How Captain Marvel Addresses That Smile Controversy

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How & Why Captain Marvel Addresses That Smile Controversy

By Meagan Damore

Published Feb 28, 2019

After criticisms that Captain Marvel doesn't smile enough, Brie Larson revealed how the film tackles that topic and why it was always in the script.

When the first Captain Marvel trailer arrived last September, it generated a lot of buzz from fans and detractors alike. A contingent of these critics got hung up over one particular sticking point: the lead character's serious expression. Some even went so far as to digitally add a smile to star Brie Larson's face in the official posters and photos. However, that didn't come as much of a surprise to Larson. After all, it's a topic that made it into the film itself.After an interviewer detailed a scene in which a man tells Carol Danvers to smile, Larson revealed that was always part of the script and not a response to the earlier controversy. "No, that was just in the movie already. We'd already shot that," she explained to Yahoo!. "That's just a depiction of the female experience. Yeah, that's just what it's like, so it didn't really bother me that much when I saw that that was the reaction, because that's just how it goes."RELATED: Captain Marvel Rotten Tomatoes Review Bomb Results in MCU Record Low"This is part of why art that depicts the female experience is so important," she continued. "Because -- on one hand -- for women and girls, it allows us to go, 'Oh, I have that experience too!' And for those that aren't in our bodies, you can look at it and go, 'Wait, that happens to you? We've got to do better.'"

"It was always in the script. It's not an uncommon thing for women to hear,"Â co-director Anna Boden added. "So it doesn't surprise me at all that it was in social media, but I think a lot of women can relate to that moment."

Though the film has seen its share of trolls like this and those review bombing its score on Rotten Tomatoes, the film is on track for a record-breaking opening weekend at the box office. Captain Marvel is currently Fandango's third biggest pre-seller for any title in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, behind only Avengers: Infinity War and Black Panther. It is projected to open to $120 million or more.

Directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, Captain Marvel stars Brie Larson as Carol Danvers, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Jude Law as the commander of Starforce, Clark Gregg as Phil Coulson, Lee Pace as Ronan the Accuser, Djimon Hounsou as Korath the Pursuer, Gemma Chan as Minn-Erva, Ben Mendelsohn as Talos, Lashana Lynch as Maria Rambeau, Algenis Perez Soto as Att-Lass, McKenna Grace as a young Carol Danvers and Annette Bening as the Supreme Intelligence. The film arrives on March 8.