Girl Power on Full Throttle at Captain Marvel Global Press Conference

The much-anticipated release of Captain Marvel happens this week and I, for one, couldn’t be more excited!!! We don’t have one badass woman, but several in the form of Brie Larson, Annette Bening, Gemma Chan and Lashana Lynch. Girl power was truly on parade at a recent press conference where Brie Larson shared why she loves Captain Marvel aka Carol Danver and the physical transformation it took to get her there…

BRIE LARSON: There’s a lot to love about her, the idea of playing a superhero, or a female superhero in particular because my interest is in female complexity. There are the moments, defining moments of her character, where she doesn’t lay down, she gets back up. I mean, that’s everything. That’s for everybody. There isn’t a person who can’t relate to that, I don’t think.

On her physical transformation…
BRIE LARSON: Of course, this movie is like assisted with the VFX, because I can’t personally shoot photon blasts. There’s not enough prep in the world for me to do that, yet — but I will figure it out if there’s a way. But I can stand here and say that I was able to dead-lift 225 pounds, hip-thrust 400 pounds and push my trainer’s 5000-pound Jeep up a hill for 60 seconds. So, when it comes to gender norms or what the human body is capable of or in particular maybe what a female body is capable of, it’s capable of a lot, you know.

Loved the chemistry between Carol and Nick Fury. What did Samuel L. Jackson have to say about Nick having both eyes and being a little gentler in Captain Marvel…

SAMUEL L. JACKSON: Um. Oh, you know, sort of a kinder, gentler, not so cynical world-weary, chip-on-the-shoulder Nick Fury. Who hadn’t met anyone from another universe just yet and sort of looking at the crazy lady, trying to figure out why she thinks she’s an alien [LAUGHTER] and what all that means. It’s kind of fun to not be the all-knowing, angry, persuader that Nick Fury always is and even more refreshing to have two eyes, so I don’t have to cover one eye while I was learning [LAUGHTER] my lines.

Of the bazillion films Jude Law has done, did his kids think it was cool to be a part of Captain Marvel or were they completely unimpressed…

JUDE LAW: Oh no, they cared. [LAUGHTER] But they cared only in vernacular of those teenage kids, so it was like… you know, it’s cool. [LAUGHTER] It’s about all I got, but I knew that was quite high on the.. Richter scale, you know. They saw it this week and then there’s a screening next week in London. The fact that they all want to come again is a very good sign. [LAUGHTER] With friends.

Lashana Lynch campaigned her buns off to become a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. How did she do it?
LASHANA LYNCH: I am a Marvel fan. I’ve grown up watching them, loving the characters, enjoying the trajectories and — I felt like energetically I was drawing towards something that represented something that I care about…women. So yeah, I campaigned to be up here. [LAUGHS]

And how about that kinetic bond between Carol and Maria?
LASHANA LYNCH: They’re both in the military, so they come from male-dominated environments where they were drawn towards the women anyway. They would find power in whoever they, you know, find energetic connections to. I think they had a sarcasm together. They did a nice thing about how Brie has represented Carol is that she’s just a normal person. She’s able to be every facet of what a woman represents today — sarcastic, dry, funny, kick men down and thrown them into different parts of the universe. I feel like Maria’s able to just be a kind, good person

BRIE LARSON: I think what they’ve gone through together, military training, being the only women and then using each other to lean on each other through that type of support and a recognition of their experience is really special. I think they would have been friends outside of that experience and — but I think that that’s a really tight-knit bond that they have and they’re family. It’s her best friend and her best friend’s daughter. Which to me is so natural because that love is so strong. I’m going to brag about Lashawna for a second because I love it — it’s like the movie shifts when she’s onscreen.

After being so love in Crazy Rich Asians, how did Gemma Chan feel about embracing her “bad” side?
GEMMA CHAN: I… I loved it. I like to change it up and surprise people a bit and it was really fun going from playing Astrid (Crazy Rich Asians), who is this very warm-hearted, kind, empathetic person. But, Minn-Erva’s got a harder edge, she’s… she’s sarcastic and she’s a big of a mean girl, but I like her. I like kind of tapping into that… that side of me. It was fun. It’s fun to be bad. [LAUGHS]

Last, but not least, what was the biggest lesson learned after the cameras stopped rolling?
LASHANA LYNCH: Mine was my forever appreciation for single mothers who don’t get enough light shine on them ever. So, to be able to have that opportunity to represent them and say like, I’d kind of like a universal thank you for your work — was really special. They’re able to feed back to other mothers and say we’re actually doing an all right job. We’re actually enough. And so that’s what I’ve taken away.

Captain Marvel blasts into theatres on March 8th and you really don’t want to sleep on this one!!!!