Originally posted on the X-Factor Films blog June 2016.
It’s starting to feel like the only movies being made are epic superhero blockbusters. Think about the biggest films released so far this year – which ones do you remember? So far we’ve seen February’s Deadpool, the first mainstream R-rated superhero film; summer’s biggest hit so far, the Captain America-led Avengers romp Civil War; the most recent X-Men installment, Apocalypse; the supremely messy Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which launched DC’s attempt at a superhero cinematic universe.
With all of those titles overwhelming box offices just this year alone, it’s hard to believe there hasn’t yet been a superhero film led by a female superhero. Or maybe not hard to believe at all, if you know anything about the industry: no matter how loud the fans clamor for a lady superhero movie, for years the big studios seemed to be selectively deaf.
Finally, though, superhero nerds can enjoy a bit of good news: not only has DC greenlit a Wonder Woman film, the film’s budget is a healthy $100 million. This marks one of the first times a female director (in this case, Patty Jenkins) has been allotted a $100 million budget for a film. Thank goodness – we finally get a Wonder Woman movie, and it’ll look just as amazing and explosion-y as the boys’ films!
It’s a good sign for DC/Warner Bros. to kick off their Cinematic Universe with a strong backing of support for Wonder Woman, especially considering how Marvel has dragged its feet – like, cinderblocks for shoes dragging - to make their own female-led superhero movie. Despite years and years of fans begging for a Black Widow film, Marvel’s first will be Captain Marvel, and not until 2019.
Even though DC has the one-up on Marvel with WW, we shouldn’t give them too much credit: though they’ve only just begun making films with interlocking stories, they’ve released more Batmans and Supermans over the years than any of us have asked for. They could have thrown a Wonder Woman in there at any time – in fact, back in 2007 they were developing a WW project that, for some reason, was scrapped. A little writer named Joss Whedon wrote the script. Ever heard of him?
Further, if you look at the schedules for both Marvel and DC’s cinematic universes, they don’t offer a lot of optimism. Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel are actually the only female led films on either schedule through at least 2020. And Marvel proved they aren’t particularly committed to that schedule when it comes to their minority characters, shafting back a few years both Black Panther (Marvel’s first film led by a black man) and Captain Marvel in favor of good ole Peter Parker as soon as they acquired the rights to Spider-Man. If Marvel finds another beautiful blonde actor named Chris, I fear we might not see Captain Marvel on screen until we’re all old and gray.
It’s hard to believe these super-powered studios still won’t put their faith in lady heroes. After all, women who are superheroes in all but name have been absolutely destroying the box office in the past few years. If Katniss Everdeen and her successor Tris Prior aren’t superheroes, I don’t know who is. And if Marvel needed proof that Scarlett Johansson could carry her own film, she proved it and then some with 2014’s Lucy. And, despite all the angry fanboy protests, wasn’t The Force Awakens really Rey’s superhero origin story?
Female superheroes are also all over TV, and though film and TV are different mediums, it seems like the success of female leads on TV would indicate success for film as well. Marvel’s properties have succeeded in both primetime and streaming services. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will begin its fourth season in the fall, led by Daisy Johnson, who has evolved from super spy to superhero over the past three years. On Netflix, Jessica Jones saw huge success even while allowing Jessica to be dark, angry, sometimes even unlikable, and promoting serious feminist themes.
For DC, this year saw the optimistic Supergirl. Though Kara is moving from CBS to the CW, she’ll likely find even more success there on a network that’s established for superheroes. Going back even further, it’s even harder to believe that Wonder Woman has never made it to the big screen when Lynda Carter’s legendary portrayal of her was so popular.
Despite the many years it’s taken to get to this point, we’re finally getting the big blockbuster Wonder Woman we deserve. Though the big superhero studios still owe us, we have one tool in our favor to prove that female superheroes are a worthy investment: putting our money where our mouths are and showing up in droves to support WW’s film. Surely that won’t be hard for those of us who have been starving for this content for so long.