Why Captain Marvel Is Going To Be A Very Different MCU Movie

3. The Film's Directors Are Yet To Helm A Big Action Flick

Captain Marvel Marvel Comics Carol Danvers
Marvel Comics

This might not be all that different actually, given how the MCU's primary custodians at this point kicked off their career with some brilliant directing on Mark Harmon's Community, but still, it's a great indication of what Marvel are looking for in their universe.

Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck are two immensely talented creators who have been working in the industry for over 17 years, and their most famous works - Half Nelson and Mississippi Grind - were both critically revered, with the former even earning lead Ryan Gosling an Academy Award nomination. Still though, they're not exactly big blockbuster spectacles, which Marvel happen to be in the business of making.

While there is something of a precedent for the studio to approach directors who aren't action specialists through and through, there is something indelibly unique regarding Boden and Fleck's work. Both of them understandably have a knack for producing authentic character-driven narratives. And, in the context of the MCU, they're free to play to that strength.

What makes Marvel so darn special is that their heroes have always been vulnerable (a sentiment echoed by Stan Lee in the latest trailer for The Defenders), and who better to portray that authenticity than two directors whose films embody that spirit in full?

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Content Producer/Presenter

WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.