Marvel Phase 4 Will Introduce More Female Heroes - Kevin Feige

[Kane_Steel]

This is good news. The MCU does a great job with female heroes overall.

https://www.cbr.com/mcu-heroes-over-half-women/

The female characters are likeable, and enjoyed by male and female audiences. There's no divisiveness and no flat Mary Sue characters thrown in:

More importantly, they maintain a good balance and don't undermine the agency of the male heroes to 'empower' the women. Black Panther really showed this off. They were all equals.

Some great examples of female heroes in the MCU throughout the years:

Gamora, Black Widow, Scarlet Witch (awesome), Valkyrie, Okoye, Nakia, Lady Sif, Wasp, Peggy Carter (my favorite), etc.

Phase 1-3 really gave the male characters their chance to shine, so the timing is right for something new.

Female characters are generally a harder sell in this genre tentpole properties. With Captain Marvel, Miss Marvel and the X-Men women coming, I believe in Feige's ability to pull this challenging task off, and show other franchises how to do this right.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Yeah, right.

 

[Kane_Steel]

I think I can predict the female characters he's bringing in for Phase 4, and they're good ones.

Eternals - The lead hero is a man, but the supporting cast is largely female, similar to Black Panther.

Black Panther 2 - Already has a large female supporting cast.

Captain Marvel 2 - Carol, and likely introducing Miss Marvel (Khan).

Black Widow film - Could be the all female teamup film of existing female characters, that Scarlett and friends wanted.

Guardians 3 - They'll probably bring in replacements for Gamora and Nebula.

X-Men - Wolverine will be the lead for sure, but you'll have a lot of female heroes on the cast; Rogue, Jean, Storm etc

Thor 4 - Hemsworth as the lead, Valkyrie and perhaps new female heroes as supporting.

Fantastic Four - Mr Fantastic will be the lead, but you will have Sue and Alicia.

Doctor Strange 2 - Likely a new female character introduced to replace Tilda Swinton. Perhaps female villain.

Spider-Man: Far From Home - Apparently Gwen is coming, and she will be an exchange student.

Ant-Man 3 - Will likely have Ant-Man as the lead, but also Wasp and teenage Cassie Lang introduced as a new hero.


Iron Man 4 *could* potentially happen, because the last one did 1.215 Billion and it's a very big IP for Disney. RDJ would have to be the lead, but they could theoretically bring in RiRi Williams/Iron Heart as his sidekick.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Eternals - The lead hero is a man, but the supporting cast is largely female, similar to Black Panther.

Is it? Thena, Sersi, Margo.... Who Am I missing?

 

[Kane_Steel]

I don't know. I've never actually read the comics.

But I've seen all the artwork, and it's always a blond man in front as the main hero (looking like He-Man) surrounded by a bunch of women.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I don't know. I've never actually read the comics.

But I've seen all the artwork, and it's always a blond man in front as the main hero (looking like He-Man) surrounded by a bunch of women.

Maybe you should before make comments about it. I'll even help you
The Eternals

 

[Jinn]

I don't know. I've never actually read the comics.

You should definitely check it out, it's a great series.

That being said, you're not too far off. The main characters of the original Jack Kirby series are:
Ikaris (male, appears in the entire series)
Ajak (male, appears in the first third)
Sersi (female, appers in the entire series)
Makkari (male, appears in the final two thirds of the series)
Thena (female, appears in the second third of the series)
Zuras (male, appears in the final two thirds of the series)

So, we got one mainstayes from both genders. The first third has a gender-ratio of 1:2 (f:m), the second 2:3 (arguably the best) and 1:3 (yikes!) for the final third.

This is of course only a vague analysis and I didn't take the time to check folks like Druig and Sigmar.

It should be mentioned that apart from the Eternals there are three human and three Deviant supporting characters. The three Deviants are Kro (who's the baddie for the first arc and Thena's ex-bf), the Reject (a Deviant who looks like a human and is hated by his Deviant peers for it; Thena decided that he's the best thing the Deviants ever made and grants him asylum at the Eternal's place) and Karkas (a Deviant Mutate who looks like a monster on the outside and is also granted asylum be Thena). Karkas and the Reject have this sort of "ugly on the inside, ugly on the outside" thing going on. The Reject is physically attractive but basically a mad savage while Karkas is red, has a weird head and is bigger than the Hulk, but is very gentle and soft spoken. These three are primarily Thena's supporting cast with them getting phased out around the same time she is.

The three human supporting characters are Margo, her father Daniel and Samuel Holden. Daniel and Sam are scientists, Margo went with Daniel on an expedition. Daniel stays primarily with Ajak and is phased out with him after the first third of the series. Margo is sort of the girlfriend type character for Ikaris, but notably they aren't a couple and it isn't a plot point at all. Sam is the boy toy for Sersi. That may be a little harsh, but it isn't tooo far off. So, with only one out of six supporting characters female we have a way better balance in the main characters.

Finally, one thing of note: The female characters, particularly Sersi, are definitely not portrayed as weaker than their male counterparts. Sersi for example majorly contributes to taking down the final bad guy, along Zuras.

So, what I'm saying is, Eternals had pretty good female characters considering the time it was made in (late 70s) and you should definitely read it.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Thena and Sersi were more interesting characters than Ikaris in my opinion.

 

[Jinn]

Thena and Sersi were more interesting characters than Ikaris in my opinion.

Oh definitely! Thena's stuff with the Deviants was IMO the most interesting thing in the ongoing. Ikaris is really just your standard blond flying immortal type.

Plus, Sersi's fun

 

[USS Firefly]

I would love to see peggy carter back on the big screen in her own movie

 

[Kane_Steel]

I would love to see peggy carter back on the big screen in her own movie

Only problem with that is there isn't really enough material with her to sustain a trilogy. And her TV series failed, meaning there isn't strong audience interest.

[Inside Info] = I think Peggy/Hayley will be part of AOS S6. Maybe they'll announce it at SDCC.

 

[Kane_Steel]

Maybe you should before make comments about it. I'll even help you
The Eternals

TBH. I haven't read any Marvel comics before. I'm not really interested in doing so.

I see the films as a medium onto their own, and I'm more impressed with the quality of the films.

Truth is the era of comics is long over. Films are the new #1 defining representation for these characters. So whatever is done on film will shape the comics and the other mediums. Likely for the better, given what I've heard about failing Marvel Comics currently.

 

[Jinn]

Only problem with that is there isn't really enough material with her to sustain a trilogy.

If you're reffering to comic material to adapt, I don't think that's such a huge problem. For example the Guardians movies didn't adapt any of the storylines from the comics and only vaguely kept the characters. I'm sure potential writers could think of a storyline for a trilogy.

 

[Jinn]

Truth is the era of comics is long over. Films are the new #1 defining representation for these characters.

Which is in some cases unfortunate as the comic characters may be changed from one issue to another to a less interesting and less working backstory.

So whatever is done on film will shape the comics and the other mediums. Likely for the better, given what I've heard about failing Marvel Comics currently.

Considering that the movies had influence on the comics for ten years now, why would they now start to stop them from failing? (FWIW Marvel also has more than a third of the market share, I wouldn't say that they're failing.)

 

[Kane_Steel]

How have their comic sales been lately?

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/h...t-everything-went-wrong-marvel-comics-1070616

https://www.inverse.com/article/39830-marvel-comics-dc-comics-sales-avengers-box-office

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/this-superhero-trend-could-alarm-investors-2017-12-14

Comics are on the way out. Films are the present and future. Films also have a wider reach and build general audience interest, so it makes sense they will build and shape all the other mediums.

 

[Nerys Myk]

TBH. I haven't read any Marvel comics before. I'm not really interested in doing so.

I see the films as a medium onto their own, and I'm more impressed with the quality of the films.

Truth is the era of comics is long over. Films are the new #1 defining representation for these characters. So whatever is done on film will shape the comics and the other mediums. Likely for the better, given what I've heard about failing Marvel Comics currently.

The point still stands. Do a little research.

 

[Jinn]

How have their comic sales been lately?

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/h...t-everything-went-wrong-marvel-comics-1070616

https://www.inverse.com/article/39830-marvel-comics-dc-comics-sales-avengers-box-office

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/this-superhero-trend-could-alarm-investors-2017-12-14

Comics are on the way out. Films are the present and future. Films also have a wider reach and build general audience interest, so it makes sense they will build and shape all the other mediums.

It's true that the comic industry is generally going down, but this is hardly Marvel's failing and more of a general lack of interest in comics.

 

[Kane_Steel]

It's true that the comic industry is generally going down, but this is hardly Marvel's failing and more of a general lack of interest in comics.

I agree. Hence my point about film becoming the defining medium for these characters. Someone like me doesn't need to pick up a comic, or shouldn't. I can just go watch the film and love the character, and the film will ultimately becoming the defining representation of that character.

The point still stands. Do a little research.

I shouldn't have to. The film will speak for itself. I've never had to read any Marvel comics prior to watching the MCU films. The films are great entry points for general audiences like myself who weren't familiar with these characters beforehand.

 

[Spot261]

Comics always get hit hard in poor economic conditions, films less so.

I'd hardly write them off just yet

 

[Jinn]

I agree. Hence my point about film becoming the defining medium for these characters. Someone like me doesn't need to pick up a comic, or shouldn't. I can just go watch the film and love the character, and the film will ultimately becoming the defining representation of that character

I'm not disputing that; just that it's a good thing.