When Brie Larson was cast as Carol Danvers, aka Captain Marvel, in 2016, the decision was met with fierce backlash, and the actor was immediately targeted by cruel online trolls.
Released in 2019, Captain Marvel was the first woman-led superhero movie from Marvel — which saw it get subjected to a relentless and misogynistic smear campaign.
Some toxic Marvel fans were outraged that a woman was now playing the popular character, who was originally a man. The character of Carol had debuted in her own comic book series, Ms. Marvel, in 1977 but took on the role of Captain Marvel in a 2012 series.
Others criticized Brie’s physical appearance and took to social media to suggest actors that they felt were a better fit for the role.
Then, months before Captain Marvel was even released, review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes was flooded with negative reviews from trolls that primarily lambasted Brie on a personal level.
Many of these fake reviews accused Brie of being sexist against men — seemingly in response to her comments about the lack of diversity in Hollywood and among film critics.
She’d told Marie Claire that after noticing that press junkets are often “overwhelmingly white male,” she’d “decided to make sure [her] press days were more inclusive.”
After an outpouring of anger, Brie later clarified to Fox 5’s Kevin McCarthy: “What I’m looking for is to bring more seats up to the table. No one is getting their chair taken away. There are not fewer seats at the table, there’s just more seats at the table.”
Despite the scrutiny, Captain Marvel ended up being a huge success and grossed over $1 billion globally.
And now, Brie’s friend and costar Samuel L. Jackson has had his say on the cruel treatment that she faced from some corners of the Marvel fandom.
Brie and Samuel first met during the making of the 2017 movie Kong: Skull Island; they then reunited for Brie's directorial debut Unicorn Store as well as Captain Marvel and upcoming movie The Marvels.
The two became so close that Brie sought Samuel’s advice when she was first offered a role in the Marvel universe, which he encouraged her to take.
And when the actor was asked what it was like for him to see his friend encounter “the more sexist side of Marvel’s fanbase" in a new interview with Rolling Stone, Samuel stated that “these incel dudes” will not “destroy” her.
“Brie’s a stronger person than people give her credit for,” he began, before recounting exactly how their friendship had flourished.
“We had done Kong together, which was not the most wonderful experience for either of us. We became great friends during that particular experience because we were having such a hard time,” Samuel explained. “Then, when she was doing her movie [Unicorn Store] and trying to get a particular actor, I was in the makeup trailer with her and was like, ‘Why are you trying to hire this other actor and not trying to get me to do your movie?’”
“She said, ‘I didn’t think you’d ever do it… so, will you?’ And I was like, ‘Let’s do it,’” he went on. “Then, we bonded through the election while we were doing her movie when Donald Trump won. She was broken, and I was like, ‘Don’t let ‘em break you. You have to be strong now.’”
“Then, when she got Captain Marvel, she called me and was like, ‘They want me in the Marvel Universe. Should I do it?’ And I was like, ‘Hell yeah! Let’s do it!’” Samuel added.
“But she’s not going to let any of that stuff destroy her,” he said of the backlash. “These incel dudes who hate strong women, or the fact that she’s a feminist who has an opinion and expressed it? Everybody wants people to be who they want them to be. She is who she is, and she’s genuinely that.”
Samuel’s comments come months after Brie made light of the negative reaction that her Captain Marvel casting had received at the Disney D23 fan expo in September.
