by The Cowl Editor on September 13, 2018
Arts & Entertainment
by: Madeline Weaver-Nolting ’19 A&E Staff
In the 10 years that Marvel Studios has made superhero movies, none of them have starred a woman in the leading role. That is all about to change with the movie Captain Marvel starring Brie Larson, set to be released in March 2019.
Marvel has strong female characters, like Black Widow and The Wasp, but none have ever had their own movie. According to IMDB.com, “Captain Marvel gets caught in the middle of a galactic war between two alien races.”
With all the buzz and success that DC Comics’ Wonder Woman received, fans are wondering how Captain Marvel will compare. There is pressure for Captain Marvel to do well, which has created a competition with viewers putting the two women against one another, even though they are completely different.
Some question why Marvel Studios has not produced a superhero movie with a female lead sooner. This question is especially relevant as Captain Marvel is described as one of the most powerful superheroes on earth, possibly even the strongest Avenger. “She is more powerful than any character we’ve introduced thus far,” Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige tells EW. With that being said, it is no wonder that at the end of Avengers: Infinity War, Nick Fury calls her to save Earth from Thanos.
Marvel is also behind because with 20 movies released, they have never had a female director. Again, Captain Marvel is going to change that. Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck are co-directing the movie, which shocked many fans because they are not very well-known and have worked mostly on independent projects in the past. It will be interesting to see their vision and style of Captain Marvel compared to previous Marvel Studios projects.
A powerhouse like Marvel creating a film like Captain Marvel works towards opening doors for more women in Hollywood. “Marvel really went above and beyond with Captain Marvel,” screenwriter Geneva Robertson-Dworet told NPR. “Not only did they have Anna Boden, who, along with Ryan Fleck is directing the movie… they had many female writers working on the project. They also had female producers in the room. And that is really rare to have that.” Viewers can only hope that this is just the beginning of Marvel expanding representation for all in their future projects.