Why’s It Taken So Long For Marvel To Finally Give Us A Female Villain?

Why Is Marvel Breaking This New Ground Now?

Shane Black would apparently suggest that the re-structuring of Marvel Studios and its relationship with Disney is perhaps a major factor in the sudden breaking of new ground in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While the Walt Disney Company acquired Marvel in December 2009, Marvel Entertainment CEO Ike Perlmutter remained in post, overseeing Marvel Studios and its output until September 2015 – at which point Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige began reporting directly to Disney Chairman, Alan Horn. It’s therefore notable that Marvel’s scheduled movie projects into post-2015 production that have far greater emphasis on female characters – such as Thor: Ragnarok, Black Panther, Ant-Man And The Wasp and Captain Marvel.

But, while Black Panther, Ant-Man And The Wasp and Captain Marvel all feature stories with female heroes, it’s Thor: Ragnarok that breaks the deadlock on female villainy. It also doesn’t go unnoticed that this sudden change of approach occurs in a film co-written by Eric Pearson, who wrote four of the five Marvel One-Shot films – one of which evolved into the female-led TV show Agent Carter, for which he also wrote a number of episodes.

It’s further noteworthy that the first female villain in the MCU comes within the first Marvel movie to be directed by Taika Waititi. The rest of the films in the franchise, to date, have been directed by white men. So, the groundbreaking use of a female villain in Thor: Ragnarok comes from the first feature-length script co-written by the man who helped launch the first female-led Marvel TV show, and the first MCU movie to be directed by a person of colour.

But, the inclusion of Hela, Goddess Of Death, in Thor: Ragnarok is important for more than just the fact that she’s a female villain. In the comic book source material, Hela’s a significant character within the Thor series – often appearing as his nemesis. The fact that she’s arrived at this particular point in the MCU, though – at the end of Phase Three, in plot threads leading into Avengers: Infinity War – has given rise to an interesting fan theory.

Ten years in, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is now renowned for taking a large amount of dramatic license with its source material. This is, in some ways, necessary – as a frame-for-frame adaptation of a comic book would contain no surprises for a cinema audience. This approach has led to a film franchise that has specifically marginalized otherwise relevant female characters, though.

For example, if faithful adaptations were made, we would have met The Wasp a decade ago, as it was she that helped create the Avengers team, and indeed named it. For Hela, this re-imagining of characterization and relationship could swing the other way, though.