‘The Marvels’ Director Nia DaCosta Unsurprisingly Plays Racism And Sexism Card In Promotion Of ‘The Marvels’
John F. Trent
|
The Marvels director Nia DaCosta unsurprisingly played the racism and sexism card while promoting the upcoming film.
(L-R): Iman Vellani as Ms. Marvel/Kamala Khan, Brie Larson as Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers, and Teyonah Parris as Captain Monica Rambeau in Marvel Studios’ THE MARVELS. Photo by Laura Radford. © 2023 MARVEL.
It would not be a promotion for a Walt Disney film without someone playing a victim card and DaCosta made sure The Marvels would not be an exception.
Speaking with Vanity Fair, Da Costa stated, “Sometimes as a Black woman, you realize that [people think] you take up more space than you actually do, or your voice sounds louder to people than it actually is, or your tone is more stern than it actually is.”
DaCosta added that some crew members on previous sets she worked on said “things that are super inappropriate, that you would just never say to anyone else because they were so specific to my gender, my race, my age.”
(L-R): Brie Larson as Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers and Iman Vellani as Ms. Marvel/Kamala Khan in Marvel Studios’ THE MARVELS. Photo by Laura Radford. © 2023 MARVEL.
While she did not provide any examples or name any names, Vanity Fair’s Rebecca Ford made it clear none of this happened on the set of The Marvels, “She had a very different experience on The Marvels, fortunately, in part because she had the power to hire the people she wanted for her team.”
DaCosta said, “I realized it wasn’t ever gonna be about how much power I amassed or how many great movies I made, or if I won awards, it was always just going to be the people that I surrounded myself with.”
She added, “The thing that I’ve been most surprised by lately is how much respect I’m getting from these middle-aged white dudes that I work with.”
Iman Vellani as Ms. Marvel/Kamala Khan in Marvel Studios’ THE MARVELS. Photo by Laura Radford. © 2023 MARVEL.
Not only did DaCosta play the racism and sexism card, but she also appeared to distance herself from the film by claiming it is actually Marvel Studios executive Kevin Feige’s film.
DaCosta discussed the advice she received from Black Panther director Ryan Coogler about just being herself when she was initially tapped to direct the film.
She recalled, “You can’t do anything but be yourself, so bring that to the table. They can choose to take some and leave some, but that’s what your job is.”
Clearly, the implication here is that Marvel Studios and Kevin Feige have overriding story authority especially when it comes to creating a final cut for the movie.
Zawe Ashton as Dar-Benn in Marvel Studios’ THE MARVELS. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2023 MARVEL.
RELATED: ‘The Marvels’ EP Mary Livanos Reveals Movie Will Deconstruct Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel
In fact, later in the exposé Vanity Fair’s Ford noted the film’s “postproduction proved to be the most challenging” given the film needed to connect with the Ms. Marvel Disney+ series as well as lead into the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
To this end, DaCosta admitted, “It is a Kevin Feige production, it’s his movie.”
She elaborated, “So I think you live in that reality, but I tried to go in with the knowledge that some of you is going to take a back seat.”
Brie Larson as Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers in Marvel Studios’ THE MARVELS. Photo by Laura Radford. © 2023 MARVEL.
What do you make of DaCosta playing the racism and sexism card? What about her claim that the film is really Kevin Feige’s movie as opposed to hers?
More About:Movies