Marvel appears to be establishing a clear formula for the creative roster attached to and sought for its feature adaptation of the one-time Ms. Marvel property, and misters need not apply. Recent developments in Marvel Studio’s process of vetting prospective directors for its 2019-slated Captain Marvel seem to reinforce suspicions that they’re intent on selecting a largely untapped female filmmaker to helm the project.

While several news outlets speculated on the studio approaching Emily Carmichael in early May, our sources are telling us that a private meeting was held last week between Marvel representatives and independent filmmaker Elizabeth Wood in order to discuss potential directorial duties. It’s believed that the meeting was brokered by Wood’s producer-husband, Gabriel Nussbaum, with whom Wood has worked on all her professional projects.

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For those who aren’t familiar with Wood, she’s garnered a considerable amount of attention since the premiere of her debut feature White Girl at Sundance in early February, which featured Morgan Saylor of Homeland fame in what has been described as a controversial, sex-and-drugs-fuelled coming-of-age drama. The film received a Grand Jury Prize nomination and a seven-figure digital distribution deal with Netflix following the festival.

While the focus of Wood’s work seems far less in tune with Marvel’s ever-expanding cinematic universe than Carmichael’s, whose awarding-winning short-subject films have been distinctly comedic and science-fiction-oriented, the latter has the disadvantage of not yet having directed a feature-length film.

No official announcement has been made yet in regards to Wood or Carmichael, though in meeting with both it can be assumed that Marvel is not as close to signing its Captain Marvel director as had been reported and is continuing to consider its options. Options that appear to be young, female, and unestablished in the mainstream – if these two early candidates are any indication, at least.