With Marvel Studios getting their long-awaited Captain Marvel movie ready, the studio has finally found their male lead. Jude Law has entered negotiations to play Dr. Walter Lawson, better known to Marvel Comics fans as the iconic Kree superhero Mar-Vell. There had been a rumor from August that Mar-Vell would have a major role in this Captain Marvel movie, and that has now been confirmed. Marvel Studios hasn't revealed exactly when filming will start, but it will likely happen at some point next year, as the studio prepares for its March 8, 2019 release date. Keanu Reeves was first offered the role, but he turned it down.

The studio revealed a lot of details about Captain Marvel during their Comic-Con 2017 panel, including that the Skrulls will be the main villains and that the movie will make Marvel Studios history, becoming the first movie to be set in the 1990s. It was also confirmed that Samuel L. Jackson will return as as de-aged Nick Fury, who will be seen with two working eyes for the first time ever. The Nick Fury character has always been seen wearing an eye patch, dating back to his first appearance in the very first Marvel movie, 2008's Iron Man. There is speculation that this movie will show exactly how he lost his eye, which had never been previously revealed in any other Marvel movie.

The announcement of the Skrulls as the main villains also came with the news that this movie will be set within the iconic Kree-Skrull war from the Marvel Comics, which ultimately lead to the now-confirmed rumor about Mar-Vell's inclusion in this particular story. Mar-Vell was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Gene Colan, making his first appearance in Marvel Super-Heroes #12 that debuted in December 1967, during the "Silver Age" of comics. The character was given his own Captain Marvel series in 1968. Mar-Vell was sent to Earth as a spy for the Kree race, to determine if they were a threat to the Kree, where he assumes the identity of a recently-deceased scientist named Dr. Walter Lawson.

It has previously been confirmed that Captain Marvel will be an origin story, and that the story will explore the Quantum Realm, which was first introduced in the MCU in 2015's Ant-Man, and will most likely be seen next in the 2018 sequel Ant-Man and the Wasp. In the comics, Dr. Walter Lawson is rather important to Carol Danvers' transition to Captain Marvel. Carol Danvers, an officer in the U.S. Air Force, first meets Lawson on a military base, and when she is caught in an explosion of a Kree device, she becomes a human/Kree hybrid and gains her superpowers. It remains to be seen if this comics story will be faithfully adapted, or if the studio has some surprises in store for fans.

Anna Fleck and Ryan Boden (Mississippi Grind) are directing Captain Marvel from a script originally written by Nicole Perlman (Guardians of the Galaxy) and Meg LeFauve (Inside Out), with Tomb Raider reboot writer Geneva Robertson-Dworet coming aboard to rewrite the script in August. It was also confirmed that the new writer won't be completely starting over from scratch with the script, although it remains to be seen how much will be changed from the original draft. This project marks the second major franchise Jude Law has joined this year, after signing on to portray the younger version of Albus Dumbledore in the sequel Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 2. Variety broke the news on this casting earlier today.