Slowly but surely, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is beginning to address its most glaring flaw – female representation.
Since Marvel’s franchise began back in 2008 with the standalone Iron Man movie, only one film has placed a woman in control of the megaphone, and even that’s limited to a co-director credit. We are, of course, referring to Anna Boden, who recently wrapped principal photography on Captain Marvel alongside Ryan Fleck.
That’s fitting, too, as the 2019 solo movie is also the first MCU installment to be anchored by a female superhero (read: Carol Danvers). But that’s all about to change very soon, according to Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige.
While out promoting Ant-Man and the Wasp, another MCU pic to elect one of its female characters into the position of co-lead, Feige told GameSpot that more female-directed Marvel films are in the pipeline. And in the case of equal representation, actions speak louder than words.
We’ve got announcements that we’ll be making at some point revealing that. To me, it’s always actions are much more important than words, and showcasing the types of movies we’re making and the types of people making those movies. And I think we’ve learned beyond a doubt that when you surround yourselves with different types of people, and people who don’t look like you, and people who haven’t had the exact same experiences than you, creatively things start to get very interesting, and very new and unique.
It’s a fair point, too, and when you consider that most of Marvel’s Phase 4 remains under wraps at this time – save for Guardians 3 and Spider-Man: Far From Home – Kevin Feige and Co. are unlikely to announce any female-directed MCU films until Avengers 4 touches down next summer.
Surely the first to be unveiled will be that mooted Black Widow prequel, which is said to be casting the net far and wide in search of its director. Cate Shortland, Amma Asante and Maggie Betts are three candidates currently in the mix, and we’ll be bringing you all the latest as Marvel whittles down its shortlist.
