Filmmaker Nia DaCosta, director of the highly anticipated horror reimagining of “Candyman,” will direct “Captain Marvel 2” for Marvel Studios, Variety has confirmed.
DaCosta replaces Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, who helmed 2019’s “Captain Marvel” to a $426.8 million domestic gross, and $1.13 billion worldwide. Brie Larson will return as the titular hero, also known as Carol Danvers, from a script by Megan McDonnell, a story editor on Marvel Studios’ upcoming Disney Plus series “WandaVision.”
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.
The 2019 indie “Little Woods,” starring Tessa Thompson, launched DaCosta’s career, helping land her the job of directing the new “Candyman” movie for producer and co-writer Jordan Peele. That film was originally slated to open in June, but has been pushed to October due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In June, DaCosta released a stunning shadow-puppet preview of “Candyman” that underscored how her film drew from, in her words, “the intersection of white violence and black pain.”
The “Captain Marvel 2” director’s chair was highly sought-after, even amid uncertainty about how tentpole productions with major stunts and massive crews can operate in a pre-vaccine COVID-19 world. Variety has learned that among the other directors approached for consideration were Olivia Wilde (“Booksmart”) and Jamie Babbit (“But I’m a Cheerleader,” “Russian Doll”).
The film is currently scheduled to open on July 8, 2022.
Deadline first reported the news about DaCosta.