley Atwell) were part of the Illuminati in this universe.
Another character that appeared in the film as part of this group was Captain Marvel, except here, the cosmic-powered hero was not played by Brie Larson but by Lashana Lynch.
Lynch first appeared in the MCU as Carol Danvers’ best friend, Maria Rambeau, in Captain Marvel, and her appearance as Maria and also Captain Marvel in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness came as a surprise to many. Now, new information has come to light about this version of the character.
New concept art has been shared involving Lynch’s version of Captain Marvel. NerdTalksShow shared the “official” set of four images to X (formerly Twitter), which showcase different designs for the costume of Brie Larson’s replacement. These variants show the depth of the design process and reveal that Marvel considered going for a more traditional Captain Marvel look as opposed to the final costume design chose for the Marvel film.
Related: Marvel Removes Chris Hemsworth, Goes All in on Tom Hiddleston
And Lynch’s appearance as Captain Marvel is not the first time Brie Larson has been replaced as the powerful Avenger. In the summer of 2021, Marvel Studios debuted its animated canon TV show, What If…?
Taking place across the various universes in the Multiverse, What If…? asked what would iconic events in Marvel history look like if they had happened differently. From Doctor Strange losing his heart instead of his hands to the arrival of the Marvel Zombies to Black Panther being Star-Lord, the animated series — based on the Marvel Comics venture — explored the idea of the Multiverse that Michael Waldron’s Loki series set up just months prior.
In featuring various different versions of fan-favorite characters like Captain America, Iron Man, Ant-Man, and Black Widow, not all the characters were voiced by their live-action counterpart. Most were, but on occasion, including three of the aforementioned, characters were replaced by new actors joining the MCU.
Like Steve Rogers and Tony Stark, who were voiced by Josh Keaton and Mick Wingert, respectively, Captain Marvel was also performed by a new actor — Alexandra Daniels. While it was never shared why Brie Larson was not voicing the character, reasons for absences have been chalked up to clashing schedules or contractual obligations.
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