No one, not even the wishful thinkers among Marvel’s impassioned fanbase, expected Black Panther to reach the dizzying heights of $1.34 billion. The success of Marvel Studios’ Black Panther has encouraged the Disney-owned company to have more diverse characters in its upcoming film plans, according to studio president Kevin Feige. The superhero genre is indeed catching up to the times.
In an exclusive with Coming Soon, Marvel’s President Of Production, Kevin Feige, expressed that movies like Black Panther, Ant-Man & The Wasp and next year’s Captain Marvel are just the beginning of Marvel’s diverse approach. Asked by if the powerhouse performance of Black Panther means more efforts towards the inclusion of heroes of color like Kamala Khan, America Chavez, or Miles Morales, Feige said, “Absolutely. Yes.” “It was the path that we were heading in any way because they’re great stories from the comics,” Feige said. “The success of Black Panther, like a lot of things with the history of Marvel Studios, has just emboldened us to just continue doing that and to continue heading forward with that.”
At the heart of these stories, Feige said, are people — and people can come in many different shapes, sizes, and colors. “That’s what I loved about genre films, science fiction films, is you’re telling these very serious, very real stories — the X-Men are a great example of that — any great science fiction stories where you’re dealing with things like alien races or wars but you’re really talking about contemporary society,” Feige said.
“You’re really talking about people, which is what I love. It gives you something fun and entertaining to watch on screen, because that’s what I wanna see when I go to the movies, but you’re getting a message. Empathy is a great word that you’re saying and [Black Panther director] Ryan Coogler used to say something great when people would ask him, ‘Will non-people of color be able to see this movie?’ and he was like, ‘Yes. I’ve watched white characters for so long and connected with them.’”
Marvel has already begun to position itself to become more inclusive and diverse through some recent project developments. Black Panther was the first Marvel Studios production to feature a black lead and a predominantly black cast, a rarity in both the superhero genre and mainstream moviemaking, and its success signals a hunger for a diverse audience to continue to see themselves represented on screen.
Source: Coming Soon
