Marvel Studios Boss: Female-Led Marvel Movie is a "Challenging Thing"

[Strazdas]

You've just released a movie that contained a tree and talking raccoon as characters Marvel, if anyone can pull off a female comic/superhero movie it's you.

whose lead actor is grumpy white male.

lead actor and other actors are different thing in movies. there are plenty of movies that have women in them, only few that have them as lead acrtess.

 

[EyeReaper]

So, either I misinterpreted what that dude was saying, or Topic Creator guy did. It seemed less like he was pulling a Ubisoft and more like he was saying "Continuity is Haaaard guys."

Although a Lady Hero would be nice to see finally, and I do mean an actual superhero. with powers and everything. Not another Electra. I want a Black Widow movie about as much as I want a Hawkeye movie. I don't want a Hawkeye movie. Too bad most of the really cool Marvel heroines are X-Men. So would a Marvel Musical, though.
(cough*Mr.Whedon if by chance you're reading this now is your chance to introduce Dr.Horrible to the MCU*cough)

 

[NoeL]

... ah, good point.

(But thankfully, the appeal of the Marvel movie universe now extends beyond any toxic fanbase.)

I'm not sure that's true, since Hollywood logic says women don't sell in big blockbusters. And ignore any examples to the contrary, they don't seem to count. I'm not even sure comic book fans are more toxic than the rest of the population.

I'm sorry, but what? RA92 was talking about the fan base, not Hollywood execs, and the examples to the contrary DO count (the recent Hunger Games success being a prime example). People will pay money to see a good movie with a female lead - emphasis on the word "good".

Which still only matters if the overall audience will accept it. Just because they're different audiences doesn't mean that they won't have the same problems. Hell, Heimdall had the Neo-Nazis (sorry, Godwin's Law) and comic book nerds butthurt over the same thing, albeit for different reasons, though I'm still unconvinced racism wasn't a factor in comic book fans protesting.

Neither of which made a dent in the critical or financial success of Thor. Hell, most people that saw the movie wouldn't have known or cared about the character prior anyway, so him being black was a non-issue.

Which brings up the previous questions: would Marvel do a Carol Danvers movie? Would the MCU fans be behind it? Would Marvel put the same level of promotion into Ms./Captain Marvel as they would the Avengers, or at least Guardians of the Galaxy?

As I pointed out in a previous post, female leads are heavily resisted in a lot of genres, and tend towards underpromotion. We know Marvel can really sell even their B and C listers, but the question is, would they? Would they put as much of an effort in making the movie-goers care about Captain Marvel or She-Hulk as Iron Man, Hulk, or even Groot?

Taking the president's quotes at face value the answer is "YES." He clearly recognises the importance of not half-assing it, since to do so would almost guarantee a flop. If/when they do it, they will do it right. When the studio gets behind a movie and shows they have faith in their product, it will sell just fine. Hell, look at Guardians of the Galaxy - it looks freaking ridiculous, but Marvel has shown the public, through its promotion, that they think it's every bit as good as any other MCU movie. And it paid off. They could easily do the same with a female-led movie, and given the president's quotes it's hard to believe they wouldn't if/when that time comes.

 

[RJ 17]

Glad I read the article rather than just the headline, I was about to make an Ubisoft joke.

Really I think the guy has a fair point...they're already pumping out movies for numerous franchises and just released a new one in Guardians of the Galaxy which now already has a sequel in the works. Didn't the guy that plays Captain America say that the next one is going to be his last one? Thought I heard somewhere that his contract is up after the next one and that he wants to go on to become a director or something. Anyways, if he does end up leaving the character, perhaps they can take a break from making Captain America movies and pick up with a female-led movie. It is about time we got one, but with Thor, Captain America, Avengers, and now Guardians, that's a lot already on Marvel's plate at the moment.

 

[Sould1n]

b) The Captain Marvel thing is actually a hilarious story of copywrights and various infringements, basically Fawcett owned Captain Marvel who was bought out by DC and sued for being too like Superman. Marvel then created a character due to a loophole called Captain Marvel who was... actually an alien so even more like Superman than before.

Incidentally, he was actually a captain in the Kree army and his name was Mar Vell so when he introduced himself everyone assumed he was a costumed hero because... well, his Kree army uniform looked superheroic. Carol Danvers is a human airorce pilot who got similar powers due to Mar Vell f*cking up with some alien technology. Anyway, Mar Vell dies of Cancer and Ms Marvel carries on and eventually at Captain America's insistance, takes on his name and becomes Captain Marvel as she's been for the last few years now.

So, maybe this is just me, but given Mar Vell was originally like an Anti-Superman (he was sent to work out plans for an invasion after all) it could be a really movie to have the first 2/3rds be Mar Vell on Earth and then last 1/3rd is Carol being the new Captain Marvel and kicking some ass. I'd be worried it'd play too much like Thor but it could still be pretty amazing.

Funny enough, this is pretty much how I thought a Captain Marvel/Ms. Marvel movie would best turn out. Have the movie start off with Captain Marvel, coming to lay out the plans for invasion, being mistaken for a superhero, meeting Carol Danvers, starting to protect the people of Earth and all that. Then have the big twist being that he dies 2/3rds into the movie, preferably best done as a sacrifice, and Carol Danvers gets the powers somehow (either through accident or giving his powers to Carol), and then as you say having Carol kicking ass as the new Captain Marvel for the last 3rd.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Depressing and often repeated, but still very true.

EDIT: Or at least the thinking goes that way. Just because female led movies can't ever succeed doesn't mean they won't ever succeed.

Yes, but a talking tree and raccoon won't put off the fan base like a woman will.

is this actualy true? because female droven comicbooks exist...are comic book fans THAT terrible?

if your talking about the general movie going public I call bullshit....Hungergames, Frozen and Lucy have all done well and I highly doubt it was only women going to see them

But those are bizarre exceptions. We know female led movies don't work, so we have to ignore any of them that do.

 

[grigjd3]

It's as if Disney/Marvel is the exact opposite of what we hear from the games industry. They want to make the right female led superhero movie whereas videogame execs bullshit about female characters being hard to draw. Look, I get that we are already starting from an incredibly sexist beginning in our culture. I appreciate the idea that leading with women means not just tossing a bad script out with a woman lead but actually doing everything possible to make sure the film succeeds (which should be the goal of every film). I appreciate hearing this commentary.

 

[Vault101]

whose lead actor is grumpy white male.

lead actor and other actors are different thing in movies. there are plenty of movies that have women in them, only few that have them as lead acrtess.

I really want to like/watch and enjoy the movie but...its just that one fucken thing...that one compromise we all have to put up with...

....well ok I liked Edge of Tomorrow...I'm just hope I wont find starlord whatever this jerks name is annoying...

 

[Rebel_Raven]

I was just about to go to bed, then something mind bogglingly stupid came across my mind...

Feige admits that even though he "very much" believes in doing it, it's a "challenging thing" and they're still looking to be able to tell the "right story."

I read that, then I remember that this guy represents ... FUCKING MARVEL!!! Do they NOT have a TON of writers, and the pull to hire on writers from time to time, and a metric fuckton of material to pillage?!
Marvel has had to have put out a million individual comic book issues by now! And more than a few female heroes had to have several hundred issues/appearances! A great many no doubt have solid origin stories!!

WHAT THE BLUE MONKEY HELL IS THIS BULLSHIT?!!

Is every last goddamned thing they put out the wrong "story?"

How the dix is it a "challenge" to make the "right story" when they've been doing this for decades?!! Not that far from a frikking CENTURY?!!

Considering the resources of Marvel, you know, a company that has story telling as it's bread and frikking butter, is saying they don't have the "right story to tell" is beyond stupid to me. Saying it's a "Challenge" when they've been doing it as long as they have is equally upsetting.

Sure, I can get that they're working on many movies, and have funds tied up, but the right story should be the least of their concerns IMO.

Sure, the movie part, and the comic part are likely 2 separate branches, but I don't see why they can't come together. I seriously doubt that bastardizing comics into movies is a new concept, here, or that a comic book writer, or a group of them can't come together to script, and storyboard out a movie!
Hell, most fans likely WANT them to adapt directly from comic books! Most others wouldn't realize, or care, and would hopefully enjoy the movie, and the character, and actually join Marvel's fanbase to learn more abut the character or something.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

Salt - $180million profit.
Tombraider - $160million profit.
Monster - $52million profit.
The Descent - $55million profit (Six female leads)

Female led movies can be done. But like with computer games, they just look at the failures that failed due to script and direction than by the lead being female. I think Marvel should just get a Ms Marvel or Black Widow movie made. Can even go lower budget instead of a huge action epic. Its all in the writing and directing and Marvel movies have done well with both these.

Thing is i didnt care about Black Widow before Avengers. Especially with Hulk, Thor etc. But i really liked her character in the movie a lot. Also we all know she is trying to redeem herself. She said this in Avengers, she wants to get rid of the red in the ledger. Why not do a movie where she goes to fix something in her past? If they have a high level of action like when she fought those guys tied to a chair, i dont see why this movie wouldnt be good. Maybe get the action guy from Raid to help. Or the guy who did the choreography for the Tony Jaa movies.

 

[Elijin]

I hadnt realised until I tried to make a list, that most of the Marvel superladies are tied up in X-men and Spiderman brands.

The ones I can think of (Which havent already been mentioned multiple times) are..

Rescue, Kamala Khan, A female Cpt Universe (Its been done a bunch, pick one.) and....I wasnt sure if the inhumans belong the to Fantastic Four license or not.

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

You've just released a movie that contained a tree and talking raccoon as characters Marvel, if anyone can pull off a female comic/superhero movie it's you.

whose lead actor is grumpy white male.

lead actor and other actors are different thing in movies. there are plenty of movies that have women in them, only few that have them as lead acrtess.

And said, grumpy white guy, raccoon and tree were a bunch of C/D listers from their back catalogue.

 

[rbstewart7263]

I was just about to go to bed, then something mind bogglingly stupid came across my mind...

Feige admits that even though he "very much" believes in doing it, it's a "challenging thing" and they're still looking to be able to tell the "right story."

I read that, then I remember that this guy represents ... FUCKING MARVEL!!! Do they NOT have a TON of writers, and the pull to hire on writers from time to time, and a metric fuckton of material to pillage?!
Marvel has had to have put out a million individual comic book issues by now! And more than a few female heroes had to have several hundred issues/appearances! A great many no doubt have solid origin stories!!

WHAT THE BLUE MONKEY HELL IS THIS BULLSHIT?!!

Is every last goddamned thing they put out the wrong "story?"

How the dix is it a "challenge" to make the "right story" when they've been doing this for decades?!! Not that far from a frikking CENTURY?!!

Considering the resources of Marvel, you know, a company that has story telling as it's bread and frikking butter, is saying they don't have the "right story to tell" is beyond stupid to me. Saying it's a "Challenge" when they've been doing it as long as they have is equally upsetting.

Sure, I can get that they're working on many movies, and have funds tied up, but the right story should be the least of their concerns IMO.

Sure, the movie part, and the comic part are likely 2 separate branches, but I don't see why they can't come together. I seriously doubt that bastardizing comics into movies is a new concept, here, or that a comic book writer, or a group of them can't come together to script, and storyboard out a movie!
Hell, most fans likely WANT them to adapt directly from comic books! Most others wouldn't realize, or care, and would hopefully enjoy the movie, and the character, and actually join Marvel's fanbase to learn more abut the character or something.

.......O.O I think he was talking more about the juggling act they are doing and not that you know. "womens are hard"

 

[rbstewart7263]

I hadnt realised until I tried to make a list, that most of the Marvel superladies are tied up in X-men and Spiderman brands.

The ones I can think of (Which havent already been mentioned multiple times) are..

Rescue, Kamala Khan, A female Cpt Universe (Its been done a bunch, pick one.) and....I wasnt sure if the inhumans belong the to Fantastic Four license or not.

Thats a good question. Queen medusa is one of my favorite characters and the current run of inhuman has her as the lead.

 

[Rebel_Raven]

I was just about to go to bed, then something mind bogglingly stupid came across my mind...

Feige admits that even though he "very much" believes in doing it, it's a "challenging thing" and they're still looking to be able to tell the "right story."

I read that, then I remember that this guy represents ... FUCKING MARVEL!!! Do they NOT have a TON of writers, and the pull to hire on writers from time to time, and a metric fuckton of material to pillage?!
Marvel has had to have put out a million individual comic book issues by now! And more than a few female heroes had to have several hundred issues/appearances! A great many no doubt have solid origin stories!!

WHAT THE BLUE MONKEY HELL IS THIS BULLSHIT?!!

Is every last goddamned thing they put out the wrong "story?"

How the dix is it a "challenge" to make the "right story" when they've been doing this for decades?!! Not that far from a frikking CENTURY?!!

Considering the resources of Marvel, you know, a company that has story telling as it's bread and frikking butter, is saying they don't have the "right story to tell" is beyond stupid to me. Saying it's a "Challenge" when they've been doing it as long as they have is equally upsetting.

Sure, I can get that they're working on many movies, and have funds tied up, but the right story should be the least of their concerns IMO.

Sure, the movie part, and the comic part are likely 2 separate branches, but I don't see why they can't come together. I seriously doubt that bastardizing comics into movies is a new concept, here, or that a comic book writer, or a group of them can't come together to script, and storyboard out a movie!
Hell, most fans likely WANT them to adapt directly from comic books! Most others wouldn't realize, or care, and would hopefully enjoy the movie, and the character, and actually join Marvel's fanbase to learn more abut the character or something.

.......O.O I think he was talking more about the juggling act they are doing and not that you know. "womens are hard"

Oh, I don't doubt the juggling is part of it, but he mentioned needing to be able to tell the right story (See what I quoted in the post you quoted) holding them up, too.
It boggles my mind that a company that makes a living off telling almost every kind of story would ever even mention "story" as a problem in making movies.
It's the same lousy excuse used time, and time again to shunt women, minorities, etc. aside, and coming from -marvel- there's pretty much no way to suspend disbelief that "story" is ever a problem.
Considering Elektra, Blade, the Punsiher movies, and so forth, I dare say that they'd have an overabundance of stories. Not necessarily -great- stories, since, well, I don't think there's EVER been a good female led comic book based movie for some reason.

There's supposed to be a Ms. Marvel movie in the works, but I wouldn't be surprised if they dropped it, the way things are going. They seem to be trying to talk down moves they were supposed to be working on in general by layering excuses. IIRC, Ant Man is 5 years late.
My gripe with the juggling act is that any female lead is most likely to get the short end of the stick, and that makes me pretty irritated.

 

[Matthewmagic]

Yeah, it needs to happen sooner rather than later. Gaurdians of the Galaxy proved that if they can market a movie right people will show up. I would love a She-hulk movie, or a Captain Marvel movie, I would love a Black widdow movie but I think scarlett Johansson is preggers right now and keeping with the theme of sooner rather than later I think it would be a crying shame to recast her.

On the topic of Scarlett, I can not think of a single female actor that has her presence or intimidation factor. In lucy I truly believed she could whoop my ass. Don't get me wrong I'm not saying it is impossible but she is the surest bet.

 

[Lono Shrugged]

The title is a bit misleading. The "challenging thing" he mentioned was managing a lot of franchises, not making a female-led movie.

I was just thinking this. Clickbait as usual

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Cop out answer is cop out.

I mean, Scarlett Johansson has basically proven she can carry a movie on her own at this point (Lucy beat Hercules last weekend - badly, and Hercules had the Rock to hold it up, no pun intended) and a lot of people REALLY like Black Widow.

A fine movie with a good marketing campaign beat a shit movie with a shitty marketing campaign, and all that proves is that it's all about quality & marketing.