Even though we’re getting bothWonder WomanandCaptain Marvelin the very near future, these are just two out of the more than 40 superhero films planned throughout the rest of this decade that primarily center on female characters. Hollywood has been slow to bring a superhero movie to the big screen that has a strong woman at the center of its story, and while a lot of people have been quite vocally against this fact, it is particularly bothersome toMarvel’s The AvengersandAvengers: Age of UltrondirectorJoss Whedon.
His two Marvel movies have arguably the best female superhero currently seen on the big screen inScarlett Johansson’s Black Widow. This next time out, we’ll also be gettingElizabeth Olsenas Scarlet Witch. But this is in a movie that is dominated by the likes of Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, Hawkeye, Quicksilver and Vision, all alpha-male characters (with maybe the exception of Vision). Speaking withDigital Spyfrom the set ofAvengers: Age of Ultron, in an interview that took place before eitherCaptain MarvelorWonder Womanwere announced,Joss Whedonquite strongly rallies against Hollywood’s lack of a female driven superhero adventure:
“It’s a phenomenon in the industry that we call ‘stupid people’. There is genuine, recalcitrant, intractable sexism, and old-fashioned quiet misogyny that goes on. You hear ‘Oh, [female superheroes] don’t work because of these two bad ones that were made eight years ago’, there’s always an excuse.”
In terms of the ‘two bad ones’,Joss Whedonis most likely referring to 2004’sCatwomanstarringHalle Berryand 2005’sElektrastarringJennifer Garner. It should be noted that these two films came out before the superhero genre had reached its maturity to dominate pop culture, and there were quite a few very bad male-centric superhero movies released at the same time as well.Joss Whedonisn’t afraid to call out his bosses at Marvel, and he may have even nudged them in the direction of a standaloneCaptain Marvelmovie:
“Marvel is in a position of making a statement simply by making [a female-led] movie, which I think would be a good thing to do. But it has to be a good movie, it has to be a good character, and most of the best characters in Marvel are owned by Fox, let’s face it!”
WhileJoss Whedonhas stated in the recent past that he feels too ‘tired’ to take onAvengers: Infinity War Part 1andAvengers: Infinity War Part 2, he does want to continue working for Marvel. Maybe he should take the helm ofCaptain Marvel? What do you think?
