‘Captain Marvel’ Actress DeWanda Wise Departs Film — Report

DeWanda Wise will no longer have a supporting role in next year’s “Captain Marvel” film, sources tell Deadline. A scheduling conflict is to blame: Wise plays the lead role in the Netflix series “She’s Gotta Have It,” Spike Lee’s adaptation of his 1986 feature debut. On New Year’s Day, Netflix renewed the show for a second season; Wise’s tentpole casting was announced three days later, and it appears she will be unable to do both.

“Captain Marvel” will be Marvel’s first superhero film with a female protagonist: Oscar-winner Brie Larson (“Room”) will suit up as the crimefighter and her alter ego, Air Force pilot Carol Danvers. Set in the ’90s and directed by married “Half Nelson” screenwriters Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, the film’s remaining co-stars include Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill, Jude Law, Gemma Chan, and Ben Mendelsohn, the villain in this as well as Steven Spielberg’s “Ready Player One.” The 21st title in the Disney-owned Marvel Cinematic Universe, “Captain Marvel” lands in theaters on March 8, 2019.

Wise told The Guardian in November that she wanted to play Lee’s heroine, Nola Darling, because, “I can count on one hand the number of strong, black, feminist icons in film and she’s one.” Following a SXSW screening of the first season finale of “She’s Gotta Have It,” Lee said that he has already assembled his season two writer’s room. “Captain Marvel” co-writer Nicole Perlman was also at the Austin festival last weekend, participating in a panel called “Superhero Science.”