Though Marvel Studios is prepping for the international rollout of James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, there is rabid anticipation for any news regarding the MCU's upcoming slate of films that exists beyond 2017. It's hard to say just which film has the hot hand at the moment, but certainly Marvel's first female-fronted superhero film Captain Marvel, starring Oscar-winner Brie Larson, is in the running.

During the recent press day for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Steve Weintraub had a chance to chat with Marvel Studios head honcho Kevin Feige. While you can certainly expect a lot more from the conversation as pertains to the MCU's plans, one thing we learned was the filming start schedule for Marvel's future films, among them, Captain Marvel.

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Image via Marvel Comics

Here's what Feige had to say about the current schedule for Captain Marvel:

“Assuming everything stays on schedule, we start filming ... Captain Marvel in February.”

Two important points here: One, the MCU's schedule has certainly been set, but things change and shift in Hollywood; this could change as well. The other item of note is obviously the February 2018 start date, which gives the production plenty of time to prep for the slotted March 8, 2019 release date. So while Marvel will be busy rolling out Black Panther for its February 16, 2018 release, Captain Marvel might be well underway. You can get an idea of the other superhero release dates here.

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Image via Marvel Comics

As for Captain Marvel, Marvel itself just confirmed that co-directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (Mississippi Grind) would be (wo)manning the helm, directing from a script by Meg LeFauve and Nicole Perlman based on the Gene Colan and Roy Thomas comic. Little else has been officially revealed, though some press folks (including Steve) got a chance to see concept art for Captain Marvel's costume:

Marvel is using the comics as a foundation for the design of the costume, and the comic book cover pictured here is close to what I saw. And while the Marvel representatives we spoke to said everything is still being figured out, another one of the concept art images featured Larson as Captain Marvel fighting what appeared to be a very large mechanical creature/robot and it looked very cool. I definitely think they’re on the right path.

And here's what Larson had to say about her anticipation for playing the character, which she commented on during an interview for her film Free Fire, in theaters now:

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image via Brie Larson

“Aside from the fact that it’s iconic to be part of this, to be playing the first female [lead] in a solo [Marvel] movie, I think for me personally one of the things I’m excited about is the idea of female complexity. That’s what I’ve wanted to bring to every genre and every film that I’ve done. How can we come to understand the mystique of being female? And I think with Free Fire, for example, what excites me is to say, ‘It’s not so easy as just saying, oh, that’s a girl in an action movie; that’s a superhero and she’s tough and she’s just like a dude.’ That’s too easy. That’s not where we’re at actually. I think women are far more complicated and more interesting than just saying, ‘They’re like a dude, and that’s what makes them tough and that’s what makes them cool.’

 

That’s just not how it works, so to me it’s this idea of doing this film on this larger scale with really incredible, smart people behind it, with women behind it, that gives you an hour and a half, two hours to sit and see how different a woman can be. That seems cool to me, right?”

Captain Marvel soars into theaters on March 8, 2019. Better read up in the meantime! Here's more from Steve's interview with Kevin Feige:

 

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image via Brie Larson

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Image via Getty