Last night Brie Larson was reported to be in talks to play Captain Marvel, Marvel Studios’ first female-led superhero film. The superhero studio has been casting some pretty high-profile names in the past, and a couple of Oscar-winning ones as well, so if they manage to sign Larson on it just be another excellent casting notch on their belt. The actress suddenly shot to the front of the line stepping ahead of favorites like Emily Blunt and Rebecca Ferguson.

Now there are reports that Marvel has already set their sights on a director for the film. Jennifer Kent (The Babadook) and Niki Caro (MarFarland, USA) are reportedly in the running for the job. More on the story below.

THR was the first to report on Kent and Caro’s possible hiring. Like their competitors over at DC, Marvel is looking to hire a female director to helm their female-led superhero film. Also, the fact that they aren’t household names also fits the studio’s criteria.

Kent directed the darling horror flick The Babadook, while Caro was behind the lens for Whale Rider and the underseen MacFarland, USA. She is currently in post-production on The Zookeeper’s Wife starring Jessica Chastain.

Given that Larson is able to jump from movies like Scott Pilgrim vs. The World to Short Term 12 and then back to 21 Jump Street and Room, the actress working on a blockbuster film with an indie director behind the lens would be just perfect. She just finished production on Kong: Skull Island and reunited with Short Term 12 director Destin Daniel Cretton for the drama The Glass Castle.

With the studio eyeing Larson to lead as the title role and Kent and Caro to possibly direct, Captain Marvel is already shaping up to be a very highly anticipated film. Inside Out co-writer Meg LeFauve co-wrote the script with Guardians of the Galaxy co-writer Nicole Perlman who started working on the script last year and came out of the Marvel screenwriting program.

Captain Marvel centers on Carol Danvers, an Air Force pilot who gains superhuman abilities when she gets infused with Kree DNA.

THR offers very little in terms of who Disney is leaning towards, but just the mentioning of the two tells us things are progressing nicely and we could hear something solid soon or possibly at SDCC. We’ll keep you up to date on who gets the gig.

Captain Marvel opens in theaters on March 8, 2019.

[Source: THR]