Though we're about a year away from the release of Captain Marvel, casting is just starting to shape up. The most recent reports have Gemma Chan (Humans) joining the cast opposite Brie Larson in the title role. Larson's been confirmed to play Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel since back in the summer of 2016, if you can believe it, but not much else has been officially confirmed. Ben Mendelsohn may or may not be playing the Big Bad of the picture, with Jude Law previously in talks to play Walter Lawson / Mar-Vell, and Samuel L. Jackson possibly returning as Nick Fury. And we're not sure if any of them are going to show up for the first time in Captain Marvel itself or one of the MCU films that precede it.

What we do know, courtesy of Deadline, is that Chan is coming aboard to play Doctor Minerva. Now we'll get a bit spoilery from here on out, so if you don't want to know any more about that character, peace out now. Doctor Minerva is actually an alias for the Kree geneticist and spy, Minn-Erva; those Marvel names, am I right? Doctor Minerva has similar powers to that of Captain Marvel, so it's possible she could go toe-to-toe with the newly minted superhero when it arrives March 8, 2019, but specific plot details are under wraps for the moment.

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Image via Marvel Comics

We know that the film will follow Air Force pilot Danvers and we'll see her 90s-set origin story as Captain Marvel. That story may depart from her comics origin in which her DNA was fused with alien DNA during an accident, granting her enhanced strength, energy projection and flight. Doctor Minerva's own introduction is a little stranger: She first arrived in 1977 in "Captain Marvel" #50 and attempted to mate with Mar-Vell in order to advance the genetic strength of the Kree race. (Neat!) While I'm sure Law would be thrilled with that plot line, I'd expect the MCU version to find another goal for Dr. Minerva.

Are you excited for this bit of casting news? Let us know your thoughts in the comments! And for more on Captain Marvel, be sure to get caught up with these recent write-ups:

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