Ben Mendelsohn in Talks for Skrull Leader in CAPTAIN MARVEL

The Skrulls may have found their leader.

Variety has word that Ben Mendelsohn is in talks for the villain role in the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe film Captain Marvel, presumably as the leader of the alien shapeshifters known as the Skrulls.

Mendelsohn would join Brie Larson as Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers and Samuel L. Jackson, reprising his role as Nick Fury.  Back in July, Variety reported that the Skrulls would be the film's primary antagonists and that the film would be set in the '90s, before Nick Fury loses his eye.

Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck will direct the film, with the latest version of the script written by Geneva Robertson-Dworet.  Captain Marvel is centered around Carol Danvers, an Air Force pilot whose DNA is fused with that of a Kree alien during an accident.  The resulting alteration imbues her with the superpowers of strength, energy projection, and flight.

Mendelsohn, 48, is an Australian actor best known as Director Orson Krennic in the film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.  His other films include the upcoming Ready Player One, The Dark Knight Rises, Mississippi Grind, Exodus: Gods and Kings, Killing Them Softly, Black Sea, Animal Kingdom, and Quigley Down Under.  In addition, he's appeared on episodes of the TV series Farscape, Girls, Bloodline, Love My Way, and The Secret Life of Us.

Created in 1962 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the Skrulls first appeared in Fantastic Four (vol.1) #2, where a small scouting party of Skrulls used their shapeshifting powers to impersonate the Fantastic Four, committing crimes so that the United States would turn against the Fantastic Four, the only ones with the power to stop them.  However, the Fantastic Four were able to locate the Skrulls and tricked their leaders into believing the Earth was full of threats.  The fleet left and Mister Fantastic hypnotized the Skrulls left behind into shapeshifting into cows and remembering nothing about their true heritage.

The Skrulls had been involved in a war against the Kree, which lasted for thousands of years and eventually involved Earth.  The Kree Accuser Ronan had wrested control of the Kree Empire from the Supreme Intelligence and attacked the Skrulls, reigniting hostilities.  The Avengers become involved once the Super-Skrull kidnapped the first Captain Marvel, Mar-Vell, and they soon battled a Kree Sentry robot, three of the original Skrulls that had fought the Fantastic Four, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, rogue Inhumans and legions of Skrulls.  The Supreme Intelligence ended the immediate conflict by revealing to Avengers' ally Rick Jones that he had vast mental potential, which was then used to freeze all combatants in place.  The Supreme Intelligence announced that, while the Kree and Skrulls had reached genetic dead ends, the human race displayed incredible untapped potential.

Years later, in the event known as Secret Invasion, a flailing Skrull empire, under the leadership of newcomer Queen Veranke, made an all-out effort to infiltrate and conquer Earth.  It was revealed that the Skrulls were already infiltrating Earth for some time by capturing and replacing many of Earth's heroes, which was followed by the main assault group.  This wave of Skrulls formed a new version of the Super-Skrull, with each possessing the abilities of several different heroes.  Their invasion ultimately failed, costing the life of Veranke, and reduced their numbers even further.

Captain Marvel is currently scheduled to arrive in theaters on March 8, 2019.