As Marvel Studios’ first effort with a female lead, Captain Marvel had an incredible amount of pressure placed upon it when it arrived in cinemas in 2019. And while it certainly wasn’t the best MCU film we’d ever seen, and perhaps stuck a little too closely to the studio’s familiar formula, it still delivered a mostly enjoyable origin story for Carol Danvers.
Not to mention that despite the best efforts of a vocal minority of trolls to sabotage its reputation online, Captain Marvel went on to pull in over $1.1 billion at the box office. As such, it’s no surprise there’s still much to come for Carol in the MCU, as Brie Larson has five films left on her contract and it seems her next solo outing is now beginning to take shape.
At least, that’s according to The Hollywood Reporter, who bring word tonight that Captain Marvel 2 has entered development and will be set in the present day. WandaVision scribe Megan McDonnell is handling the script, and while Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, who co-wrote and directed the first one, won’t be returning, the studio is already looking for a replacement, with Marvel said to be eyeing female filmmakers.
Plot details are still non-existent, but the plan is to get Captain Marvel 2 into theaters in 2022, as part of the MCU Phase 5. And that’d certainly line up with much of what we’ve already heard and the current direction the studio is heading in with the franchise.
Of course, rumors have been swirling that the upcoming sequel will also be used to further Marvel’s promise to bring more diversity to their cinematic universe, with reports saying that Carol herself will come out as gay, and that a few other LGBT characters may be included, too. There’ve also been whispers of the movie being a mini-Civil War, with heroes like Spider-Man, Daredevil, Jessica Jones and more all said to be showing up to help out the titular heroine.
And while nothing’s been confirmed by the studio just yet, now that Captain Marvel 2 has officially entered development, it hopefully won’t be too long before we learn more. Watch this space.