It’s been quite the week for women in the superhero realm. Not only did we lose Michelle MacLaren, our original director for Wonder Woman (sigh), but we also gained a new one in Patty Jenkins (yay!). But just because we got our way in the end (props to DC for keeping with a promising lady director and not going with some less-than-wonderful male name!) doesn’t mean we shouldn’t stop campaigning for more gender equality within the genre. Just ask Karen Page.
We got a chance to speak with Deborah Ann Woll, the actress behind Netflix and Marvel’s version Karen, at a junket in Toronto recently, and she thinks what we all think: that we need to keep this female-positive train rolling when it comes to both Marvel and DC properties.
“What is important is that we have lots of women working, but also we have interesting, multi-dimensional characters,” the Daredevil star told Emily Gagne for The Mary Sue when asked about the Wonder Woman director change-up.
“I think sometimes when we think of having feminist, strong women, we think of women who can do no wrong, which is, I think, the opposite what we need to be doing. We need women who are well-rounded, that have… they have challenges. Their personalities are going to be complex enough to hold them back in some way.”
In Woll’s opinion this latest iteration of Karen is a perfect example of the kind of female characterizations we need from current and future superhero series.
“Sometimes her best qualities are also the things that are the most dangerous,” she says. “She cannot rely on her martial skills, but she still goes out there in search of the truth, despite what might happen to her. She really could be killed and she goes ‘You know what? I’m not going to let that stop me.’”
She adds, “What I find interesting about Karen, and it comes up in that scene with [James] Wesley, is ‘What makes you think I haven’t shot anyone before?’ There is something about who she is, and what she’s done, that makes her capable of things that maybe someone else couldn’t [do]. Who knows what she’s capable of?” We don’t fully know what Karen and Woll are capable of yet (hey, we’re only on Season 1!), but we do know we can’t wait to find out. Just like we can’t wait to find out how Jenkins is going to approach Wonder Woman. And how Gal Gadot is going to play Wonder Woman. And who is going to play Captain Marvel. And… well, you get it.
Catch the first season of Daredevil now on Netflix.
Emily Gagne (@emilygagne) is one of the founding members of Cinefilles, a site for wannabe female film and TV critics, as well as an admitted heroine addict. She may not have super strength, or be able to make a stake on command, but she can slay you with her rhetorical devices, endless knowledge of Final Girls, and passion for geek girl scoop.
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