Captain America who? Even with Civil War just hitting theaters this weekend, some in the superhero news community are already looking ahead to another buzzy Marvel movie that (barring any tiny easter eggs I may have missed during my screening) went entirely un-teased in Civil War: Phase Three entry Captain Marvel.
Marvel bigwig Kevin Feige has stated that news about a director and actor for the highly anticipated Marvel entry, which will be its first to revolve around a female hero, will drop this summer, but that’s not keeping the rumor mill in check. A few weeks ago, Jeff Sneider of TheWrap reported that he was hearing there was some truth to popular buzz about a certain actress being in contention for the leading role, and that Marvel was looking at a director who shared the same first name.
With that in mind, Screen Geek did some digging, focusing on Edge of Tomorrow star Emily Blunt, by far the candidate who’s been mentioned the most in relation to Captain Marvel. We have every reason to believe Blunt is the studio’s top choice for the part – whether she’ll do it is another question entirely. But by focusing on Blunt, the site was able to turn up an intriguing lead: indie filmmaker Emily Carmichael.
If your first reaction was “who?” then rest assured you’re not alone. Carmichael is best known for her short films, which have played at Sundance, Tribeca, SXSW and Slamdance, and the Penny Arcade web series. She’s never directed a feature film, but her feature-length script for something called Arrow has been very positively received by those in the film business. So, why would Carmichael be in contention for Captain Marvel? CBM follows two clues: one, that screenwriter Nicole Perlman, hard at work on the treatment for Captain Marvel, recently followed her on Twitter. And secondly, Carmichael posted this picture to Instagram:
Seems innocuous enough – but Screen Feek reports that the former caption, before it was edited, read “on my way to a Disney meeting.” That’s certainly not hard and fast evidence, but the fact that she changed it would indicate that Disney is trying to keep its courtship of Carmichael on the down-low, for now at least. (They’ve got to have some material for Comic-Con, after all.)
What do you think? Could there be any truth to this rumor, or is Screen Geek reading too much into things?
Captain Marvel opens in 2019, so there’s plenty of time for Feige and company to figure this out, but there’s certainly movement on it in one form or another…