Only eighteen years after the modern era of Marvel movies began with “X-Men,” and only ten after their self-produced films started with “Iron Man,” Marvel is finally deigning to give us a female superhero movie (this isn’t quite true: Fox did make “Elektra” a decade ago, but it was awful and everyone involved would rather forget about it, the audience included). Having gotten around to ticking essential boxes like a third “Thor” movie, two films about a space-tree and a raccoon, one about a surgeon who’s also a wizard, and the third iteration of “Spider-Man” in a decade, the studio announced a while back that they’re making their first movie fronted by a woman in the shape of “Captain Marvel.”
The company has even gone as far as to hire female lady who know about lady things (“Guardians Of The Galaxy”’s Nicole Perlman and “Inside Out”’s Megan LeFauve), and progress is creeping forward on the new movie, which focuses on space heroine Carol Danvers, and is scheduled for release in 2018. It will be Marvel’s twentieth movie, and if you believe the latest whispers, they might have a first choice for their lead.
READ MORE: Rumor: Angelina Jolie Being Courted For ‘Captain Marvel’ Or ‘Wonder Woman’
Heroic Hollywood reports that Rebecca Ferguson, the Swedish actress who stole the show as superspy Ilsa Faust in this summer’s excellent “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation,” is at the top of Marvel’s list to play Danvers. Rumors have linked Emily Blunt (who’ll next star in “The Girl On The Train” opposite Ferguson) to the part for a while, but Ferguson’s certainly got a lot of buzz right now, and the site says that Ferguson withdrew from consideration for the female lead in “Gambit” (won by Lea Seydoux), potentially to pursue bigger opportunities, like her own Marvel franchise.
On the one hand, Ferguson is terrific, a fine choice for the part, and she’d likely become a true icon and role model for a generation of girls (and hopefully boys too). On the other, she’d be tied to Marvel movies until the sun burns out. Either way, with Marvel always hoping to introduce characters in other movies before their own (there were plans to include Captain Marvel at the end of “Age Of Ultron” at one point), we’re likely to find out how much truth is behind this rumor sooner rather than later.