Captain Marvel Gets Directors In The Form Of Duo Ryan Fleck And Anna Boden

There's one movie left in Phase Three of the Marvel Cinematic Universe that has yet to get a director...Captain Marvel. Considering the idiosyncratic choices to helm recent Phase Three movies like Ryan Coogler and Taika Waititi, I was super duper intrigued to see who they got for movie. Apparently eyeballing a female director (which Hollywood should be doing way more often given the dismally small number of women who direct major Hollywood features), the hunt has been on for months with plenty of notable names being brought up. Now, we know who's doing....directing duo Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck!


Who are they? They've been in the indie scene for a while now, having co-written and directed three movies starting in 2008. Among those movies were It's Kind Of A Funny Story, a solid dramedy that I remember having some corny plot choices but good performances, and the highly raved about 2015 feature Mississippi Grind, which I should finally see pronto. They've also been doing some recent Showtime dramas like The Big C, The Affair and Billions while Ryan Fleck went solo for the 2006 indie drama Half Nelson.

Interestingly, with the benefit of hindsight, it's no shocker they got this gig. Not only do they fit the writer/director mold Marvel's been looking at to both helm and pen their recent movies (like Scott Derrickson on Doctor Strange, James Gunn on the Guardians Of The Galaxy movies and Taika Waititi on Thor: Ragnarok and so on) but also because they were one of the finalists to direct the first Guardians Of The Galaxy before James Gunn got the gig. Peyton Reed was apparently gunning for that job as well and it looks like they all left an impression on Kevin Feige considering they're all now in the MCU!

My first reaction to this news is....mild approval. I'm not jumping up and down the way I would if, like, Kelly Fremon Craig, Marielle Heller or Mira Nair got the gig and I do wish the first female director in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (something that's been long overdue) didn't have to share the director's chair with a male director. But these two are an unorthodox choice that have at least been around doing films long enough to establish their own voices, it's not like they're being thrust into the world of big blockbusters after just one tiny indie movie. Basically, this isn't, like, my dream pick for the role (though maybe that'll change if I watch Mississippi Grind and love it mind you) but at the same time, they seem like a decent choice to helm this project and I'm super curious to learn more about the MCU's take on Carol Danvers, especially since an offhand line of dialogue in Doctor Strange seems to reveal this interpretation of the character will have schizophrenia. Given that the two covered mental health issues in It's Kind Of A Funny Story, that could be a precedent for how they handle that side of the character in the Captain Marvel movie.

Lots to contemplate here but it's nice to see some major movement being made on this project. Can't wait to see who rounds out the cast here given the excellent actors assembled for recent MCU movies.