Captain Marvel: Brie Larson HITS BACK at sexist ‘Carol Danvers should smile more’ row

Larson’s work as Carol Danvers was showcased for the first time earlier this week when the trailer for Captain Marvel was unveiled on Good Morning America.

The 28-year-old was showered with praise when the clip debuted, but a lot of attention was also paid to one comment that suggested she didn’t smile enough in it.

The tweet sparked a lot of memes of male Marvel superheroes with smiles super-imposed on them, to highlight the fact that men are told to “smile more” far, far less than women.

Larson has now spoken out herself on Instagram.

“Breaking news,” she wrote. “You can be you.

“That means you can smile or not, you can be strong in the ways you want to be.

“You can own who you are.

“If anyone tells you different, don’t trust them.”

Larson also took to Twitter to speak out on a fan-led #selfiesforbrie trend, which saw fans who were touched by the trailer sharing images of themselves, feeling empowered by the sight of a female hero leading a Marvel blockbuster.

“I want to talk about #selfiesforbrie -the hashtag I didn’t know I needed,” she wrote.

“It’s not an intention of mine for any fan to do anything for me – I’m not a cult leader. I’m living my life and if you’re into it, cool. If not, that’s cool too.

“However! Scrolling through and seeing your faces brought so much emotion. Thank you for sharing yourselves with me. Thank you for your kind words; I’m happy you feel supported by me too.

“I loved seeing all your expressions. Moody or smiling or coy or fierce or whatever is YOU. What an incredible collection of folks owning themselves (I see you #validbisexual !!) where they are, how they are.”

She added: “I also saw self depreciation or apologizing for being “ugly” or pointing out specific things they didn’t like about their face. What the heck!!! That type of ownership is yours to wade but just know: you are beautiful – never apologize for it.

“Thank you. Thank you. It was truly a highlight of these few wild days. Much love.”

Captain Marvel is out on March 8.