2018 was a landmark year for Marvel Studios; not only did it mark the tenth anniversary of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it also saw the release of the studio’s first superhero movie not to centre on a white male with Black Panther, as well as the first to see a female character share top billing in Ant-Man and the Wasp.
Black Panther proved to be an enormous hit for Marvel, both critically and commercially, and has been hailed as a major milestone with regards to representation in cinema; however, according to Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige, it’s only the beginning of a more diverse MCU.
“Sometimes people have asked very directly, ‘Is Black Panther a one-off?’ in terms of inclusion representation and the answer is no, it’s the beginning,” Feige tells Variety. “That it worked out as well as it worked out just encourages to head in the direction that we were going to head anyway. You look at that film and the experience of the film, it was incredible. That movie, obviously, would not have been what it was if everyone sitting around the table looked like me or you and that’s actually true for all the movies.”
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Feige also went on to state that Marvel is embracing diversity both in front of the camera, as well as behind the scenes:
“As Marvel Studios has grown and as our creative team has grown, it’s the same thing. It’s almost half men, half women now. We try to grow and promote in-house, almost anybody that works around me has worked here for many, many years and people are going on the produce some of our next films came in below people producing the films now. When you have diverse voices, you get better stories and you get more exciting stories and you get more surprising stories and that is something very, very clear to us.”
In just a few short months, Marvel will release its first female-fronted solo movie in Captain Marvel, which is also the first MCU movie to feature a female filmmaker behind the camera in Anna Boden, who co-directs with Ryan Fleck. Cate Shortland is also on board to direct a Black Widow solo movie, while Chinese director Chloe Zhao is also attached to an Eternals film and there have been reports that Marvel is fast-tracking a Shang-Chi movie, which will introduce “a new hero who blends Asian and Asian American themes, crafted by Asian and Asian American filmmakers.”
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After the events of Captain America: Civil War, King T’Challa returns home to the reclusive, technologically advanced African nation of Wakanda to serve as his country’s new leader. However, T’Challa soon finds that he is challenged for the throne from factions within his own country. When two foes conspire to destroy Wakanda, the hero known as Black Panther must team up with C.I.A. agent Everett K. Ross and members of the Dora Milaje, Wakandan special forces, to prevent Wakanda from being dragged into a world war.
Black Panther sees Ryan Coogler (Creed) directing Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa alongside Lupita Nyong’o as Nakia, Michael B. Jordan as Erik Killmonger, Danai Gurira as Okoye, Winston Duke as M’Baku, Forest Whitaker as Zuri, Daniel Kaluuya as W’Kabi, Angela Bassett as Ramonda, Florence Kasumba as Ayo, Martin Freeman as Everett Ross, Andy Serkis as Ulysses Klaue, Letitia Wright as Shuri, Sterling K. Brown as N’Jobu, John Kani as King T’Chaka and Nabiyah Be as Linda.
