Having come in for some criticism during the early stages of the Marvel Cinematic Universe for a lack of diversity, Marvel Studios has begun making strides to correct the issue, with its Phase Three line-up set to include the likes of Black Panther, Captain Marvel and Ant-Man and the Wasp.
Nevertheless, Marvel has certainly taken its time to get to this point – something all the more evident with the release of Warner Bros.’ Wonder Woman, with DC Films putting the spotlight on a female hero in just its fourth DCEU offering, and reaping the benefit both in terms of critical and commercial success.
During an interview with Complex, Marvel executive producer Nate Moore has addressed the situation, stating that the studio’s approach has been to focus on ensuring quality rather than rushing a project for the sake of diversity:
“We want to tell the best stories with the strongest developed characters and scripts that we can. Our biggest concern is that, in trying to get more characters out there, we rush something that’s not ready and we deliver something that’s not up to our standards. So it’s less about us rushing a character that’s diverse to get it out quickly and more about figuring out how to do it right.”
In fairness to Marvel, the studio has introduced a number of minority characters in supporting roles, at times even opting for color-blind casting, as was the case with Idris Elba’s Heimdall. However, as Moore also notes, this too has led to some criticism from fans:
“There’s sometimes backlash when you cast against type. We’ve faced it a bit with the character of Heimdall, for instance, played by Idris Elba who was not reflective visually of what we’re more used to the character looking like in the comics. It’s something that we’re aware of and talk about at Marvel when we consider characters.”
What do you make of Moore’s comments? Is Marvel right to focus on quality ahead of diversity? Or should they have placed a greater emphasis on creating a more diverse universe by now? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below…
Originally published June 9, 2017. Updated April 16, 2018.
