In a recent talk with Vulture, Kevin Feige happily praised the female characters of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) as an “embarrassment of riches,” and stated that “of course” you could make “a whole movie” about the women of Black Panther alone. Thanks, Kevin, but we already knew that. The real question is: are you actually going to do it?
“It is an embarrassment of riches,” Feige said to Vulture. “Even watching the audience at the Black Panther premiere respond to Lupita [Nyong’o], Letitia [Wright], and certainly Danai [Gurira] in their action sequences … you watch Danai spinning around in that casino, taking out dozens of people, and you go, ‘Of course you can make a whole movie about that!'”
Indeed. You can.
Feige was also asked about the future of Tessa Thompson, whose Valkyrie was a breakout fan favorite in Thor: Ragnarok. Given that another solo Thor movie might not happen, Vulture asked Feige if it was a “studio priority” to find Thompson another role in the MCU. “It is all about figuring out when and how,” Feige said. “But by the way, many of them have already filmed additional scenes in upcoming movies, so some of that is gonna come sooner rather than later. All of them will be seen again.”
It’s true that Valkyrie, Okoye, Shuri, and Ramonda will all return for Infinity War, which is excellent. But what would be even more excellent would be for Feige and Marvel Studios to give some of these scene-stealing, fan-favorite characters their own showcase.
Marvel has been quite hush-hush about their post-Infinity War plans. We know that they’re working on a Black Widow script, and we know that a Captain Marvel film will be released on March 8, 2019. These are both encouraging steps forward, even if they’re long overdue, but they’re also both about white women. With so many amazing women of color in the MCU now, one hopes that Marvel will at least have the business sense—even if they don’t have the moral sense —to let them shine in solo features or team-up movies. Cast members from Karen Gillan to Tessa Thompson have pushed for an all-female Marvel movie, and it’s already clear on Twitter that Shuri and Okoye won over so many audience members.
Seriously, Marvel. You tried so valiantly to make Inhumans happen when no one was asking for it. Why not put that energy behind a project your viewers are already energized about? What female-centric MCU projects would you like to see?
(via Vulture; image: Marvel Entertainment and Walt Disney Studios)
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