It might appear that the fans crying and moaning for the source material to be recognized (ironic isn’t it?) and for a black Captain Marvel to be cast will be getting what they want. Christian Bone of We Got This Covered makes mention of how industry insider Daniel Richtman makes a comment stating how we ended up with six white Avengers (source material remember) and will eventually be seeing a more diverse bunch as the phases continue to roll along. Carol Danvers isn’t about to be replaced since Brie Larson has signed on for a few more movies and cameos in the future, but at the very least people might want to calm down just a bit a we’ll eventually have a black Spider-Man, at least one or two Muslim heroes, a black woman as Captain Marvel, an Asian with Shang-Chi, and of course, more female heroes in the MCU as people have been harping on. Eventually there will be a She-Hulk program, the Eternals are bringing in more diversity, and the MCU is more or less starting to turn around when it comes to which heroes they present. It’s kind of amusing really since Blade was already presented in the 90s and no one said a dang thing about ‘the first black Marvel hero on the big screen’ until Black Panther came out long after Blade made an impact. Funny how that works, huh?
In any case, the Marvel universe is diversifying in a big way and it’s bound to create much richer and more interesting stories since it will grant a lot of different perspectives that will continue to add to the overall narrative that Marvel has been trying to push for years. There is a big need for different points of view when thinking about the various standpoints that can be used when talking about gender, race, and especially cultural significance. The hope for the Marvel universe however is that everyone can eventually put aside the need to be petty and to simply come together for a great story without the need to get into an argument over whether the future is female or if feminism is killing action movies. Such arguments really aren’t helping anything at this point and need to be cast to the side in order to keep the story moving forward, thereby allowing the MCU to continue entertaining the fans without the derisive comments that have been tossed about. Gena-mour Barrett of BBC has more to say on this particular subject.
Was Captain Marvel filled with a bit too much ‘girl power’? Who cares? Did the MCU start out with white men in power? Who cares? Have things changed since then? Definitely and without any question. So why in the world are people still griping? The answer is pretty simple: because things will never be good enough for everyone. Even with a black Captain Marvel there will be someone wondering “why isn’t there a black, transgender hero that identifies in a different way from everyone else?”. It’s kind of a lame example, but the point of it is hard to deny. People are going to gripe about this or that, they’re going to think that it’s not enough, and even when they get what they apparently want it’s not going to be good enough. People were given a female Captain Marvel when in truth, before the black female version of her, Captain Marvel was MALE (brace yourselves, it’ll be okay). So if people really want to chew about the source material on this one they need to go back in Marvel’s history and see who was there first before editing their version of how things have gone in the comics. Putting that side however, Monica Rambeau did come along in the 80s, so it would indeed be nice to see the source material kicking in, albeit a bit late, rather than being written off completely in favor of pushing an agenda that’s hard to miss in the movies these days.
The point of it all is simply this: advance the story as it exists within the source material. Marvel has done a great deal to diversify and become more inclusive throughout the years, so keeping things moving ahead and telling the story while including many new heroes and keeping touch with some of the old would be a great idea when continuing the movies and the shows. It is kind of amusing that despite answering the call for more female leads in the MCU that Brie Larson is now being asked to step aside by some folks who want people color and different cultures to be represented, but eventually it’s going to happen anyway, so folks need to calm themselves down and allow their egos to separate from the collective that’s continually gathered to express their ‘outrage’ and ‘desire’ to insure that the MCU is as ‘woke’ as it can be.
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