Can Captain Marvel Build on Wonder Woman's Success?

The third phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is inching closer to its climactic end, but there are still many post-phase-three films to be excited for. Among them is the long-awaited Captain Marvel, starring Brie Larson as the titular character. It'll be the first MCU solo film with a female lead, which is fitting for the character and exciting for many reasons.

Some quick history about the character: the current Captain Marvel, Carol Danvers, began as a United States Air Force officer, debuting in "Where Stalks the Sentry" in Marvel Super Heroes #13 (written by Roy Thomas with artwork by Gene Colan, Paul Reinman and Stan Goldberg). For years, she was just an associate of the original Captain Marvel, a Kree soldier/superhero known as Mar-Vell. That changed when she caught in the explosion of a Kree device that altered her on a genetic level. Carol now possessed features of both human and Kree physiology, though it wasn't until much later that she would discover this. When she did, she became Ms. Marvel, a powerful and prominent superhero in the Marvel Universe.

Ms. Marvel was written in the 1970's with feminism in mind. She was an openly feminist character from Ms. Marvel #1 onwards and it made Marvel's stance on the topic clear. That may not seem as special now but back then it was downright revolutionary. Keep in mind that these ideals were in no way mainstream at the time. Today, Carol Danvers as Captain Marvel continues to act as a symbol of feminine power and equality, which recently, have become important ideals for the media to focus on and help to discuss. There were few other characters in comics that received the same treatment and popularity, the obvious one being Wonder Woman.

While Ms. Marvel has been popular at various points in time, she never quite reached the same level of popularity as Wonder Woman. Therefore, she's not had the same cultural impact as DC's heroine, despite Marvel's efforts to bring her closer to the center of its universe. You can see this by looking at the sales figures of their respective titles, or by simply looking at the hype leading up to their films. People looked forward to 2017's Wonder Woman film, and its cultural significance was immediately understood. The same doesn't seem to be happening for Captain Marvel... at least, not yet. While it may not have the same impact on cinema as Wonder Woman, Captain Marvel still represents something significant. We're just waiting to see if it does so with the same grace and confidence.

You can see the effect Wonder Woman has had on the industry in general. A female lead in a superhero film no longer seems like as much of a risk from the perspective of filmmakers, prompting many to call for more female-led films, including a Lady Liberators-based all-female superhero film, pitched by the MCU's female stars. Karen Gillan recently expressed that now is the time for such a movie, more than ever and she was absolutely right.

It's clear that there has been a shift in attitudes in regards to female-led superhero films. It was a change that occurred gradually, with Wonder Woman providing incontrovertible proof it was occurring. In the wake of the Gal Gadot-led film's success, calls from fans for solo films starring characters such as Black Widow should be taken more seriously.

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Hollywood's lack of confidence in female superheroes is the reason why female-led superhero films have a history of failing critically and/or financially. People often refer to poorly received films like 2004's Catwoman, which seemed to focus almost solely on the character's sex appeal instead of her actual character. Then there was 2005's Elektra, a spin-off of Daredevil that failed because there seemed to be more interest in action scenes and clunky romance as opposed to the story of a hero who returned from the dead.

These films were indications that studios simply didn't take female-led superhero films seriously. They were also proof that Hollywood simply didn't really know how to write female superhero characters as anything more than romantic interests. Typically, these movies would resort to familiar tropes like the singular "strong female character," bringing the hero's sex appeal to the forefront. That's how we got a film like Aeon Flux, which contained exactly none of the depth and complexity of the animated series.

We've seen a lot less of that in the last decade, thankfully. There are numerous powerful female heroes in mainstream cinema who don't fall into your typical archetypes. More and more we're seeing female leads on the big screen. The Hunger Games, Divergent and Wonder Woman have given us female heroes whose strengths we can all admire. Still, female-led action films are too rare, and female-led superhero films, even more so. It shows that, while attitudes have certainly changed, studios are still slightly hesitant when it comes to bringing female superheroes into focus.

This is why Wonder Woman had such a huge cultural impact. It starred a well known female superhero, was directed by Patty Jenkins, a female director and it was showed everyone, especially studio execs that female-led superhero films can be done extremely well if studios just gave them a proper chance. There is a demand for them and they have every chance of succeeding, all the while avoiding the paper-thin characterisations of heroines past. It represented a huge turning point and offered a reassuring reflection of societal changes.

Wonder Woman cleared the path of a lot of doubt, now it's Marvel's turn to maintain momentum with Captain Marvel. There is no doubt that the film will make the character more popular than she currently is. It needs to take inspiration from Wonder Woman and depict its hero with all her femininity and strength while it avoids showcasing antiquated attitudes.

No tropes like damsels in distress unless absolutely necessary for the story (which, let's face it, it almost never is), no gratuitously sexualized shots. Feminism isn't just about the empowerment of women, it's about equality; in essence, what Carol Danvers has always been about. The most important thing is for the film to remain faithful to the character. That doesn't mean getting the costume to look exactly like it does in the comics. (Though that would be nice!) It means staying true to what the character represents for her fans and readers. It means being more than just spectacular in a fight.

She's got to show audiences the ideals and strength writers had in mind when Ms. Marvel was created decades ago. If Marvel can do that, Captain Marvel could be just as significant to the genre as Wonder Woman, regardless of how well the film does in comparison.

Kevin Feige seems to understand the important of the film and from what we can tell, he seems to be doing his best to ensure its success on all levels. To that end, he chose Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck to direct. They have little experience with films of this magnitude but they understand the importance of character depth which, as we've established, is what this film needs the most.

Time will tell if Captain Marvel is up to the task of making a statement and furthering the progress feminism has made in mainstream cinema. We'll find out more the closer we get to the film's release in 2019.

Set to premiere in March 2019, Captain Marvel is being directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, and stars Brie Larson as Carol Danvers, Jude Law as Mar-Vell and Ben Mendelsohn as Yon-Rogg.