‘IM THE HAPPIEST FAN ALIVEEEE’: Rumors about Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel already hint at how prominent her role will be in ‘Doomsday’ and ‘Secret Wars’

For all its faults, Marvel has stuck by Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel even after both the actress and the character were subjected to a senseless hate campaign that wound up affecting 2023’s The Marvels, resulting in the worst box office performance in MCU history. Thankfully, the studio is reportedly standing its ground and counting on the Oscar winner to lead the Avengers double-bill coming our way in 2026 and 2027.

The information comes from trusted Marvel insider Alex Perez of The Cosmic Circus, who told the website’s readers to expect great things from the Avenger. It seems Carol will be leading this new version of the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes post-Endgame alongside Anthony Mackie’s Captain America as they take on Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.

“Thank you for never giving up on her @MarvelStudios… it’s been really hard on her,” one fan wrote on X, with others celebrating the news with various memes and gifs. “This is how I win,” another Carol enthusiast gloated.

While the news doesn’t exactly come as a surprise considering Carol has held a prominent role in the Avengers comics for years now, fans of the character were beginning to get a little anxious following the disastrous The Marvels roll out. To say this is a relief may be an understatement.

The problems began with deceitful trailers that mentioned and featured images from Endgame despite the movie barely touching on the events of the 2019 blockbuster. Deceitful reviews painted the film as the worst thing Marvel had ever made when it’s undoubtedly better, more sincere, and more entertaining than the likes of Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania and Thor: Love & Thunder.

Multiple articles also targeted director Nia DaCosta, twisting her easily explainable early exit during the film’s post-production phase and her absence from the cast and crew screening into disdain and carelessness for the project. The result was a worldwide box office of $206.1 million that didn’t come close to The Marvels‘ estimated break-even point of $439.6 million.

The reception was a stark contrast to Captain Marvel. The 2019 film, released in between the two major Avengers movies that wrapped up Marvel’s Infinity Saga, grossed over $1.1 billion worldwide, becoming the first female-led superhero film to pass the billion-dollar mark. The dip in the character’s popularity becomes a lot clearer, however, when you take into account the backlash Brie Larson received after she dared to suggest that the Hollywood film critic pool, and particularly the Marvel fandom, weren’t diverse enough, which could impact the unbiasedness of their opinions. Everything changed from that point on, and suddenly the actress’s public image went from likable goofball to stand-offish.

The same thing has happened across male-dominated franchises that have tried to diversify their storytelling only to be met with reactionary boycott missions. It’s come to a point where studios have had to take over stars’ social media to protect them from the abuse and doxxing threats. In a less inspired idea, they have also begun forming fan-led focus groups to anticipate what might rub them the wrong way.

Still, those who were sensible enough to understand where Larson was coming from, and who appreciate her run as Captain Marvel couldn’t be more excited to see her glow again as the face of the Avengers. Plenty of “this is what she deserves” and “ready to defend her with my life” were had in commemoration.

Avengers: Doomsday is expected to hit theaters in May 2026 with Avengers: Secret Wars following a year later. With Daniel Cretton, a frequent Brie Larson collaborator, landing the Spider-Man 4 director gig, Captain Marvel fans are hoping to see more of their favorite superhero around those shores, too.