Feige Talks Taking a Risk On "Guardians," Targeting the Right Female Superhero Lead & More

[JediMindTrick]

You need to pay more attention. I never said that Phase One had to have a female/minority-led film. I was fine with what they did there. But we've got none for Phase Two, none for Phase Three so far (the two solo movies confirmed there both, shocker, star white guys). And Marvel's got like half a dozen movies lined up until 2019, which will have been over a decade since the MCU began. If NONE of them are female-led, or minority-led for that matter, then that's a problem. That's ridiculous. You'll have almost 20 movies spread over 11 years and you couldn't make even ONE of them female-led, bullcrap. Oh and your argument about "no top-tier female comic book characters" doesn't work either, for several reason:

1. These movies are primarily aimed at a GA, most of whom don't read comics. Using that standard, Iron Man is not a "top tier" character either, and we all know how that's turned out.
2. Marvel just made a GOTG movie, and it's a big success. They're hardly a "top tier" franchise.
3. Marvel is making Ant Man and Dr. Strange movies, they're hardly "top tier" either.
4. These are films, not the comics. Different rules apply.

So no, that excuse isn't valid either.

Other than Guardians, Phase II was Avengers and sequels to Phase One. Its stupid to argue against the strategy of doing sequels to hit movies especially when those sequels all did mega amounts of money at the box office.

And as to Guardians, I'd also like to point out how stupid some of diversity champions are being. You have three main non CGI characters are two of them are minorities (of different races no less). You have two CGI characters and one of them is voiced by a minority. What does it take to make the diversity people happy? Having one white guy main character and a white guy doing a CGI voice is too much white for you or something? Now sure I'll agree that one more female, Phylla maybe, would have been good to help balance out the gender issue but on the racial front you don't get more diverse than what they did.

[Time Like Lightning]

"I hope we do it sooner rather than later."

Don't hope. Do it. Sick of all this wishy-washy nonsense about waiting for the right time. It's 2014. It's damn well the right time for somebody besides a white guy to be the lead in a superhero flick.

[Pinsir]

As Zeitgeist said, please justify the removal of a single phase one lead character to be replaced by Black Panther or Captain Marvel in a way that makes financial sense. As I also said, the phase one movies were Marvel's most popular and well known characters that they have the rights to. There simply is no Marvel character they have the rights to that is more popular than them.

Due to the success they had with phase one group, Marvel has now developed the capital to start taking chances on lesser known properties like Guardians.

Hulk, you know the movie that flopped at the box office, you know after they gave it another chance when the first Hulk movie flopped at the box office?

[Siddon]

I would hate for Marvel to make a solo minority or female led film I can't imagine how horrible that would be. What about Elektra, SuperGirl and Catwoman do you feel like you need to see again. The reality of the situation is that aside from Black Widow Marvel has practically zero worthwhile stories to tell for Black Panther, Captain Marvel, or Luke Cage.

If you really want a female led film you aren't going to get it from Disney/Marvel you need to push for Warner Brothers to make a Mystique or X-23 movie maybe even Storm. Those are characters who actually have a worthwhile supply of source material to.make.a.good.movie.

And BTW you had four heroes in Captain America two of them were black and one was a woman and they fought two evil old white dudes. Guardians of the Galaxy, Vin Diesel, Zoe Saldana, Dave Batista, Benecio Del Toro, Djimon Hounsou and Lee Pace are all minorities...half the bloody cast. What does it matter if it's not a solo film led by a minority or female...teams work. Would it be a huge step down for women if we got Runaways or NextWave movies which would be females in teams. Shouldn't you look beyond race and gender and just want good movies.

[Biff Pow!]

Again though, I'd bet money that a film in Phase 3 has a female lead.

I wouldn't. Female action figures don't sell as well.

[Time Like Lightning]

And BTW you had four heroes in Captain America two of them were black and one was a woman and they fought two evil old white dudes. Guardians of the Galaxy, Vin Diesel, Zoe Saldana, Dave Batista, Benecio Del Toro, Djimon Hounsou and Lee Pace are all minorities...half the bloody cast. What does it matter if it's not a solo film led by a minority or female...teams work.

Because the lead is nearly ALWAYS a (heterosexual, cisgender) white dude. Why can't the daring rogue who brings everyone together be a black guy? A woman? A black woman?

There's just this frustrating message Hollywood is sending that for something to sell it NEEDS to have a white man at the center of it, as the team leader, as the hero, as the chosen one. You don't see a lot of messianic archetypes or superheroic protagonists that are women or people of color (and definitely not anything other than straight), and that gets tiring fast.

[Vworp Vworp]

I would hate for Marvel to make a solo minority or female led film I can't imagine how horrible that would be. What about Elektra, SuperGirl and Catwoman do you feel like you need to see again. The reality of the situation is that aside from Black Widow Marvel has practically zero worthwhile stories to tell for Black Panther, Captain Marvel, or Luke Cage.

If you really want a female led film you aren't going to get it from Disney/Marvel you need to push for Warner Brothers to make a Mystique or X-23 movie maybe even Storm. Those are characters who actually have a worthwhile supply of source material to.make.a.good.movie.

And BTW you had four heroes in Captain America two of them were black and one was a woman and they fought two evil old white dudes. Guardians of the Galaxy, Vin Diesel, Zoe Saldana, Dave Batista, Benecio Del Toro, Djimon Hounsou and Lee Pace are all minorities...half the bloody cast. What does it matter if it's not a solo film led by a minority or female...teams work. Would it be a huge step down for women if we got Runaways or NextWave movies which would be females in teams. Shouldn't you look beyond race and gender and just want good movies.

You do realise that your last sentence completely contradicts everything you typed before it, right?

[Siddon]

Because the lead is nearly ALWAYS a (heterosexual, cisgender) white dude. Why can't the daring rogue who brings everyone together be a black guy? A woman? A black woman?

There's just this frustrating message Hollywood is sending that for something to sell it NEEDS to have a white man at the center of it, as the team leader, as the hero, as the chosen one. You don't see a lot of messianic archetypes or superheroic protagonists that are women or people of color (and definitely not anything other than straight), and that gets tiring fast.

Oh really because I saw two of those last week with Hercules and Lucy.

The top leading action star in Hollywood right now is a half black half asain actor.

Chris Pratt was perfect for that role and he did a fantastic job and he's been doing a great job for a long time, so I'm happy he got his big break sorry he's white.

[Pinsir]

I wouldn't. Female action figures don't sell as well.

Then they don't have to make action figures. MLP figures sell well.

[JediMindTrick]

Hulk, you know the movie that flopped at the box office, you know after they gave it another chance when the first Hulk movie flopped at the box office?

You mean the movie that made $113 million over its budget? What universe is that a flop in? Even after theater cut and marketing it was profitable. Yes its disappointing in hindsight compared to the other phase one movies but it wasn't a flop. The first Hulk was not a Marvel studios movie and Marvel was trying to do it right. And its hard to argue against Hulk given he's one of the most iconic characters in all of comicdom. . . . seriously to general population the list probably goes Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Spiderman, and then Hulk.

[Siddon]

You do realize that your last sentence completely contradicts everything you typed before it, right?

No it doesn't, I want good female and minority lead movies that come from good. source. material. Black Panther, Luke Cage, Captain Marvel those aren't great characters who have dozens of great stories. CBR isn't going to have the 75 greatest Luke Cage stories countdown anytime soon. And if a team book is led by a minority character is suddenly less of a movie because it's a team film and you don't have that solo film.

[Vworp Vworp]

As Zeitgeist said, please justify the removal of a single phase one lead character to be replaced by Black Panther, Black Widow, or Captain Marvel in a way that makes financial sense. As I also said, the phase one movies were Marvel's most popular and well known characters that they have the rights to. There simply is no Marvel character they have the rights to that is more popular than them.

Due to the success they had with phase one group, Marvel has now developed the capital to start taking chances on lesser known properties like Guardians.

You see, you're still trapped in this self-imposed 'bubble' where everything is based on what Marvel have already done instead of just having faith in Marvel to make a good movie.

And what does changing the past have to do with anything we're currently talking about anyway? I can't speak for everyone on this thread, but I'm not complaining because Marvel haven't made a female led movie yet. But I'm disappointed because, with X number of films now in the pipeline, according to Feige's specific comments in this interview, none of those will be female led either. And because of the non-committal, "We really want to but...." answers that keep being given to the question of when it will happen.

Now, if it turns out there is something in the pipeline and Feige is just keeping it under wraps because... Well, I can't think of a legitimate reason why he'd want to, but we're speaking hypothetically, so let's just go with it... Then that's awesome. But until then, I can only judge Marvel by the actual facts as we know them. And right now, those facts don't include a female-led movie happening any time soon.

[Spider-Chan]

No it doesn't, I want good female and minority lead movies that come from good. source. material. Black Panther, Luke Cage, Captain Marvel those aren't great characters who have dozens of great stories. CBR isn't going to have the 75 greatest Luke Cage stories countdown anytime soon. And if a team book is led by a minority character is suddenly less of a movie because it's a team film and you don't have that solo film.

No it doesn't, I want good female and minority lead movies that come from good. source. material. Black Panther, Luke Cage, Captain Marvel those aren't great characters who have dozens of great stories.

Black Panther, Luke Cage, Captain Marvel those aren't great characters who have dozens of great stories.

The beauty of a shared universe is that is a complete sandbox. You can take whoever you want and make whatever story you want to make, as long as it sticks with the universe's logic. All this characters have great stories, and if they're not appealing to the writer(s)/director(s)/producer(s) then why not creating a new story from scratch? Are you telling me that all Marvel movies have been a shot for shot adaptation of a specific storyline?

And that Blade guy, yeah, pretty sure you wouldn't be able to do a 75 greatest Blade stories so let's not give him a movie!

[Siddon]

The beauty of a shared universe is that is a complete sandbox. You can take whoever you want and make whatever story you want to make, as long as it sticks with the universe's logic. All this characters have great stories, and if they're not appealing to the writer(s)/director(s)/producer(s) then why not creating a new story from scratch? Are you telling me that all Marvel movies have been a shot for shot adaptation of a specific storyline?

And that Blade guy, yeah, pretty sure you wouldn't be able to do a 75 greatest Blade stories so let's not give him a movie!

Yeah they also did the same thing with Steel and Spawn, didn't respect source material created stories from scratch and they stunk.

You have hundreds of great stories to adapt why ignore an amazing catalog just to satisfy a small minority of fans.

But you know what maybe your right maybe we are just desperately in need of female and minority led films I mean just look at the top five at the box-office

1. Guardians of the Galaxy – $94 million (new)
2. Lucy – $18.3 million ($79.6 million total)
3. Get On Up – $14 million (new)
4. Hercules — $10.7 million ($52.3 million total)
5. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes– $8.7 million Friday ($189.3 million total)

Only three, barely the majority of films are being led by females and minorities. I mean sure the 5th film is about monkeys and is a metaphor for race relations but Andy Serkis is WHITE and that's whats most important. Why aren't all the movies out right now led by females and minorities seems reasonable to me.

[Time Like Lightning]

Oh really because I saw two of those last week with Hercules and Lucy.

The top leading action star in Hollywood right now is a half black half asain actor.

Chris Pratt was perfect for that role and he did a fantastic job and he's been doing a great job for a long time, so I'm happy he got his big break sorry he's white.

I'm not mad at Chris Pratt for being white. I loved GotG, thought it was a great movie. I'm mad there aren't more movies being made starring female, people of color, and LGBT+ superheroes. They're out there, and if Marvel could pluck GotG from obscurity and make this awesome piece of work, they can take their properties that aren't straight white men into superhero films that work and become big hits, too.