The Marvel Cinematic Universe is full of all sorts of fantastic fully formed characters. From a super soldier who is living legend who lives up to the legend; a couple of master class assassins, a demigod, galactic a-holes, a wall-crawler from Queens, and a Wakandian king, there is no shortage of heroes in the MCU.
Now Marvel Studios will introduce its newest, and perhaps most inspirational and empowering, hero: Captain Marvel. Brie Larson plays the titular hero, a part-human and part-Kree member of an intergalactic peacekeeping force, who finds herself on Earth and separated from her team. In her attempts to reunite with her them, she discovers that she has a connection to this planet and finds the clues that could help solve the mystery of her past.
While we can expect to see great character-driven stories in the upcoming film, there will also be a couple of fantastic scene-stealing moments from Goose the cat. Sure, he may look like an ordinary cat in the film, but he’s actually a Flerken, an alien that closely resembles a cat.
There’s no doubt that MCU fans will fall in love with Goose. Played by Reggie, and three other stunt doubles, these cats were pretty much the center of attention during the production of Captain Marvel. Which isn’t easy for some members of the cast like Samuel L. Jackson, who isn’t exactly a pet person. “Reggie is like most animals they bring to the set who have been trained to do this, that, or the other, they are snack-oriented,” Jackson said. “Give him something to eat, he shows up. You give him something to eat, you talk soft and nice to him, you give him something to eat again, they love you.”
Although, he was quick to call out Larson, whom he claims had issues working with the cats. The actress was quick to defend herself saying, “okay, not personally,” Larson joked. “I’m seriously allergic to them. It was not like a diva, we couldn’t work together, don’t sabotage me, guys.”
And there was no time for the cast to interact with the cats when the cameras weren’t rolling. According to Jackson, they all went back to their trailers. But when it came time for Reggie, and Gonzo, Rizzo, Archie to be on set, you can be sure that they demanded a certain level of respect. “The set got very, very quiet and respectful whenever Reggie came on,” co-director Anna Boden said. “Everyone else was like, ‘How come we don’t get this respect?’”
Having these cats do things on command is one thing, but having them do something out of spontaneity is another. But that is something that Boden wanted to have more of in the film. “It was something about a cat to do what he normally does,” Boden said. “It was part of the struggle actually, to have a very well-trained, very well-directable cat on the screen is that sometimes we just wanted him to do the random thing we wanted him to do, like lick his paw or rub up against somebody.”
“I am not going to say Reggie did literally everything in the movie,” Boden continued. She added that there is a moment in the film where he, himself, “didn’t do that.”
No animals were harmed in the marking of this film!
Captain Marvel opens in theaters on March 8, 2019.
