As a millennial woman born in the late 80’s, I spent years watching male dominated superhero films, hoping to see myself mirrored back. But it was like going into Forever 21 looking for a size 18 dress: I didn’t feel empowered.
The success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe lies mainly in the great casting choices of Iron Man’s Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and Captain America (Chris Evans), who grounded their franchises and opened the gates for more dynamic characters to be brought to the screen.
Unfortunately for Marvel, this left their collection of female superheroes underutilized and untapped. As the next generation of male superheroes (i.e. Ant Man, Dr. Strange) kept getting the green light, female fans wondered if we were ever going to see ourselves onscreen.
Last year, DC’s hugely successful Wonder Woman finally proved that female superheroes could be a marketable product. Watching Wonder Woman, I was hit by the shocking revelation that I was finally seeing a multi-dimensional female superhero who wasn’t just made for the male gaze. The film felt genuine and honest. I could feel tears welling up in my eyes during the No Man’s Land Scene. My years of being a super hero geek were finally validated.
Wonder Woman was a hint of what could be. Marvel responded to the success of the film by quickly casting Academy Award winner Brie Larson as Captain Marvel before they even had a Director. This proved to long-time fans that Marvel was serious about gender diversity in its leading characters.
Since the early days of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Scarlett Johansen has been the face of the first (and for a while, the only) female Marvel character. The former Russian spy has gone through a dramatic shift from being “tolerable” to heavy hitter status. Her evolution from Iron Man 2 to Infinity War created a dramatic arc that fleshed out her character and made her more likeable.
But now that Marvel is finally moving forward with the Black Widow movie, the question needs to be asked: Is this movie even necessary? I would personally love to see Black Panther fan favorite Okoye in her own movie. The Black Widow news feels like Marvel wants to see how well their white female character plays out before exploring the idea of a more diverse leading lady situation.
Marvel and DC have an opportunity to change the landscape of popular cinema. If anyone learned anything from the success of the Black Panther movie, it was that diverse heroes and good storytelling will get people to the theater.
