Captain Marvel Jude Law lands male lead opposite Brie Larson

Jude Law is in negotiations to play the male lead opposite Brie Larson in Marvel's “Captain Marvel,” sources tell Variety.

Ben Mendelsohn is on board to play the villain with “Half Nelson” helmers Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck directing. Kevin Feige is producing. Marvel had no comment.

Geneva Robertson-Dworet wrote the most recent script with “Inside Out” scribe Meg LeFauve and Nicole Perlman penning previous drafts, which follows Carol Danvers, an Air Force pilot whose DNA is fused with that of an alien during an accident. The resulting alteration imbues her with the superpowers of strength, energy projection, and flight.

Law will be playing Doctor Walter Lawson, a.k.a. Mar-Vell, who becomes a mentor of sorts to Danvers as she tries to figure out her new powers.

At this year's San Diego Comic-Con, Feige announced that the superhero film will be set in the '90s, before the Avengers ever thought of assembling, and Samuel L. Jackson is expected to reprise his role as Nick Fury.

The film is expected to bow on March 8, 2019.

This would mark the second major tentpole part Law has landed this year after getting the role of young Albus Dumbledore in “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.” He is also still attached to star in a third “Sherlock Holmes” film, which Warner Bros. is currently developing.

Law just wrapped shooting Woody Allen's next movie, starring Elle Fanning, and is about to start shooting the spy thriller “The Rhythm Section” opposite Blake Lively. He is repped by WME, Julian Belfrage Associates, and attorney Karl Austen.

Source: Variety