When the MCU first got its start, it was high on the brawn and low on the girl power. Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow doing a crotch-throat grab in a tight black leather getup and Natalie Portman, Hayley Atwell and Gwyneth Paltrow as supportive girlfriends on the sidelines to the big-league heroes was all there was amidst Marvel’s boys club. Since then, a ton more female Marvel characters have been introduced into the universe that are just as badass, clever and quick-witted as their male counterparts.
That being said, the walls are still stacked behind the women of Marvel leading their own solo movies. Out of the Marvel movies released so far, only 2019’s Captain Marvel, 2021’s Black Widow n and 2023’s The Marvels is all the leading girl power we’ve seen across 35 films.When taking a look at the upcoming Marvel movies, there isn’t a single female-led or female directed Marvel movie on the way . What’s up with that? And yet, there are so many incredible female Marvel characters who are deserving of their own film. Here are our picks:
Storm
One of the most powerful mutants not only in the X-Men movies so far, but, but in Marvel Comics as well has been Ororo Munroe, aka Storm. While Halle Berry and Alexandra Shipp’s version were supporting characters with only a few standout moments in the X-Men franchise, there’s a lot more to her than what’s been explored. She’s actually the daughter of a princess in Kenya and a photojournalist father and was raised between Cairo, Egypt and Harlem, New York. Of course, she has the power to control the weather.
After Ororo was orphaned after her parents were killed in a plane crash, she was taken in by a thief in Egypt and trained by him to become a pickpocket. At some point in her origin story, she becomes worshipped as a goddess for using her powers with the droughts in the African desert. Ultimately she gets approached by Professor X and joins the X-Men, but she also once married Black Panther and became the leader of Wakanda, led the X-Men and worked directly with the Fantastic Four. She deserves a lot better than being on the sidelines. Oh, and Wicked’s Cynthia Erivo already wants to play her!
Spider-Gwen
By now, we’ve arguably seen too many Peter Parker / Spider-Man movies play out, so wouldn’t it be sweet to see a twist with Spider-Gwen leading a spinoff next time around? Spider-Gwen is a comic book character that began in 2015 that follows Gwen Stacy, who is famously Peter Parker’s ill-fated first girlfriend. Except it’s about her life in another universe where she is the one to get the spider bite and it’s Peter who dies in her arms. The character was of course explored as a Sony animated character in the Spider-Verse movies.
Now that the multiverse has been opened in the MCU, it would be exciting to see another version of the Spider-Man origin story through a live-action Spider-Gwen, who by the way has a super cool rock band called The Mary Janes. It’d be an especially great idea with Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man, who he could accidentally meet (both from other universes) and have a love story across dimensions. I could also see actors like Yellowjackets’ Sophie Thatcher, Euphoria’s Hunter Schafer, House of the Dragon’s Milly Alcock or Wednesday’s Emma Myers playing a more age-accurate version of the comic book character.
Captain Carter
After Steve Rogers found his happy ending with Peggy Carter in Avengers: Endgame, Marvel has brought back Hayley Atwell as Captain Carter, an alternate version of Captain America where Peggy gets the super serum instead of Steve Rogers in the animated What If…? series and with a cameo in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Along with Anthony Mackie taking up the mantle in the new Avengers movies, it would be a blast to see Atwell’s version of Captain America in live action for longer than a single scene.
Let me remind you that Atwell’s Captain America character has long been a favorite, having a two-season run on ABC’s Agent Carter as well. And now that Chris Evans has hung up his shield, it’d be fun for the studio to take their What If idea to the big screen, perhaps as a multiverse spinoff storyline. With Robert Downey set to be Doctor Doom, I’d imagine the superhero team could use all the help they could get, but I’d watch an entire solo movie with Atwell back as the character. Even if it’s just an espionage film from the WWII days.
Scarlet Witch
Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch is arguably the strongest Avenger in the MCU. The character has been featured in multiple Avengers films, the first Marvel Disney+ show WandaVision of course, and last time we saw her in 2022, she supposedly died in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.They also built on the world of witches in the MCU with last year’s Agatha All Along series, which was a rare and welcome MCU series with a dominantly female cast.
While one might think Marvel is done with her, given the Vision series is still on the way and Joe Locke confirmed to be her son, Billy Maximoff, I’d love to see a feature film with all eyes on one of the most wildly complex members of the Avengers.
Okoye
In 2018’s Black Panther, the vast world of Wakanda was introduced to audiences to stunning results. Since then, I’ve always loved seeing Danai Gurira’s Okoye, who started as the General of the Dora Milaje and even joined the Avengers for Infinity War and Endgame before the events of Black Panther 2 where she was stripped of her rank by Queen Ramonda.
While we previously heard in 2021 that she might get a TV spinoff that was debunked by Marvel exec Brad Winderbaum recently who said he didn’t think she would be in a TV show but fans will be “excited to come back,” but couldn’t “say where.” Clearly Marvel sees the potential for the character to thrive further, but I sincerely hope she gets to lead a project soon.
America Chavez
When Xochitl Gomez was cast as America Chavez for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, I definitely thought she’d have much more to do than she did, but hey, there was a lot going on in that movie. Last we left her, she was brought under the care of Wong to learn the mystic arts. When she spoke to CinemaBlend about her future back in 2022, she had hopes to get into America’s connection with Kang, but now that storyline has pivoted, I’m worried the MCU won’t know what to do with her.
Of course, given America’s powers to travel to different dimensions, she could easily star in her own coming-of-age adventure where she’s perhaps exploring the multiverse on a smaller scale than an Avengers flick, but I also hope she’ll be recruited to the new team, of course.
Valkyrie
Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie quickly became a fan-favorite when she appeared in Thor: Ragnarok and since then, Marvel has promoted the character to King of Asgard as Chris Hemsworth’s hero went down a rough road during the Infinity War, along with her return in Thor: Love and Thunder. But, I’d also follow the superheroine to other corners of the universe even without the God of Thunder.
While Tessa Thompson’s specific version was created for the movies, her origins tie in with the Secret Avengers and the Fearless Defenders with characters like Misty Knight, Danielle Moonstar and Elsa Bloodstone. She could definitely lead a team of ladies in her own flick.
Yelena Belova
We waited way too long for the Black Widow solo movie and then when it came out Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova stole the show right under from Scarlett Johansson. The younger sister of Black Widow has an intriguing way forward in the MCU given she has the chance to be the hero the studio was somewhat still figuring out with her arc. Yelena recently helped free an army of Black Widow soldiers and could have her own espionage thriller within the universe.
Of course, Thunderbolts* seems to have her potentially taking center stage in the summer team up movie also involving Bucky Barnes, Red Guardian, U.S. Agent, Taskmaster, Sentry, Ghost and Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, but I certainly wonder if the movie will truly give her a leading role and set up a future where she can be a key female member of the MCU.
The Wasp
In 2018’s Ant-Man and the Wasp, Michelle Pfeiffer’s Janet Van Dyne reunited with her family after thirty years stuck in the Quantum Realm. With that in mind, there are three decades of a missing timeline for the OG Wasp that could be a really interesting way for the MCU to explore the Quantum Realm itself.
It could play like a survivor movie where Janet finds herself in a mysterious place and learns to live in a reality where “all concepts of time and space become irrelevant as you shrink for all eternity” as Hank Pym has described it. We definitely got to see more of Janet Van Dyne in Quantumania, but I’d definitely be up for exploring more of Wasp’s life in the Quantum Realm.
Jessica Jones
Remember when Netflix made Marvel shows? Well, ever since Charlie Cox’s Daredevil made a cameo in Spider-Man: No Way Home, these characters belong to Disney/Marvel Studios now. And the Daredevil: Born Again series has made the return of more Netflix Marvel heroes feel more possible than ever. In addition to Cox’s Daredevil, Vincent D’Onofrio’s Wilson Fisk and Jon Bernthal’s Punisher entering the MCU, all the shows from the comic book universe Netflix explored are also now available to watch on Disney+ including Jessica Jones.
So technically, Jessica Jones could become part of the MCU, or at least have her own movie from the studio. Krysten Ritter’s character is a well-loved one who could continue her story on the big screen following the cancellation of her magnificent series. Plus, Ritter herself said she “one hundred percent would return” as Jessica Jones, citing that the character she spent five years on is “very important” to her and many fans.
So many ideas for the next female Marvel solo movie! We’ll have to wait and see which characters get movies next. Stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for more updates about the expanding MCU.
