Ben Mendelsohn rumored for villain role in ‘Captain Marvel’

After great showings in Rogue One and Place Beyond the Pines, Ben Mendelsohn appears to be primed to be playing the main antagonist in Marvel’s Captain Marvel, starring Brie Larson.

Variety reports that Marvel Studios is eyeing Mendelsohn, which is an odd choice considering that MCU boss Kevin Feige told the Comic-Con crowd that the Skrulls would serve as the central antagonists in the 1990s-set film. Samuel L. Jackson is also expected to return as Nick Fury, but otherwise, the film is still shrouded in mystery.

Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck were recruited by Marvel to direct the studio’s first female-led film after an exhaustive director search. The directorial duo previously worked with Mendelsohn on Mississippi Grind.

“Geneva Robertson-Dworet wrote the most recent script with Inside Out scribe Meg LeFauve and Nicole Perlman penning previous drafts, which follows Carol Danvers, an Air Force pilot whose DNA is fused with that of an alien during an accident. The resulting alteration imbues her with the superpowers of strength, energy projection, and flight,” Variety summarized.

Captain Marvel is slated to arrive in theaters on March 8, 2019.