Movies

'Captain Marvel' Is Like An '80s Or '90s Buddy Cop Movie; Tickets On Sale Now

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By Ben Pearson/

Shane Black broke into Hollywood as the writer of 1980s action staple Lethal Weapon, and he'd eventually direct a Marvel Studios movie when he made Iron Man 3. But weirdly, it's Black's first produced screenplay that's still providing inspiration for new Marvel Cinematic Universe entries: it turns out the upcoming Captain Marvel is inspired by buddy cop movies from that era, and Lethal Weapon is specifically name-checked in a new interview with directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck.

Plus, tickets for the upcoming superhero film are on sale right now, and we'll point you to where you can get them.

Speaking with Fandango, Boden and Fleck (who previously collaborated on films like Sugar, Half Nelson, and Mississippi Grind) revealed one of their new movie's biggest tonal influences:

Every MCU film has its own vibe, its own mood. Everything from the ultra-dark Infinity War to the kind of goofy Ant-Man and the Wasp. What's the vibe or the mood of Captain Marvel?

Anna Boden: We approached this movie as being, at the heart of it, this mystery of self-identity for Captain Marvel. It has a lot of playfulness in it, and that kind of buddy-cop vibe that Captain Marvel has with the Nick Fury character was really an important touchstone for us.Ryan Fleck: Yeah. Like the '80s and '90s buddy-cop movies, like 48 Hours or Lethal Weapon. We have some of that. Those movies, even the serious ones, they have a really terrific sense of humor, and we wanted to maintain that as well.

From the footage we've seen thus far, it's easy to see how the DNA of those buddy cop movies was incorporated into the structure of this story. Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) is playing a fiery authority figure who's paired with a no-nonsense partner in young Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), complete with witty banter and (I'm guessing) a fair share of good-natured bickering that results in the two of them respecting each other by the end. That's Buddy Cop 101, and I'm here for it. I love that genre despite its formulaic aspects, and I'm hoping that introducing a mega-powerful superhero into the mix might be enough to shake up the format just enough to keep things interesting. Let's just hope it ends exactly like Tango & Cash – with an epic high five:

Meanwhile, tickets for the film are on sale right now. You can get them at this link:

We'll have much more from Captain Marvel very, very soon, so stay tuned.

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