While Marvel Studios films have had a number of strong female characters in their first seven films, what they have yet to do is give one of their female superheroes a real chance in the spotlight. The comic book giant has a remarkable stock of terrific, popular characters, but have yet to give any of them their own solo movie. That trend, however, may soon be coming to an end.
Coming Soon recently had the chance to sit down with Marvel Studios producer Louis D'Esposito at a event for the upcoming Blu-ray/DVD release of Iron Man 3, and during their interview the filmmaker revealed that the studio is hearing fans clamoring to see more female superheroes, and are looking to do something about it. "There's obviously a drumbeat that is banging louder and louder that we want a female lead superhero," D'Esposito said. "… [W]e have strong female characters in our films from Black Widow to Pepper Potts to Peggy Carter and you never know. Maybe there's an offshoot film with one of them. Or Captain Marvel, you know?"
For those unfamiliar with the comics, Captain Marvel is also known as Miss Marvel a.k.a. Carol Danvers and is a human alien hybrid who has the ability to fly, both project and absorb energy and has superhuman strength and speed. Born a human, Danvers was originally an officer in the United States Air Force and got her powers when she was involved in an explosion caused by an alien device.
Exciting as the prospect of a female superhero may be, however, it could be a while before we actually get to see one. Marvel's schedule is booked up all the way through 2015 with Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, The Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Ant-Man, and for now that's where the studio is focusing. Added Esposito,
"It's hard because we have a small group at Marvel. We do two films a year. To get those two films done and to do them right takes a lot of work and manpower. And female-power, obviously. To add a third film and to just put it in the slate right now is difficult. We have these next three, four, five films coming out and that's what we're really concentrating on."
But if Marvel Studios were to make a Captain Marvel movie, who would they get to play the lead role? How about Battlestar Galactica's Katee Sackhoff? While that may seem like pure fan speculation/wishing, apparently it may not be that radical of a possibility. The actress, who stars alongside Guardians of the Galaxy stars Vin Diesel and Dave Bautista in the new sci-fi movie Riddick this weekend, recently appeared on the The Schmoes Know Podcast (via CBM), and revealed that she actually has taken meetings with the folks over at Marvel. While she didn't provide any details, she did confirm that "there's been some stuff going on" and that there has been "a lot of checking of availability for the first quarter of next year." It's worth noting that period is when Joss Whedon's The Avengers: Age of Ultron is going to start production.
On the subject of female heroes, D'Esposito also directed the new Marvel One-Shot that will be featured on the Iron Man 3 Blu-ray, and it centers on Captain America's Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell). You can watch a preview of the short below:
