While Marvel's first solo female superhero movie is a big deal to most, the project is important to Brie Larson for reasons other than the film's novelty, according to Comic Book. In Captain Marvel, the 29-year-old actress will play Carol Danvers, a powerful superhero who fights to save the Earth when it gets caught in the middle of a galactic war between two alien races.
“All of my heroes were just unapologetically themselves,” Larson explained. “And they were flawed at times, and that's okay. So for me, it's part of who Carol is, too. She's flawed. She's not perfect. So in order for me to feel comfortable stepping into this position, I have to accept my humanness, and remind everybody that I'm a human, and I’m an artist. And I just want to make art, and that's really it.”
Many fans have been comparing the upcoming film to the wildly successful Black Panther, which is centered around Marvel’s first solo black superhero and features a predominantly black cast. The film was celebrated in pop culture for its diversity, but Larson said that she’s not looking for that kind of attention.
“You don't get to decide if you're an inspiration to people or not," she said. “Since I've agreed to do this role, people have said, ‘Oh, well you'll be a role model, blah blah blah.’ I'm just gonna do what feels true to me, and if people want to tag along, they can, and if they don't, they can bounce, and that's cool.”
In terms of comparisons to other Marvel movies, Larson expresses that she wants the film to be held up to the standards that have been set by those who have come before her.
“I don't know how it's any different. To be honest, I don't want it to feel different,” Larson explained. “I’m kind of over the, ‘First female blah blah blah,’ and ‘Wow, maybe women can actually do the same things that dudes can do – what a crazy concept!’ I feel like the more we talk about it, the more we perpetuate the myth that it's an impossible task. No, if it wasn't like that before, it's because it was wrong. That was just wrong. Now we're just doing what's natural.”
Captain Marvel, hitting theaters on March 8, 2018, explores a previously unseen period of history in the Marvel Cinematic Universe: the 1990s.