Captain Marvel is an American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Carol Danvers and was released worldwide on March 8, 2019. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the twenty-first film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). It is also the first female led superhero film from Marvel, and only the second in Hollywood movies - the first being Wonder Woman. The film is written and directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, with Geneva Robertson-Dworet also contributing to the screenplay. Brie Larson stars as Danvers, alongside Samuel L. Jackson, Gemma Chan, Clark Gregg, and Jude Law. The overall box office intake was $835.1 million, making it the sixth biggest worldwide film opening since 2002. Set in 1995, the story follows Danvers as she becomes Captain Marvel after Earth is caught in the centre of a galactic conflict between two alien worlds. The opening paid tribute to Stan Lee who began working in comic 75 years ago. He was the co-creator of many beloved characters such as; Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Hulk, Thor and the X-Men. He unfortunately passed away on November 12, 2018, aged 95. Captain Marvel was the first Marvel film released since his passing, so this was film was particularly special.
The movie was highly anticipated by a lot of fans of marvel and loved by so many: however, for months, the film has been targeted by trolls. In June last year, Brie Larson called for more diversity in film criticism after talking about the high percentage of white males in the industry. Larson stated, “I don’t need a 40-year-old white dude to tell me what didn’t work about A Wrinkle in Time. It wasn’t made for him! I want to know what it meant to women of colour, biracial women, to teen women of colour.” Larson elaborated, saying she wasn’t preaching a message of exclusion, but inclusion. This angered a group of people resulting in them creating click-bait YouTube videos attacking the "feminist" Captain Marvel and its lead - who obviously hates all white men, etc. After its first trailer was released in September, some “fans” of the character photo-shopped smiles onto star Brie Larson’s promo posters, essentially the digital version of the “smile more” catcall, because they thought the actress was stiff and wooden in the role. Larson’s physique was also called into question, as part of a debate over whether or not she was strong enough to play a hero who will be one of the strongest Avengers.
Personally I loved the film, as it was long awaited: especially as this is the first time there is strong female lead in the MCU - finally being released after 20 MCU films. After watching all the other MCU films and only seeing a very limited number of women being represented, it was very exciting when Marvel announced that they would be making the Captain Marvel film. Like any Marvel film it contains all sorts of action, comedy and twists and Brie Larson does an amazing job of portraying one of the strongest superheroes in the Marvel Universe and deserves so much more praise.