‘It’s time to mix that up, not just have the females be vacuous eye-candy’: Netflix’s incoming action blockbuster going full ‘Barbie’ to dismantle the patriarchy

There’s a growing suspicion that Netflix’s incoming action blockbuster Heart of Stone is in line to take a barrage from trolls and review-bombers, for the exact same reasons as Barbie.

The two couldn’t be more different on virtually every level, but the majority of key creatives involved in the Gal Gadot-starring epic have been making a concerted point of noting that the film will be actively subverting the genre norms and expectations of the spy genre, with many of them apparently forgetting Angelina Jolie’s Salt is something that exists.

Jamie Dornan is the latest, with the actor weighing in on what makes Heart of Stone stand out among a crowded pack of spy-centric shoot ’em ups in an interview with Digital Spy.

“It’s much more where we need to be headed at the moment, after decades and decades of male-drive spy thrillers. And I think it’s time to mix that up, not just have the females in those movies just be the sort of vacuous eye-candy, that sometimes happen. In mainstream, it seems to be heading in that direction more, where we’re getting women more of a chance to lead these sorts of movies. Gal Gadot has been at the forefront of that, and that’s only a good thing.”

The real test of Heart of Stone‘s merits will come if it manages to avoid Netflix’s ongoing curse of producing expensive actioners that are very rarely anything less than terrible, but you get the feeling there’s going to be more than a couple of furious keyboard warriors determined to tear it down at any cost.