Brie Larson has spoken about the importance of on-screen representation at the premiere of the first Marvel film to centre on a female superhero.
The Oscar winner takes on the role of Captain Marvel in the latest instalment in the comic book franchise.
Arriving on the blue carpet at the London event, she told the Press Association: “For me, movies make me feel less alone. Whenever I see myself on screen I feel understood, but I can’t expect that’s what it is that I’m doing for other people.
“I’m just telling what feels like the truth to me and hoping that other people relate to it.”
The premiere came shortly after review aggregating website Rotten Tomatoes disabled the comment functions on the site prior to a movie’s release date, after users began posting negative comments about a number of films, including Captain Marvel, before they had seen them in a practice known as “review bombing”.
In a blog post on the site, it said: “We are disabling the comment function prior to a movie’s release date.
“Unfortunately, we have seen an uptick in non-constructive input, sometimes bordering on trolling, which we believe is a disservice to our general readership.
“We have decided that turning off this feature for now is the best course of action.”
The website has denied the move is a direct response to comments about Captain Marvel specifically.
Asked how much he had considered fan anticipation during the writing and production of the film, Ryan Fleck, who wrote and directed the film with Anna Boden, said: “We try and block that out, we have to focus on telling the best story possible and if we really thought about what every single fan would think of this movie our heads would literally explode. Literally, not figuratively, literally explode.
“So we just had to focus on making an entertaining story, a fun story, a moving story, and then let the fans decide if they like it or not.”
Samuel L Jackson, who reprises his role as Nick Fury in the movie, said: “I hope that it is accepted.
“Brie’s character is strong and smart and exhibits a lot of qualities that we definitely want our young women to have, being knocked down nine times and get up 10, be stronger after each time.
“All of her experiences add up to making her a faster, stronger, better woman and even though she had been taken to another planet and possibly enhanced, she literally was a very accomplished, successful and smart person before she left here and made her mark in a male dominated society already.
“So hopefully those messages mean something and resonate with audiences when they watch it.”
He added: “I just want people to enjoy movies, I hope they do. I try to do films that are more entertaining than educational because I think movies should be that.
“I think it’s a place to go to escape the realities of what you do every day, paying your bills, slogging to work. Let your mind go, go to a place that you haven’t been and experience an adventure that you haven’t been part of and just have a good time.”
Lashana Lynch, who stars in the film as Maria Rambeau, said she believes the movie speaks to the current movement for gender equality and female empowerment.
She said: “At the moment in the world generally, throughout all different industries, women are using their voice, women are using each other to really rise as one, and it’s nice to be able to be a part of something that is celebrating that, celebrating different types of women from different walks of life that are also superheroes just by being born a woman, that feels good.”
Captain Marvel is released in UK cinemas on March 8.