Nobody is making more major superhero and comic book movies than Marvel Studios right now. The firm has effectively committed to two major movies a year, but aside from Scarlett Johansson's recurring role as Black Widow, and the evolution of Gwyneth Paltrow's character in the Iron Man films, its big screen superheroes to date have all been male. Certainly the headline ones have all been. It does seem, however, that Marvel wants to do something about that.
"There's obviously a drumbeat that is banging louder and louder that we want a female lead superhero", Marvel's Louis D'Esposito told Coming Soon. D'Esposito has directed the short Agent 47 and Agent Carter pieces for Marvel, and significantly, has produced Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger and The Avengers.
"We have strong female characters in our films from Black Widow to Pepper Potts to Peggy Carter and you never know. Maybe there's an offshoot movie with one of them. Or Captain Marvel, you know?", he added.
[related article: 5 Female Marvel Superheroes Who Need Solo Films]
D'Esposito did concede that a female-led superhero movie would take time, though. "We do two films a year. To get those two films done to do them right takes a lot of work and manpower. And female-power, obviously. To add a third movie and to just put it in the slate right now is difficult. We have these next three, four, five films coming out and that's what we're really concentrating on".
Hmmm.
Arguably, there's no studio in a better position to put a woman front and center of a major superhero movie right now, and why the studio would need to add a third movie to its slate in a year to accomodate that is a puzzle. Marvel's slate is known through to the end of 2015, when Edgar Wright's Ant-Man is coming out. Might it be too much to hope that, in 2016, the studio that's proven it's willing to go its own way rather than follow what experts tell them about the market can have the confidence and courage to really go for a female-led superhero movie? Ideally one without Halle Berry in bondage gear? We wait and see.
The interview with Coming Soon is here.
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I'll take a wonder woman movie over a Marvel pepper pots or black widow any day.
A Ms Marvel sounds like it can stand on it's own more then Natasha Romanov one lol
Scarlett Johansson is all wrong for the Black Widow.
For the Black Widow it isn't wrong. Too short and not athletic looking enough.