Having come under fire from some quarters due to a lack of representation in the first two Phase of its Cinematic Universe, Marvel has made a concerted effort to correct the issue in Phase Three. This month’s Black Panther features the studio’s first black lead, and female characters are set to be pushed to the forefront with the upcoming Ant-Man and the Wasp and Captain Marvel, not to mention the recently announced Black Widow solo movie.
Speaking to Entertainment Tonight at the world premiere of Black Panther, Tessa Thompson – who portrayed the character of Valkyrie in last year’s Thor: Ragnarok – has been speaking about the importance of the Black Panther movie, as well as the women of Marvel in general.
“It’s important for the culture,” said Thompson. “It’s important to me. I think it’s no mistake that folks like Snoop Dogg are here [at the premiere]. It’s important culturally to us that we get to see representation [for people of color], that we get to see ourselves reflected on screen in this way, but also it’s just primed to be a fantastic movie. It’s good for all of us and I think the fact it’s been the most pre-sold movie in Marvel history speaks to the fact that it’s not just for us, it’s for everybody.”
“In this film, there are all these incredible women in the form of Angela Bassett and Lupita Nyong’o and Danai Gurira,” she continued. “We’re going to see Brie Larson and her stand alone with DeWanda Wise, who is also here tonight, doing Captain Marvel. We’ll see what happens with Valkyrie next, but yeah, the women rule supreme; they always have. But I think we’ll see in the next phase [of Marvel films] that really translate on screen in a real way.”
As it happens, Marvel’s female stars – including Thompson, Brie Larson (Captain Marvel), Zoe Saldana (Gamora), Karen Gillan (Nebula), Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow) and Pom Klementieff (Mantis) – have been lobbying Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige for an all-female Marvel team-up movie, so perhaps that could be something we have to look forward to during Phase Four of the MCU.
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