Nia DaCosta Set to Direct Captain Marvel 2

Nia DaCosta is taking over as director for Marvel Studios Captain Marvel 2. She has recently directed Candyman reboot which will be arriving this year in October.

DaCosta is replacing Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, who directed the first film which had massive success at the box office. Brie Larson will return as the lead star, also known as Carol Danvers. Megan McDonnell is penning the script for the sequel.

Marvel Studios had been meeting with candidates for the past couple of months. Several individuals were interviewed for the job including Olivia Wilde and Jamie Babbit, although DaCosta seemed to have the edge for some time.

DaCosta is the fourth woman, and the first Black woman, to direct a Marvel Studios picture, following Boden, Cate Shortland (“Black Widow”), and Chloé Zhao (“Eternals”), part of Marvel Studios’ continued push for broader inclusion in its top creative positions.

In the first film, Larson’s Carol Danvers was a human who becomes involved in the war between two alien races, the Kree and shape-shifting Skrulls. Surviving an explosion tied to an alien engine imbued her with incredible power, turning her into Captain Marvel and making her one of the most powerful heroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film was released in March 2019.

The 2019 indie “Little Woods,” starring Tessa Thompson, the critically acclaimed film that put her on every executive and producer’s radar including Jordan Peele, who hand-picked her to direct his Candyman retelling. Although the release has been pushed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, its first trailer set social media on fire. That film was originally slated to open in June but has been pushed to October.

Captain Marvel 2 is currently scheduled to arrive on July 8, 2022.