We’re not three phases into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and I think it’s fair to say it’s been a success. From Iron Man way back in 2008 to last year’s Avengers: Infinity War, the MCU has blown the lid off what’s possible for superheroes at the movies, and Disney is nowhere near done.
But it hasn’t always been a smooth ride. The MCU has come under fire, for example, for failing to have much in the way of diversity. That’s starting to change, with Captain Marvel being the first MCU movie with a female lead and Black Panther the first to spotlight superheroes of color, but Disney has plans to go further with Phase 4.
For example, Tessa Thompson — who plays Valkyrie in the Thor movies — recently spoke with actor Ramy Youssef as part of Variety’s Actors On Actors series. To hear her tell it, Phase 4 is going to make more of an effort to include people of different backgrounds. “Because the truth is these movies travel globally in such huge ways, and if you can represent people that are of color, if you can represent people with disabilities, if you can represent the LGBTQIA community inside of these films, it’s a pretty big deal,” Thompson said.
"There’s millions and millions of people, particularly young people, that show up to the cinema. And I think if you can show them something that looks like them, they feel valued. Particularly inside of these narratives of the comic books, that’s what it’s all about. It’s that our differences make us special."
She’s right that these films travel around the world, and that the research shows that representation (or the lack thereof) can have an affect on the self-esteem of the people watching, especially children.
There are several Marvel movies coming up that make more of an effort to be inclusive. There’s Black Panther 2, of course, coming down the pike in 2022, the same year for when Captain Marvel 2 is scheduled. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings will spotlight an Asian superhero played by Simu Liu, and The Eternals has a very diverse cast, and will include one male superhero, Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry), who’s married to a man and is raising a child with him.
And of course, Thompson herself will appear as Valkyrie, who she confirmed in 2017 is bisexual, in Thor: Love and Thunder, which will see Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster take up the mantle of the God of Thunder, at least for a while. “I’m really excited that we’re able to continue to push the bounds of that and that. I’m able to do that with Valkyrie because there’s so many cool queer characters in the comic books and they should have a place on-screen,” she said.
Not everyone in the Marvel camp is as rosy about things as Thompson, however. Just last week, Anthony Mackie, who also participating in the Actors on Actors series, said he was “bothered…that I’ve done seven Marvel movies where every producer, every director, every stunt person, every costume designer, every PA, every single person has been white.”
"We’ve had one Black producer; his name was Nate Moore. He produced Black Panther. But then when you do Black Panther, you have a Black director, Black producer, a Black costume designer, a Black stunt choreographer. And I’m like, that’s more racist than anything else. Because if you only can hire the Black people for the Black movie, are you saying they’re not good enough when you have a mostly white cast?"
It’ll be interesting to watch Marvel negotiate these questions and contradictions Phase 4 moves forward.
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