Marvel's decision to hire Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden to direct Captain Marvel took a lot of people by surprise, and I got a few messages from a few disappointed fans. Honestly, I'm not sure why. Not only are they top notch filmmakers who have a long history of solid work on Half Nelson, Sugar, and Mississippi Grind, but have you looked at Marvel's roster of directors? The Russo Brothers, anyone? Nobody had heard of them before Captain America: Winter Soldier, and now they are the heavy hitters of the MCU bullpen.
Fandango caught up with Marvel's Kevin Feige and he talked about the qualities he saw in Fleck and Boden that made them the right choice for the job...
"We met with lots and lots of people as we always do, and had multiple meetings, and Anna and Ryan just had an amazing way of talking about Carol Danvers and talking about her journey. We want filmmakers that can help us focus on and elevate the character journey so it doesn’t get lost amongst the spectacle. And there’s going to be a lot of spectacle in the Captain Marvel film. We’re pretty good at that at Marvel Studios, and have an amazing team that can help with that. But when we’re filling a director chair or chairs, we want people who are focused on the emotional journey, the humor, the surprising twists and turns of a singular character journey, which is what Captain Marvel is. They had the best handle on it. And when you look at the work that Ryan and Anna have done in the past, they are all amazing and very diverse character studies and journeys, and that impressed us."
To be fair, not every unknown director can hack it adapting to the Marvel style. Lookin' at you, Alan Taylor. So we'll just have to see if Boden and Fleck can find their niche within the MCU. Good thing they've got a star like Brie Larson to help with that. Captain Marvel opens March 8th 2019.
