We’re a long way off from seeing Captain Marvel, but at the very least, Marvel’s first superhero film featuring a female protagonist is on the way. While it’s possible the character might show up in Avengers: Infinity War or pop up in a stinger, we know that her film, which opens March 8, 2019, will be an origin story.

However, the film is still searching for a director, and Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige explained to Vulture why they’re holding off on making an announcement:

"With Captain Marvel," continued Feige, "there's so much potential in the comics and there have been so many incarnations of her powers and the characters who've had that mantle that we've been focusing in on exactly how do we tell her origin. How does it fit into the cosmic side of our universe? How does it fit into what we're doing with the next Avengers movies? So really, that's what's been delaying that particular announcement."

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Feige explained that when they hire a director, the way it works is that they have a “road map” for where they want the movie to go, they pitch it to a filmmaker, the filmmaker builds and expands upon that concept, and then they get hired. That’s what happened with Scott Derrickson on Doctor Strange, with Taika Waititi on Thor: Ragnarok, and it’s what they’re looking to happen on Captain Marvel.

The film also offers up the challenge of giving Marvel’s its mightiest superhero yet. Feige talked about trying to strike the balance between giving her lots of powers and making sure she’s still flawed and relatable:

"All of the Marvel characters have flaws to them, all of them have a deep humanity to them. With Captain Marvel, she is as powerful a character as we've ever put in a movie. Her powers are off the charts, and when she's introduced, she will be by far the strongest character we've ever had. It's important, then, to counterbalance that with someone who feels real. She needs to have a humanity to tap into, and Brie [Larson] can do that."

So just how powerful is Captain Marvel? Well, as for her powers in the comics, here’s what Wikipedia has to say:

Danvers possesses superhuman strength and durability, can fly at roughly six times the speed of sound, retains her sixth sense, and can discharge explosive blasts of radiant energy, which she fires from her fingertips. She also demonstrates the ability to absorb other forms of energy, such as electricity, to further magnify her strength and energy projection, up to the force of an exploding nuclear weapon. When sufficiently augmented, she can withstand the pressure from a 92-ton weight, and strike with a similar level of force, although Hank Pym theorized that this likely was not her limit.

So…yeah. She’s got some game.

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