by rory midhani
Watching Guardians of the Galaxy this past weekend was definitely a blast, but even as I was watching Zoe Saldana and Karen Gillan kick total ass and look super amazing on the screen, I couldn’t help but think about what a wasted opportunity it was. I mean, if they’re going to go through the trouble of introducing the alien race the Kree (which is where the original Captain Marvel came from) and about a dozen and a half other characters straight out of the Captain Marvel universe, why not just introduce Captain Marvel herself?
Look how freaking amazing Karen Gillan looks in this movie! via sciencefiction.com
I keep on seeing praise for Marvel saying things like, “While DC is busy saying ‘Wonder Woman is too complicated,’ Marvel is like, ‘Here’s a movie with a tree person and a talking racoon!'” But are they really being that progressive? Sure, they’re willing to take a chance on a movie starring a talking raccoon and a talking tree, but they’re not willing to take a chance on a movie starring a woman (at least one who isn’t the main character’s love interest or higher than fourth billed). And even though Marvel seems to be fully aware of their women problem and the fact that audiences want female superheroes, they aren’t really planning on doing anything about it right away. Anyway, it just made me wish even more for a female-led Marvel movie.
This is even more true now that Sony has announced that they plan on releasing a female-led Amazing Spider-Man spinoff in 2017, beating both DC and Marvel to the punch. This is pretty awesome news you guys! Sony is planning on building an entire movie universe around their new Andrew Garfield Spider-Man including already announced Venom and Sinister Six movies. While Sony hasn’t announced who this movie will center around, some fair guesses include Spider-Woman, Spider-Girl (which would be kind of awesome as she’s also a Latina) and of course, Black Cat. In my opinion, Black Cat probably makes the most sense, as her secret identity, Felicia Hardy was introduced in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 as played by Felicity Jones.
So, here’s a list of 11 women who I would love to see star in their own movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Now, I’m not counting any characters who are from the X-Men (like Storm or Kitty Pride), Spider-Man (like Spider-Girl or Spider-Woman) or Fantastic Four (like Ms. Thing or Tong) universes, as those are owned by other movie studios, and I’m not putting people like Medusa or Clea on the list, as they’re pretty much guaranteed to appear in the already announced Inhumans and Doctor Strange movies, respectively.
1. Captain Marvel (Carol Danvers)
Who else could be number one? Not only is she probably the highest profile female superhero in the Marvel Universe not named Storm or Jean Grey, but she would also easily fit into the already established MCU. Like I said, Guardians of the Galaxy has set a firm foundation for establishing Captain Marvel as a character. Actress Yvonne Strahovski has even been mentioning the character in interviews lately. Seriously, this one should already be in the books.
2. Phyla-Vell and Moon Dragon
Another pair of characters who would super easily fit into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, these two are members of the Guardians of the Galaxy. So, technically, this would be a sequel to the Guardians of the Galaxy film, but I would much rather see three women (or more) on the team than just the one. Plus, it would be nice to see some queer women be added to the MCU.
Valkyrie with Dr. Annabelle Riggs after fighting off some reanimate corpses.
3. Valkyrie (Brunnhilde)
Believe me, I love Lady Sif, but the Thor movies could definitely use some more lady power. Not only has she been in a bunch of Thor comics, but she was recently part of the fun, but short-lived all-lady Fearless Defenders title. Yeah, she wouldn’t be able to get her own film until after Thor 3 came out, but imagine a movie with her and Lady Sif just going around, kicking some Asgardian butt.
4. Hawkeye (Kate Bishop)
This next group of women might be a little more difficult to add to the MCU, but it should be very doable. First up is Hawkeye. Now, I know that they already have a character named that, but Clint Barton Hawkeye is made immensely more interesting when he has Kate Bishop to interact with. So I think that if Marvel ever wants to do a stand alone Hawkeye film, by far the best way to do it would be to have Kate Bishop as at least the co-lead. She’s also a part of the killer Young Avengers team with another person on this list that I would be equally happy to see as a movie.
5. The Wasp (Janet van Dyne)
When I first heard that they were making an Ant-Man film, I was sure that The Wasp would appear, because well, she is Ant-Man’s wife. However, if you’ve heard any of the details about the upcoming Ant-Man film, you know why it’ll be hard to get her her own movie. Basically, she’s being killed off in order to give Hank Pym (the original Ant-Man) a more tragic story and allow Scott Lang to have a love interest in her daughter. But come on, she’s one of the founding members of The Avengers, and she’s one of Marvel’s most iconic female superheroes. Frankly, it’s insulting that she’s not going to be a character in the MCU, and it’s even more insulting that she’s being killed off essentially offscreen. That would be like DC not having Wonder Woman appear in a live-action film for the first 65 years that they make movies (oh yeah, that’s exactly what DC is doing).
6. She-Hulk (Jennifer Walters)
Here’s another character directly tied into an already-established MCU character. All they would have to do is have one little scene where Jennifer Walters gets a blood transfusion from her cousin Bruce Banner, and then give her her own damn film! Honestly, I find She-Hulk to be an impossibly more interesting character than guy Hulk. At least in the MCU, Hulk is barely a character, where She-Hulk still keeps her Jennifer Walters personality, making for much more well-rounded story possibilities. Like, don’t get me wrong, I love Liv Tyler in That Thing You Do!, but The Incredible Hulk was basically just a werewolf or Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde movie. It didn’t really need to be made. She-Hulk would be a much better film.
7. Misty Knight and Colleen Wing
One of Misty Knight’s most recognizable features is her bionic arm, which was provided by Tony Stark, perhaps the main character in the already established MCU. All they have to do is introduce her in an Iron Man movie and then give her her own film. Easy peasy. Or, if they introduce Valkyrie, Knight could join up with her in a Fearless Defenders movie. Or, team her up with Wing, her often partner-in-crime fighting for a Daughters of Dragon or Heroes for Hire movie after introducing the characters in either the upcoming Iron Fist or Luke Cage Netflix shows.
8. Miss America Chavez
Now, it’s getting to the heroines who I’d love to see, but don’t really have an easy way in. They’d have to be introduced on their own, like Thor or Captain America or Hawkeye or The Hulk were. My definite favorite of all of these is Miss America Chavez. This Latina lesbian was my clear favorite character in the recent Young Avengers comic also starring the previously mentioned Hawkeye. She may be a little rough around the edges when you first get to know her, but when she wants to be, she can be as smooth as butter. Like seriously, if your’e able to read one comic with her in it and not fall instantly in love, I don’t even know how to deal with you.
Squirrel Girl on babysitting duty.
9. Squirrel Girl (Doreen Green)
Definitely one of Marvel’s weirdest characters, Squirrel Girl has your average squirrel-based powers, plus the apparent power to be completely unbeatable in battle, as shown when she was able to defeat everyone from Thanos to Doctor Doom to Deadpool. Marvel recently filed a copyright on Squirrel Girl, so a lot of people are guessing that they’re going to be doing something with her. She was recently the babysitter for Luke Cage and Jessica Jones’ child, so she might make an appearance in their TV shows for Netflix, but I think it would be pretty funny to see her straight up get her own movie.
10. Nico, Karolina, Gert, Molly, Xavin and Klara from The Runaways
This one is super frustrating, because over the past four or so years, there have been seemingly dozens of rumors and announcements about The Runaways getting a movie. There was even some freaking casting news at one point! This team had such a great and diverse lineup of ladies. And the stories are (almost) all so amazing. This is seriously one of the best original superhero comics of the past 15 years and it’s already totally cinematic. Plus, it has queer ladies! And I guess the guys on the team are allowed to be in the movie too.
11. Ms. Marvel (Kamala Kahn)
Of course, this list wouldn’t be complete without Marvel’s current hottest rising star. Kamala Kahn is fresh, funny and totally kickass. I mean, the current Marvel Cinematic Universe has more actors of color playing non-humans (in movies like Thor and Guardians of the Galaxy) than it has playing humans, so I kind of doubt that they would make a movie starring a young woman of color, but this is a wish list, so I’m going to wish. This would be such a fun movie, like seriously, such a fun movie.
New Releases (August 6)
Rachel Rising #27 (Abstract Studios)
Steven Universe #1 (Boom! Studios)
Angel and Faith Season 10 #5 (Dark Horse)
Fairest #28 (DC)
New Vampirella #3 (Dynamite)
Hack Slash Son of Samhain #2 (Image)
Black Widow #9 (Marvel)
Painkiller Jane The 22 Brides #2 (Marvel)
She-Hulk #7 (Marvel)
Welcome to Drawn to Comics! From diary comics to superheroes, from webcomics to graphic novels – this is where we’ll be taking a look at comics by, featuring and for queer ladies. So whether you love to look at detailed personal accounts of other people’s lives, explore new and creative worlds, or you just love to see hot ladies in spandex, we’ve got something for you.
If you have a comic that you’d like to see me review, you can email me at mey [at] autostraddle [dot] com.
I’ve only recently (like, marathoned in the last week) gotten into all the Avengers tie-in Marvel movies, and it was seriously bothering me that not even Black Widow has a movie yet when all the guys have at least one each, so this is super relevant to my interests right now, thank you Mey! :) Hopefully Marvel (and DC) get their asses in gear on this one soon, I think if someone would just take the plunge already and give a female hero title role, it’d be followed by more.
In the meantime, I’m going to try and follow up on the comics you’ve mentioned, cuz I find it a bit intimidating to get into comics <3
DC is killing me over here by moving so painfully slow on the movie train. It’s not like they lack the characters and it’s not like they haven’t given them airtime (Justice League Unlimited features a decent amount of back story on black canary and other notable kick ass chicks) but they just move so slow!
If they can’t make wonder woman happen does that mean we’re never getting a justice league movie? Because that’s just silly. Hawk girl and wonder woman drama was made for the big screen!
I would punch kittens for a Vakyrie movie and I refuse to feel bad about that. I would punch even more kittens for a Fearless Defenders movie with Valkyrie AND Misty Knight. If Marvel would just make these goddamn movies, I wouldn’t have to contemplate kitten-punching and the world would be a better place.
I have my fair amount of ~ish~ about Young Avengers, but I would sit through not caring that much about Billy and Teddy for Kate and America. TICKET TO THE MULTIVERSE, PRINCESS!
I’m actually very disappointed that Katee Sackhoff squashed those Captain Marvel rumors (Starbuck 4ever). But yay, Yvonne Strahovski, we know you know more!!
i would contribute at least 4% of my life savings to the production of a Runaways movie
I’ve always been more in to super villains than the heroes so I would sell my should for a Poison Ivy/Harley Quinn trilogy.
*soul*
hell yeah. a gotham city sirens show or movie would be so amazing.
i’m way sick of batman and superman, give us more than that DC.
Yes, this should definitely happen! I love Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy as a team. I’m also more interested in the villains, but specifically the female villains (and characters in general I suppose). Also, since this film only exists in my head, they should totally hook up too. They would make the best couple.
Love this list! I also love that this is one of the few sites I frequent where I can read an article about female-led superhero movies without reading a bunch of awful comments about how they don’t make sense financially, blah blah blah. So, thanks for being ladies, ladies.
But! I have to say I have mixed feelings about Sony’s announcement. Mostly because their superhero movies have a tendency to suck as of late. And any time there’s a bad female superhero movie, every misogynist fanboy feels like it’s their duty in life to use it as evidence that there can never be a good female superhero movie. So, I really want the first one of this new comic book movie era to be really really good.
On the other hand, maybe it’ll put pressure on Marvel to hurry the hell up.
Oh, and while I’m already rambling, I hate that there has to be pre-existing movies to explain the existence of female superheros, but the same isn’t true for their male counterparts. Like, there’s not going to be some explanation of magic and alternate dimensions before the Dr. Strange movie. Dr. Strange is just going to show up in his own movie. But I consistently read comments about how Captain Marvel would have to appear in another movie before she could have her own. It makes no sense. The cosmic universe is already established. What more do you need than that?
And one more thought. Does the world really need an Iron Man 4 or a Thor 3 before a Captain Marvel or Black Widow movie. I think we all know the answer to that.
I had no idea how long this comment was until I actually posted it. Yikes.
I’d love to see any of these ladies get their own film, and maybe the wild success of films like The Hunger Games will convince the powers that be that female-led films DO sell. I feel like Marvel will get there before DC, at least, but how many Iron Man films do there really need to be before we get a solo film for Black Widow or any of their other badass female superheros?
I’m not enough of a comic reader to know most of these very well. Shame on me. :)
However, I would really appreciate it if Marvel re-did the X-Men and got Rogue’s character done right, this time. I grew up enjoying the strong, badass, cocky Rogue of the 90s X-Men cartoon. The “southern belle” one. The one who had stolen Miss Marvel’s powers by accident and could fly and lift cars with one hand. The one who used to be a villain, and stuff. She was my favourite. Rogue has failed, in my opinion, to be as interesting since. Her sad personnality in X-men Evolution, her lack of appearances in the recent comics, etc, it all bugs me a bit.
I want nothing more than a film (or comic series – I’m okay with that too) with America Chavez and Kate Bishop as co-leads where they save the world, go on dates through the multiverse, and snark at each other like Han and Leia did in TESB.
SHE HULK Issue #99. Kicking the Patriarchy’s ass.
1. Yvonne Strahovski as Carol Danvers? Yes, please.
2. I liked Phyla-Vell, but her origin should have some revisions. She could be Quasar. No ideas for casting.
3. I have this idea that Valkyrie/Brunnhilde should guest-appear in the Agent Carter series, and that, if Gwendoline Christie isn’t afraid of being typecast, she should play her.
4. Agree about doing a Young Avengers team.
5. Well, the film will have Hope Van Dyne…
6. Hell, yeah. Just not sure who would play her.
7. See above.
8. Ditto.
9. a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannah_Murray”>Hannah Murray. And if anyone says that the character isn’t “serious” enough for the big screen, you can say, sure, because that talking raccoon really ruined things for… oh, wait.
10. This says “TV series” to me more than most of the others.
11. Guest stars in Captain Marvel as a test for a spin-off.
I’d really like it if they’d do a movie that concentrated on the first 20 or so issues of Alpha Flight. They could knock of James Hudson in the first third of the movie (oh….er, 30 year old spoiler alert) and concentrate on Heather Hudson/Vindicator/Guardian for the rest of the movie.
And they could make it relevant to modern viewers by having the team talk about how nice it is to have universal health care and gay marriage unlike the poor members of the Avengers/X-Men/Defenders/Fantastic Four, etc etc.
;)
YES to all of this! I would especially love to see a Ms. Marvel movie (though I know it won’t happen…sigh). I missed the commenting boat when Mey wrote about Ms. Marvel the first few times, but holy crap I could gush about that comic for ages. It’s one of my current favorites, along with Saga and the newly-begun The Wicked + the Divine.
I know these are DC (and that Batwoman has been done wrong by DC, and that The Question hasn’t been active in ages), but I love Batwoman and The Question with a fierce and undying love, and would die of happiness if they ever got movies/a movie.
This list is superb! I also really want Marvel to release a Storm movie starring Lupita Nyongo! (she would be awesome with the long white mohawk).
Oh man, what about a BatWoman movie, though? I mean, she’s a cool, kick-ass lesbian woman, which is probably why she’ll never get a movie, but it’s still nice to think about!
I like to see the story of Indian comics in international platform which is both mythical colorful and also scary.
will be very entertainment to kids and Adults.