Here to shake up the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a new type of superhero film is on the horizon. We have the lowdown.

Spoilers to follow.

What’s it about?

When the DNA of US Airforce pilot Carol Danvers is accidentally fused with that of a Kree – the alien race best represented in film by Guardians of the Galaxy‘s Ronan the Accuser – she gains superhuman strength, energy projection and the ability to fly.

Captain Marvel takes place in the mid-nineties and initially follows Danvers’ pseudonymic titular hero as she joins Starforce, an elite Kree military team, to hone her newfound skills, whilst fighting for truth and justice across the galaxy.

On returning home, Danvers finds Earth at the centre of an intergalactic conquest. With a shapeshifting alien lurking in the depths of S.H.I.E.L.D., can Captain Marvel save her home planet from imminent Skrull invasion?

Meanwhile, a young, low-level bureaucrat by the name of Nick Fury is about to have his world shaken…

Who’s in it?

Brie Larson (Room, Free Fire) was the front-runner for the leading role of Captain Marvel from the start. In preparation for filming, Larson devoted herself to nine months of training and learnt judo, boxing and wrestling.

Although the film is said to be the start of a new MCU era, its cast list is chockablock with returnees. Samuel L. Jackson has been de-aged twenty-five years to play a younger Nick Fury – complete with both eyes in tact – whilst Clark Gregg too has received a CGI nip and tuck to reprise his Phil Coulson.

Lee Pace returns as Ronan the Accuser – who will years later be destroyed by an infinity stone in Guardians of the Galaxy – whilst Djimon Hounsou once again plays Korath, a fanatical Kree mercenary last seen attempting to retrieve the celestial orb Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) stole from the planet Morag.

Among the new faces, Lashana Lynch plays Danvers’ friend and fellow Air Force pilot Maria, whilst Gemma Chan, Algenis Perez Soto, Rune Temte and Jude Law co-star as her Starforce colleagues.

Mckenna Grace, the affecting young star of Gifted and I, Tonya, has a small role as a child Carol, whilst Ben Mendelsohn has a bigger one as yet another film baddie.

Who’s made it?

It’s been a bumpy ride assembling this team.

A Wrinkle in Time‘s Ava DuVernay was the name tipped to be directing Captain Marvel for some time, before Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck were announced as having been hired. Long term collaborators, the duo’s previous work includes Mississippi Grind and It’s a Kind of a Funny Story.

The film has seven names attached to its screenplay, with Boden and Fleck among the list, which also includes Guardians of the Galaxy‘s Nicole Perlman and Inside Out‘s Meg LeFauve.

Music for the film has been composed by Pinar Toprak, a talent best known for her work soundtracking the popular Fortnite game.

Ben Davis is the film’s cinematographer – after work on Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and Guardians of the Galaxy – whilst Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom‘s Andy Nicholson is responsible for the production design.

How does this all fit into the MCU?

Many of the delays in production faced by Captain Marvel came about by virtue of its producers struggling to work out how the film would fit into the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The film is set some fifty years after the chronological start of the franchise (Captain America: The First Avenger) and twenty-five before the latest action.

A closing scene in the credits of Avengers: Infinity War saw Nick Fury send out an emergency distress call to Captain Marvel – identified by her signature logo – before he joined the likes of T’Challa and Maximoff in being turned to dust by Thanos.

With Captain Marvel pre-dating THAT cliff-hanger, don’t expect a resolution here. However, with the film out just two months before the fourth Avengers blockbuster, we might learn here how she can help in her future.

When’s it out?

Captain Marvel is to hit UK cinemas on 8 March 2019.

 Watch the trailer here: