In May of 2018, I was invited to visit the set of Marvel's first-ever female-led film, Captain Marvel! On a warm Spring day, I marched on to the studio lot in Los Angeles with a fleet of other journalists. We signed NDAs. We put special tape over our cell phone cameras. We talked about the brand-new Christina Aguilera single, "Accelerate." Over the course of the day, I soaked up so much about the incredible project. I learned about the mysterious Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S. and fuzzy little Flerkens. We got up close and personal with Brie Larson, and heard from Marvel's first female director, Anna Boden, who tag-teamed the film with Ryan Fleck.
Even after all the content was diligently written and published, I found that there were moments, many of them quite small, that didn't really fit into any of my stories. Where would I tell people that Ben Mendelsohn sat in a folding chair, in full costume, and casually chatted with us about the film? At what point could I reveal that Brie Larson sings RuPaul songs between takes? I decided I couldn't let this information stay locked away in my precious Google Drive. And so, I've decided to pour a bunch of totally random tidbits right here, right into this gallery, for your entertainment. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed experiencing them.
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Picture this: Brie Larson is fully suited up as Captain Marvel, waiting for the crew to reset and prepare for another take of one particular scene. She starts bouncing and says, "Woooork, Cover Girl!"
This is how our group interview with Samuel L. Jackson started:
Journalist: Tell us about Nick Fury in this film.
Samuel L. Jackson: No. Trying to get me fired? I don't even know how this works. What am I allowed to say?
At another point, when asked to elaborate on a question, he said, "That's what they wanted you to know. You're trying to get me fired again." But perhaps my favorite part was when the interview wasn't even happening, and Jackson wasn't even visible from where we were sitting. We heard him loudly say, "Get the f*ck outta here!" before bursting into laughter. Legend.
One of the best things I overheard on set was an audible gasp from a crew member who then proceeded to lean over to whoever was standing next to him. "Someone just walked by with two boxes of Shake Shack hamburgers," he said, clearly in awe.
I have two words for you: bagel station. That's right: plenty of bagel types to pick from, all kinds of cream cheese options, and a toaster. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. There were all kinds of snacks; every chip you could imagine, a no-hold-barred box full of candy. It was like walking into a 7/11, except we were on a sound stage.
I can't say for certain if this is the case on every movie set or if this is what that Disney money looks like, but either way, I was impressed (and full of bagels). If I joined the Marvel universe with those kinds of snacks around, they'd have to let out my suit every week.
Oh yeah, the Tesseract will appear in Captain Marvel, all right. We even got to watch a scene in which Captain Marvel is toting it around with her. But that's not even the best part. The best part is that she carries it around in a Happy Days lunch box. Because obviously.
You know that scene in the trailer when Captain Marvel has crazy glowing float-y hair and glowing eyes? It's a pretty short moment, but one of the cooler things you'll see in the small amount of footage. We got to watch Brie Larson film that exact moment. There's even a shot that starts at her crotch and pans up all dramatically while she looks all cool and stuff.
I only mention the crotch shot because, at one point, Brie was thrusting her hips at the camera between takes, which made everyone burst into laughter. Looked like a really fun set, I'll say that!
Yes, you read that correctly. During much of the filming we witnessed, Samuel L. Jackson was carrying around (and speaking to) a very realistic stuffed orange tabby cat. We also learned that this lil' guy is named "Chewie" in the comics, but in the movie it's "Goose" (a Top Gun reference!).
During our visit, we learned that there are four different cats, all identical-looking tabby cats, who play this one fuzzy character. Their names are Gonzo, Rizzo, Reggie, and Archie. They all serve different purposes: one is for looks (the handsomest!), one is for "paw batting," one is for running, and if memory serves me correctly, one is good at rubbing up against legs.
There are two cat wranglers on set: a man and a woman named Mark Harden and Ursula Brauner, part of Animals For Hollywood. They're delightful, for the record.
Cut to one crew member humming "Kung Fu Fighting" as he went about his business, slowly setting up for the next scene.
If you're not aware, one of the biggest conflicts in Captain Marvel is the war of two intergalactic alien races: it's the Kree vs. the Skrulls. At one point during filming, it seemed the Kree had captured some Skrull "refugees" and trapped them aboard their ship.
Which brings me to this quote that one crew member yelled while trying to get everyone in their places: "I need all my refugees! This is just a rehearsal, so you don't need your teeth in." Will I ever hear that exact string of words uttered in that order ever again? I highly doubt it.
