‘Captain Marvel’ Eyes Career Baddie Ben Mendelsohn for Villain

Few actors play antagonists and deeply flawed, seedy men the way Ben Mendelsohn does. The man takes some of the sleaziest, most nefarious characters and makes them…weirdly charismatic. (Especially when he throws in some of those wild dance moves.) And it looks like he might be bringing his distinct brand of baddie to the Marvel Cinematic Universe to square off with Brie Larson in Captain Marvel.

Per Variety, Marvel is eyeing Mendelsohn — who gave one of the best antagonistic performances last year in Rogue One — to play the villain in Captain Marvel. The film would reunite him with Mississippi Grind directing duo Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, who are helming Brie Larson’s MCU solo debut from a script by Geneva Robertson-Dworet. Nicole Perlman and Inside Out’s Meg LeFauve wrote the previous draft.

As revealed over the summer at Comic-Con, Captain Marvel is set in the ’90s and tells the origin story of the titular hero. Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige has said that the Skrulls will be the villains of the film, and Mendelsohn is reportedly in talks to play their leader. Samuel L. Jackson is also set to star, reprising his role as Nick Fury and appearing in the MCU for the first time since 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Captain Marvel is set to hit theaters on March 8, 2019.

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