Disney to Reboot "The Rocketeer" With Black Female Lead

[TOTALITY]

The usual "they're just arbitrarily changing it to be more PC...so shallow and pandering!" barely veiled and/or unchecked bigotry response doesn't even work as well here as it does all the other times that it doesn't work.

This is usually true, but especially in a period movie, including this period and genre, a black woman would provide a vastly different perspective on the same themes and general tone. It's different to be a black woman now, but it was REALLY different back then. Considering a "more of the same with the same characters immediately following the first one" kind of sequel wouldn't even be possible without recasting, this is probably the best route they could have gone for a true sequel. A fresh take that allows the period and genre to be as vital and potent as they were the first time, from a new angle.

[AndrewCrossett]

Hollywood should find a way to program their movies so that all physical and digital copies in the world automatically self-erase after 10 years. Then they could make a genuine case for this endless river of reboots.

[Angilasman]

They can do a little digital de-aging on the original cast in cameo roles! This could be awesome!

[Derek Metaltron]

I have no problem at all with a black female being the next Rocketeer.
I have a huge problem with setting it in the late 40s or early 50s. Seriously? Maybe, just maybe, you could say it was a Tuskegee Airman, an African American man, and get away with it still being plausible. But a black woman superhero in the LATE FORTIES???
Why not just set it closer to the modern day, when it wouldn't be so ludicrously unlikely?

I think the problem with that is that the Rocketeer is a Golden Age Hero, like Indiana Jones you can push it into say the 50's, but a hero like that wouldn't be overly imposing in the present.

[Legaldrugdealer]

I have no problem at all with a black female being the next Rocketeer.
I have a huge problem with setting it in the late 40s or early 50s. Seriously? Maybe, just maybe, you could say it was a Tuskegee Airman, an African American man, and get away with it still being plausible. But a black woman superhero in the LATE FORTIES???
Why not just set it closer to the modern day, when it wouldn't be so ludicrously unlikely?

Definitely agree,if black male,it'd be fine. Black female in that time period a little more implausible

[Shadowras]

I'll admit my knee-jerk reaction was "oh COME on." But a bit of Googling turned up this, so why the hell not? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bessie_Coleman

Bill Campbell and Alan Arkin are a hell of a lot more than 6 years older, but I hope they still include them.

That was a good read, we need a movie about Bessie.

[WhipWhirlwind]

Definitely agree,if black male,it'd be fine. Black female in that time period a little more implausible

So even more implausible than a superhero with a jetpack?

[All-New Valar Stercus NOW.1]

If there is one lasting effect of the recent Ghostbusters film, it is that studios now have a foolproof way to deflect any and all criticism of their shitty reboots.

Total Recall and Robocop really missed the boat.

[Mr`Orange]

This could be pretty good or a complete mess. Will it tackle the rampant sexism and racism of the time, and will it beat you over the head with it to the point that you can't enjoy the movie? Or will it gloss over that and not acknowledge it at all since this is a Disney movie. With it being set in 1944 to gloss over those aspects would seem pretty lazy.

Yeah this the most important thing about this sequel. IT is how the character is depicted in that time period and state of society back then. When I read the title I did roll my eyes because having a "black female lead" for the wrong reasons is as bad as not having any people of colour depicted at all. The character can't be treated (in the film) as just a black version of the character without there being ramifications. Much the same way that the Blue Marvel character was dealt with by Kevin Grevioux.

If Disney do this properly it will be a very interesting movie, if not then we are no further along from where we are now with the poor representation of people of colour in Hollywood.

[Mr`Orange]

The usual "they're just arbitrarily changing it to be more PC...so shallow and pandering!" barely veiled and/or unchecked bigotry response doesn't even work as well here as it does all the other times that it doesn't work.

This is usually true, but especially in a period movie, including this period and genre, a black woman would provide a vastly different perspective on the same themes and general tone. It's different to be a black woman now, but it was REALLY different back then. Considering a "more of the same with the same characters immediately following the first one" kind of sequel wouldn't even be possible without recasting, this is probably the best route they could have gone for a true sequel. A fresh take that allows the period and genre to be as vital and potent as they were the first time, from a new angle.

I really hope that they do this film properly, it would be a very powerful movie if they did.

[Nite-Wing]

Another female reboot of a beloved nostalgia fueled property?
Count me in
Enjoying the shitstorm on the internet as well

[mathew101281]

I'm not sure characters like Indiana Jones and the Rocketeer work outside of their respective time period and period sensibility. This is going to be an interesting experiment though.

[Joker]

I love The Rocketeer, I wish he'd get a better movie than the old one. I loved it as a kid, but I wouldn't have minded just a reboot first.

Oh well, I'll watch this at some point either way. Doesn't bother me who's strapped in the pack.

[RikWriter]

So even more implausible than a superhero with a jetpack?

A jetpack is plausible if you came up with a power source that would keep it running long enough. That's not something that happened, but it's something that COULD have happened.

[Smoov-E]

I'll admit my knee-jerk reaction was "oh COME on." But a bit of Googling turned up this, so why the hell not? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bessie_Coleman

Bill Campbell and Alan Arkin are a hell of a lot more than 6 years older, but I hope they still include them.

HA! It's more plausible then people want to believe