Brie Larson Is the Perfect Captain Marvel Because She Knows How to F— With Haters

There’s a class of superhero actor who doesn’t just play the part, they also naturally embody a key aspect of the hero they were born to play. Chris Evans has Captain America’s inspirational and aspirational attributes, Robert Downey Jr. and Iron Man have the same natural swagger to them, and Brie Larson and Captain Marvel know how to not give an F.

Evidence: this brief red carpet clip from this past weekend’s D23 Expo. It’s just 11 seconds long, but it’s 11 seconds of Larson poking a bear (and remember, she’s Captain Marvel; a bear’s as dangerous as a puppy to her). When asked a truly innocuous question about how long she’ll play Captain Marvel, Larson replies, “I don’t know. I don’t know. Does anyone want me to do it again? I don’t know. I really don’t know the answer to that.”

This is a masterclass in good-natured shit-stirring if ever I saw it. Larson is keenly aware that literally every single thing that she does, says, breathes, or blinks about Carol Danvers will immediately turn into chum for angry YouTubers. Seriously — this one 11-second clip has been fodder for literal dozens of ridiculous videos proclaiming “Brie Larson is LOSING HER MIND,” “Brie Larson DESPERATELY tries to own the trolls,” “she knows EVERYONE HATES Captain Marvel,” and — you knew it was coming – “Brie Larson interview MELTDOWN.”

Reader, I assume you’re a normal human with working eyes and a decent brain: does that interview look like a meltdown? It looks more like Larson joking around and doing a Rodney Dangerfield routine (“I don’t get no respect!”) and definitely not something to be taken seriously. But Larson knows who’s watching her interviews and she’s not afraid of messing with them. Further evidence that this clip is just a good old-fashioned mess around:

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Read the caption. Again, Larson knows what she’s doing and anyone devoting an hour of their life to recording, editing, uploading, and spinning this nonsense into some overblown ADMISSION that CAPTAIN MARVEL is DONE and ALSO STUPID and SHOULD PROBABLY BE A MAN ACTUALLY… you look silly.

You know who wants to see Brie Larson return as Captain Marvel? The 7,000 people in Hall D23 who freaked out over the absolutely stellar footage from next summer’s The Marvels. The crowd absolutely loved seeing Larson on stage with co-stars Teyonah Parris and Iman Vellani and director Nia DaCosta. And, sorry haters, but with Steve Rogers retired, Tony Stark dead, and Thor raising an adopted daughter out in space, Carol Danvers is the A-list Avenger of the moment. And Brie Larson is the perfect person to play her because, as Captain Marvel writer Kelly Sue DeConnick famously said:

“Carol falls down all the time but she always gets back up — we say that about Captain America as well, but Captain America gets back up because it’s the right thing to do. Carol gets back up because ‘Fuck you.'”

Brie Larson is Carol Danvers. The Marvels is in theaters July 28, 2023, haters.