English actress Gemma Chan has signed up for a role in Marvel Studios’ female-fronted superhero flick, Captain Marvel. Brie Larson will headline the movie, in the role of fighter-pilot-turned-superhero Carol Danvers (aka Captain Marvel, the film’s title character). Chan, who is currently best known for her starring role in Channel 4’s Humans series, is widely assumed to be playing a villain.
In a change from the usual Hollywood secret keeping, we do have a name and a bit of a job description for Chan’s character. She’s playing Captain Minn-Evra, a geneticist from an alien world. Chan’s Captain Minn-Evra is a member of the Kree alien species, who have popped up previously in the Marvel Cinematic Universe thanks to Guardians Of The Galaxy and the Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. TV series. The Kree are known to have superior strength to humans and some eye-catching blue skin.
The Kree race is particularly relevant to the Captain Marvel mythos: in the comics, Carol Danvers gained her powers (flight, strength and many more) after being caught in an explosion with a Kree superhero by the name of Mar-Vell. It seems plausible that the movie will adapt this story, perhaps with Chan’s Kree geneticist taking an interest in Carol after the blast. Also, it is believed that the war between the Kree and the shape-shifting Skrulls will play a part in the film’s story.
Captain Marvel will reach UK cinemas on March 8th 2019. Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck are directing the film. Samuel L. Jackson, Jude Law, Ben Mendelsohn and DeWanda Wise also feature in the cast.