Credits: Schweiz41 / Wikimedia Commons — Public domain.
Aired on TF1 on December 28, 2025 at 9:10 PM, Captain Marvel (Captain Marvel) brings back the heroine played by Brie Larson, whose casting was long debated before being accepted. The film, released in 2019, tells the origin of Carol Danvers (Captain Marvel) and is part of the MCU. Behind the scenes, directorial choices, reception and links to The Marvels shed light on this free-to-air rebroadcast.
A Free-To-Air Broadcast That Puts The Heroine Back At The Center
TF1 scheduled Captain Marvel for Sunday, December 28, 2025 at 9:10 PM. The channel offered the film in multilingual version (VM), with audio description and subtitling for deaf and hard-of-hearing audiences, and the advisory not recommended for children under 10.
Beyond the programming event, the feature film (released in 2019) remains a useful entry point into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU): it presents the origin of Carol Danvers, and connects to already established characters — notably Nick Fury, here still far from the shadowy boss we know.
The Essentials: What Is ‘Captain Marvel’ About?
In Captain Marvel, Carol Danvers wakes up with powers she poorly understands, and with patchy memory. The story is set in a 1990s aesthetic, which is more than decoration: it serves as a temporal marker and a contrast with the rest of the MCU.
The film opens on an interstellar war between two alien peoples, the Kree and the Skrulls. Carol, enlisted on the Kree side under a partial identity, gradually confronts what she has forgotten — and what she’s been told. Returning to Earth, she crosses paths with Nick Fury (played by Samuel L. Jackson) and uncovers a conflict where appearances, precisely, don’t tell the whole story.
TF1’s broadcast sheet notably lists Brie Larson (Carol Danvers), Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury), Ben Mendelsohn (Talos) and Jude Law (Yon-Rogg), as well as the co-direction of Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck.
A Pivotal Film In The MCU Timeline
If the MCU was built on a succession of chapters, Captain Marvel functions as a controlled flashback. Officially, Disney presents the film as the first MCU feature centered on a Marvel female character, and emphasizes the time choice — “diving into the 90s” — to tell an origin “in reverse”: the heroine already has her powers, but must reconstruct her past.
This structure ties the heroine to motifs already present in the saga. It includes agencies, artifacts and conflicts. Thus, it doesn’t require the audience to have followed everything.
On an industry level, Captain Marvel remains a significant moment: according to box-office data compiled by specialized databases, the film crossed about $1.13 billion in worldwide receipts. This performance reinforced the idea of a blockbuster centered on a heroine. It happened at a time when the debate over representation of Marvel female heroes was already occupying public space.
Anna Boden And Ryan Fleck: A Co-Directing Role Closely Watched
The TF1 broadcast also highlights a frequently recalled point at release: Captain Marvel is presented, in France, as the first MCU film to be directed by a woman — namely Anna Boden, in co-direction with Ryan Fleck.
This statement deserves precision: it’s a co-direction, and the scope is that of MCU-branded production. But the symbolic effect is real, because the Marvel cinematic universe had, until then, entrusted its features to male filmmakers.
In Captain Marvel, this signature is seen less as an asserted “auteur” style than in a balance: a highly codified action film, but threaded with attention to memory, doubt, and others’ perspectives. The heroine moves forward in fragments, and the screenplay plays with that idea — powers aren’t enough; you also need to understand who made them possible, and at what cost.
Brie Larson: A Role Initially Refused Then Accepted Through Discussions
One of the most instructive angles, beyond the promotion, concerns casting backstage. Brie Larson said she refused an initial approach in 2016, when her team told her Marvel was interested in the character. In a video posted on her YouTube channel, the actress explains she felt overwhelming anxiety. Her statements were picked up by the press. She felt she couldn’t handle a blockbuster.
According to this account, the studio didn’t drop the idea. Marvel reportedly persisted, repeatedly, until a meeting with executives and a more concrete presentation of the project. The actress then describes a gradual process, made of discussions and script elements. She also found an intention that moved her.
From the studio side, Kevin Feige said the synopsis was presented to the actress when she expressed interest in the universe, and that the casting announcement was among Marvel’s highlights. Put together, these versions describe the same path: hesitation about the project’s scale, then adherence to an intention and a character.
A Heroine, A Symbol… And A Film That Remains A Piece Of Popular Cinema
On screen, Captain Marvel unfolds like an investigation: memory fragments, movements, and reversals of allegiance. The free-to-air broadcast also serves as a simple reminder: a franchise can be watched in pieces, provided it offers a self-contained story.
From Captain Marvel To The Marvels: A Sequel With A Disrupted Schedule
The TF1 broadcast comes after the release of The Marvels, a sequel directed by Nia DaCosta. The film underwent several schedule changes before being set for November 2023. Trade press recalled it was originally announced for December 2022, then moved to July 2023, before this new delay.
The film brings together Carol Danvers (Brie Larson), Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) and Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani), against Dar-Benn (played by Zawe Ashton).
Box-office databases indicate about $206 million in worldwide receipts for an estimated $270 million production budget. However, this result contrasts with the first film.
These gaps also reflect a different context: multiplication of releases, competition from streaming offers and possible franchise fatigue. Television, meanwhile, sometimes revives interest over time.
Practical Information For The Public
Here are the useful details to remember for the TF1 broadcast:
- Broadcast: Sunday, December 28, 2025 at 9:10 PM on TF1.
- Accessibility: audio description and subtitling (deaf and hard-of-hearing audiences), VM.
- Advisory: not recommended for children under 10.
- Approximate runtime: 124 minutes (about 2 h 04).
- Main cast (according to the channel sheet): Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Jude Law.
For those who prefer on-demand viewing, Captain Marvel is also regularly offered on video and, depending on licensing windows, on platforms (including Disney+).
In Short, Why Rewatch The Film Today
By programming Captain Marvel, TF1 puts back into circulation a film that is not just another episode in a franchise: it’s an origin story built like a puzzle, a symbolic milestone for on-screen representation, and a reminder of the behind-the-scenes of a long-debated casting. For viewers, the free-to-air rebroadcast has a simple virtue: it allows rewatching — or discovering — how Carol Danvers, Captain Marvel, established herself as one of the MCU’s key figures, before the more scattered developments of her sequel.
Video unavailable