Marvel Fans Are Mad That Brie Larson Wears Makeup in the New Avengers Trailer [Updated]

UPDATE (April 10, 2019): When Brie Larson made her Avengers: Endgame trailer debut mere days after Captain Marvel smashed box office opening-weekend records, fans were thrilled to see her. Some, however, were not so thrilled to see her makeup. A number of Marvel lovers expressed their disapproval on Twitter, saying Carol Danvers is wearing an unacceptable amount of makeup in the upcoming Avengers film compared to her barefaced look in Captain Marvel. Some even accused directors Joe and Anthony Russo of having sexist intentions with the heavier lipstick, blush, and eye shadow. But the Russo brothers beg to differ — and they recently explained it wasn't even their decision.

At a press junket for Avengers: Endgame, /Film asked the Russos to address to controversy. Joe responded that the hairstyles and makeup of each character are actually decided by their respective actor and that actor's hair and makeup team. In other words, Larson chose to wear her makeup that way for Endgame — and, in fact, she chose it before even filming Captain Marvel.

"She [filmed Avengers: Endgame] before she filmed Captain Marvel, and I think she was experimenting with what the character was, and those were the choices that she and her hair and makeup team had made," Joe said. "And I think as she started to gain a deeper understanding of the character, especially as she approached her own movie, she started to make different choices. And as an artist, she should be afforded that right to make whatever choice that she wants to make."

Joe also said the aesthetic freedom given to Larson and her team has always been extended to the other cast members, regardless of gender. “We give all the actors ownership over there,” he revealed. For example, “Every hairstyle that Scarlet Johansson has had in every movie that we’ve done has come from Scarlet Johansson.”

Hopefully, this explanation will satisfy the makeup naysayers.

This story was originally posted on March 16, 2019.

If you're one of the many, many people who helped Captain Marvel break box-office records last weekend — it's the biggest-ever worldwide debut for a woman-led movie, and the second-biggest debut for a superhero flick — the last thing you were probably thinking about when you left the theater was the makeup Brie Larson's character, Carol Danvers, was or wasn't wearing throughout the film. But now that Marvel has since released the first trailer for Avengers: Endgame that features Larson, fans are freaking out about her apparently much more done-up look.

According to comicbook.com, Captain Marvel enthusiasts have taken to Twitter to share their dismay over how Larson looks in the brief moment she's seen at the end of the new trailer, which debuted on Thursday. The main complaint: She's wearing a lot more makeup in Endgame than she was in Captain Marvel.

"Why is #CaptainMarvel wearing red lipstick and a full face of makeup in that #AvengersEndgame trailer?" one person tweeted, noting that Carol Danvers has presumably not even been on Earth in the time that passes between the two plotlines (and, I guess, would therefore not have the interest or opportunity to hit up Ulta). It was a common criticism, with others tweeting sentiments like, "Can someone PLEASE rinse her face off a little. It looks like she used a makeup app on a selfie," and the rather enraged all-caps "CAPTAIN MARVEL SHOULD NOT BE WEARING MAKEUP DO NOT FUCKING @ ME." (And while I will, in fact, not @ her, I must say, it's not that much makeup — sheesh.)

Some even feel that the additional makeup may be a sexist choice. "I hope this wasn’t a 'she’s a woman so she needs to wear makeup' thing by execs 😕," one fan tweeted, while another said, "I think it’s a direct effort to feminize her and I’m definitely not the only person who thinks so."

Personally, I think it's much ado about nothing. We don't know the full context of the scene, how long Carol Danvers has been back on Earth, and if she has become a Sephora Beauty Insider VIB in that time. And hey, if the character wants to wear makeup now, cool — whatever. Considering how no one seems to be complaining that Scarlett Johansson is wearing too much makeup in the trailer, it doesn't appear to be an executive decision to force female Marvel characters to dive face-first into a train case.

Or as one Twitter user put it: "are you saying brie larson is a weak woman who doesn't have a voice to tell the russo brothers she doesn't want carol to wear makeup? it's been 30 years since she came to earth and if she decided she likes wearing makeup then captain marvel can wear makeup period."

More on Brie Larson:

• Brie Larson Looks JUST Like a Scooby Doo Character in This Throwback Photo
• The $10 Beauty Secret Behind Brie Larson's Sparkly Met Gala Makeup
• Brie Larson Hasn’t Washed Her Hair Since the Golden Globes

Now check out 100 years of movie makeup:

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