In a press release announcing the start of production on Captain Marvel, Marvel Studios has confirmed a few cast members that were previously only speculated about by fans: Clark Gregg, the beloved Agent Phil Coulson from the earliest Marvel Cinematic Universe films and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., along with Djimon Hounsou and Lee Pace, who both previously appeared in 2014's Guardians of the Galaxy.

Coulson's appearance makes sense given that the film takes place in the '90s -- and Marvel Studios has already been known to employ CG-enabled de-aging effects -- and features Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, director of S.H.I.E.L.D. This will be the first Marvel Studios film that Gregg has appeared in since his on-screen death in 2012's Avengers, though the character was subsequently resurrected for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D..

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Pace played Ronan the Accuser in Guardians, a member of the Kree alien race, who are central to the Captain Marvel plot. Hounsou played Korath the Pursuer, an accomplice of Ronan. Given the prominent role of the Kree in Captain Marvel mythology, a return from both characters seems like a natural fit.

The announcement also contains the name of a few more previously unannounced cast members whose roles are less easy to figure out: Algenis Perez Soto, who starred in 2008's Sugar; Rune Temte, who appeared in 2016's Eddie the Eagle; and McKenna Grace, seen last year as the young Tonya Harding in I, Tonya.

These performers join Brie Larson, who stars in the title role of Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel, Jackson, Gemma Chan as Minn-Erva, Jude Law as Walter Lawson/Mar-Vell, and Ben Mendelsohn and Lashana Lynch as as-yet undisclosed characters.

Also revealed in the announcement: Liz Flahive & Carly Mensch, creators of Netflix's GLOW, are on board the film as screenwriters. The press release names "an all-star collective of accomplished writers," along with the previously known Meg LeFauve, Nicole Perlman, Geneva Robertson-Dworet and directors Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck.

Additionally, a new synopsis has been released for the 2019 film, which again hints that legendary Marvel Comics story "The Kree-Skrull War" will be a major inspiration:

The story follows Carol Danvers as she becomes one of the universe’s most powerful heroes when Earth is caught in the middle of a galactic war between two alien races. Set in the 1990s, “Captain Marvel” is an all-new adventure from a previously unseen period in the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

While many recent Marvel Studios films have filmed in Atlanta, including this year's Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War, Captain Marvel will primarily shoot in the Los Angeles area, along with location shoots in in Fresno, Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

Directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck and featuring the Marvel character created in 1968 by Roy Thomas and Gene Colan, Captain Marvel is scheduled for release on March 8, 2019.