‘Humans’ and ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ star Gemma Chan is set to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe, landing the role of Kree villain Minn-Erva in ‘Captain Marvel,’ Deadline has learned.
The studio’s first female-led superhero outing, the 1990s-set tale stars Brie Larson (‘Room,’ ‘Skull Island’) as Carol Danvers, a.k.a. Captain Marvel, an air force pilot whose DNA is fused with that of an alien during an accident. The resulting alteration imbues her with the super powers of strength, energy project and flight.
Created by Scott Edelman and Al Milgrom, and first appearing in ‘Captain Marvel’ #50, Minn-Erva is a Kree geneticist and spy who takes on the alias of Doctor Minerva. The character has similar abilities to Larson’s Captain Marvel.
‘Captain Marvel’ also stars Jude Law as Doctor Walter Lawson, the human guise of Kree hero Mar-Vell, who becomes a mentor of sorts to Danvers as she tries to figure out her new powers, and Ben Mendelsohn as the big bad. Samuel L Jackson is also on board to reprise his role as Avengers architect and recruiter Nick Fury.
Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, the filmmakers behind ‘Mississippi Grind,’ ‘Half Nelson,’ and ‘Sugar,’ are behind the camera for the superhero flick. The filmmaking duo are directing from a script by Geneva Robertson-Dworet, with Previous drafts penned by Meg LeFauve and Nicole Perlman.