Marvel’s Phase 4 Should Be Huge For Women Superheroes

Tessa Thomspon talks about Marvel‘s women power players having a more prominent role in the franchise’s upcoming fourth phase. Debuting as one of the surviving members of Asgard’s elite forces in Taika Waititi’s Thor: Ragnarok, we saw Valkyrie aboard the Asgardian ship traveling to Earth by the end of the threequel. And regardless of what the mid-credits scene for that flick insinuated, the warrior will continue to play a significant part in the MCU, eventually joining the fight against Thanos (Josh Brolin) in Avengers: Infinity War.

Last year, news broke out that the women of Marvel personally approached studio chief Kevin Feige to talk about the possibility of an all-female superhero flick. Scarlett Johansson (Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow); Guardians of the Galaxy stars Zoe Saldana (Gamora), Karen Gillan (Nebula), and Pom Klementieff (Mantis) and even Brie Larson, who is set to debut as Carol Danvers in next year’s Captain Marvel, joined Thompson in their impromptu pitch meeting illustrating their interest on the matter. Now, the Thor actress teases about their characters getting the attention they rightfully deserve come MCU Phase 4.

Catching up with ET Online during the world premiere of Black Panther, Thompson once again talks about the notion of female superhero taking the center stage in MCU. The actress is one of the most vocal among a slew of great actresses that are currently part of the Marvel family when it comes to furthering the campaign regarding telling more stories about interesting and competent women characters in the franchise such as her own:

“In this film, there are all these incredible women in the form of Angela Bassett and Lupita [Nyong’o] and Danai [Gurira]. 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.”


Thompson’s call is no longer farfetched with a plethora of capable lady characters that currently populate the MCU. Black Panther alone introduces a slew of strong ladies who T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) depends on like Dora Milaje members Okoye (Danai Gurira) and Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o), as well as, genius princess Shuri (Letitia). The next two standalone films between Infinity War and Avengers 4 have two female heroes taking titular characters with Evangeline Lily’s The Wasp (who debuted via the Ant-Man And The Wasp trailer) and of course, Larson’s Captain Marvel coming early next year. On top of that, the long overdue Black Widow solo outing has started showing signs of progress by tapping a writer. While there’s no confirmed release date yet for that project, it illustrates that Marvel hasn’t really scrapped the whole idea of an individual film for their original female superhero who has mainly played supporting player to her male counterparts despite the fact that she clearly can hold her own.

Despite being beaten by DC when it comes to producing the first female-led superhero flick in this modern era with Wonder Woman, an instance that Feige admittedly regrets, Marvel can still pose some records when it comes to equal gender representation in their films. For the longest time, men heroes are at the forefront of the franchise, but there clearly is a shift happening in the franchise with the introduction of such great women characters. As long as the studio crafts a way to organically give them the attention that they deserve, that proposed all-female flick may not be just a pipe dream.

Source: ET Online