Avengers: Endgame Director Joe Russo: “The Future of These Movies Will be an Inclusive One”
Avengers: Endgame director Joe Russo declared that the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films “will be an inclusive one.”
In a wide-ranging article focused on Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige from Variety, Avengers: Endgame director Joe Russo discussed the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Russo noted, “The future of these movies will be an inclusive one. He added, “Diversity, both in front of and behind the camera, will be its gold standard.”
Russo’s comment echoes what Kevin Feige has been telling fans for quite a while. All the way back in 2017, Feige hinted at the possibility of bringing a female Thor to the big screen when he spoke with Movies.com:
“We always look back to get those ideas … sometimes very specific storylines like “Civil War,” sometimes just nuggets or characters like “Planet Hulk,” So anything that’s happened in the comics, even a female Thor, become great potentials and the ideas from which future movies can be born.”
In June of last year, Feige would promise that diversity is “necessary to continue to tell stories. You don’t want to look around the room and see everybody looks like you. It is detrimental to the project.” He would also indicate that the Marvel Cinematic Universe would be populated with “different incarnations of characters you know.”
Feige would then confirm that LGBTQ characters would be introduced into the MCU and in fact current MCU characters would be revealed to be LGBTQ. He would state, “Both ones you’ve seen and ones you haven’t seen.”
In September, Feige would state that there would be more female-led films in the work following Ant-Man and The Wasp and Captain Marvel:
“With [Ant-Man and The Wasp] and now with Captain Marvel and many movies to be announced in the near future, I’m anxious for the time where it’s not a novelty that there is a female-led superhero movie, but it is a norm. And it is less a story of, ‘Oh, look, a female hero,’ and it’s more a story of, ‘Oh, what’s this about? Who’s this character? I’m excited to see that.’ And I think we can get there.”
After the release of Captain Marvel this year, Feige stated that the character would be taking the lead in the Marvel Cinematic Universe:
“When we found out that Brie Larson might be interested in joining our world, we had a number of meetings. She was a huge fan of the character in the comics. One of the highlights of my career at Marvel was introducing her at Comic-Con and having her come out on stage and stand there with literally almost everybody else from our movies. There she was at the forefront, and it was a great foreshadowing – not just for how audiences are going to embrace Brie as this character, but also for how Captain Marvel is about to take the lead and be at the forefront of the entire Cinematic Universe.”
And most recently, Feige addressed rumors that an LGBTQ character and actor would be headlining the upcoming Eternals film.
“Well it’s accurate in that we’ve talked about [it for] a long time. You look at the success of Captain Marveland Black Panther. We want the movies to reflect the audience and we want every member of our global audience to see themselves reflected on the screen. And that’s what we’ve been doing for a long time. And certainly, that’s what we’re focusing on going forward.”
As for what Marvel’s upcoming movie slate will look like, reports indicate they will feature a solo Black Widow film headlined by Scarlett Johannson, a Shang-Chi movie, and the Eternals. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and Doctor Strange 2 are also reportedly in the works. There will more than likely be a Black Panther sequel as well.
But the MCU will also be seguing into television with a Loki television series, WandaVision, and The Falcon and The Winter Soldier on Disney+. There is also a rumored Hawkeye and Kate Bishop television series alongside a Hulk and She-Hulk series.
Back in 2017, Feige had announced they had 20 films lined up, “22 movies in, and we’ve got another 20 movies on the docket that are completely different from anything we’ve done before – intentionally.” That was before Disney acquired 21st Century Fox and got their hands on the X-Men and Fantastic Four.
The direction of the Marvel Cinematic Universe appears clear.
Are you looking forward to this direction for the MCU? Which movies or television shows are you most looking forward to? What do you make of Joe Russo’s recent comments?
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