On March 8—International Women’s Day—“Captain Marvel” will hit theaters, becoming the first female-led Marvel movie, and personally, I couldn’t be more excited. I’ve always loved superhero movies and science fiction, but the lack of female representation onscreen has bothered me. If “Captain Marvel” is a success, Hollywood could continue on its path toward greater gender equality.
Building the Hype
“Captain Marvel” will delve into an unexplored period within Marvel Cinematic Universe: the 90s. The movie follows U.S. Air Force pilot Carol Danvers, who gains superhuman powers and joins a group of elite alien warriors after an accident. When she returns to Earth during the beginning of an intergalactic war, questions about her true identity and life before she was Captain Marvel arise. “Captain Marvel” will feature two MCU veterans, Samuel L. Jackson as S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury and Clark Gregg as Agent Phil Coulson. Academy Award winner Brie Larson will make her debut in the MCU as the titular character. She is also rumored to play a critical role in “Avengers: Endgame” in April.
Larson plays a superhero on-screen, but she’s a total boss in real life, too. She’s a women’s rights activist and she champions diversity in workplaces, particularly in the field of journalism. In the nine months she trained to play Danvers, she learned judo, boxing and wrestling; she also visited an Air Force base in preparation. After the first trailer, many people (mostly men) on Twitter complained, saying Larson didn’t smile enough and didn’t have the star power to take on the role. One user replied with Photoshopped versions of other superhero movie posters, which Larson later posted on her Instagram story:
Trolls have tried to sink the movie by flooding Rotten Tomatoes with negative ratings, but after an advanced press screening, positive reviews keep rolling in. Critics are praising the strong sci-fi elements, Larson’s performance, the 90s nostalgia and the role of a cat named Goose. Film and TV critic Yolanda Machado tweeted that “Captain Marvel” made her feel “proud to be a woman.”
Girl Power
Recently, women in Hollywood have been at the forefront of a cultural revolution, leading the Me Too and Time’s Up movements. Me Too originated when numerous actresses brought up sexual assault allegations against Harvey Weinstein, and a number of high-profile actresses joined in, including MCU star Gwyneth Paltrow. Many industries have had their own Me Too moment since, and in 2018, Hollywood celebrities founded Times Up, which has raised $22 million to legally support sexual assault victims and has hundreds of volunteer lawyers. As both movements continue to gain popularity, they have inspired calls for increased gender equality in the workplace. Hollywood in no exception.
While there’s still long way to go, Hollywood has made positive strides. There have been all-female remakes of old movies, such as “Ghostbusters” in 2016, starring Melissa McCarthy, and “Ocean’s 8” in 2018, starring Sandra Bullock. Female directors are also starting to break into traditionally male genres. Patty Jenkins directed “Wonder Woman” in 2017 and will direct the sequel, too. Despite this, women only make up 4 percent of directors, 15 percent of writers, 3 percent of cinematographers, 18 percent of producers and executive producers and 14% percent of editors. In 2018, only 40 percent of the top 100 films featured a woman in the leading or co-leading role.
Considering, “Captain Marvel” is a step in the right direction, with many women in high positions. Anna Boden is co-directing with Ryan Fleck, and three of the four writers are women. Turkish-American composer Pinar Toprak wrote the movie’s score, and Debbie Berman co-edited. I like to hope that this is indicative of a shift within science fiction movies. Historically, the superhero genre has excluded or oversexualized women. Between skimpy outfits and constantly needing to be rescued or killed off to make the male hero sad, it hasn’t always been great to be a woman in a superhero movie. Part of the reason I love the Captain Marvel uniform design is that it’s powerful and visually appealing without being oversexualized or playing to the male gaze. Personally, it makes me feel great to see Danvers in a practical but cool uniform and to see a lot of women playing crucial roles in the movie’s production.
Another issue is that sometimes people believe that stories about female protagonists must be gender-blind, meaning they could be about either a man or woman no matter what. I think it’s important for filmmakers (and storytellers in general) to acknowledge that women face a unique set of issues to which men can’t relate, then tell stories about them. Early reviews indicate that “Captain Marvel” is very much a story about womanhood and the power of being a girl, and I think that’s been a long time coming.
Time to Shine
The first time I saw the trailer for “Captain Marvel,” I almost cried (particularly when “her” transitioned to “a hero”). Part of this is because I’m someone who gets excited and emotional very easily, but the other part was that seeing Larson (as Danvers) standing up over and over and fighting aliens felt like coming home. Audiences are used to seeing men be unapologetically powerful superheroes, but a woman’s powers always seem to come with some caveat or regret. In the first trailer and all that have followed, there has been no hesitation from Danvers, no holding back, and seeing that feels beyond empowering.
I’m hesitant to heap unlimited praise on the MCU because in ten years of making movies, this is the first time a woman has been the sole titular character (Evangeline Lilly shared the screen with Paul Rudd in “Ant-Man and the Wasp” last year). Before that, out of six main Avengers, only one was a woman. There have been powerful female characters, but the faces of the franchise have always been men. Additionally, there’s still room to go in representing women of color and the LGBT+ community within the MCU. However, with more movies lined up into the future, I’m hoping Marvel makes the most of its opportunity to become more inclusive and represent more of its audience on-screen.
Overall, though, I can’t wait. When I was in Target a week ago, I saw young girls’ clothing adorned with the Captain Marvel symbols and quotes. I won’t lie—it made me a little teary. Even when I was a kid, all superhero teams were comprised of a lot of boys, and one girl. Mega-popular studios weren’t producing solo films about female superheroes. Now, little girls will be able to grow up with Wonder Woman, Captain Marvel, female Ghostbusters and a host of other powerful women, real and fictional, as their role models. I think that will bring out the heroism in a new generation of women and encourage everyone to strive to go higher, further and faster.