Tessa Thompson and the Women of the MCU Want Their Own ‘Avengers’ Movie – And So Do We
The first movie in the MCU — Iron Man — was released in 2008. Nine years and 16 films later (17, including next month’s Thor: Ragnarok), and Marvel has yet to release a superhero movie led by a woman, much less multiple women. Yes, Captain Marvel is on the way, but not until 2019. In the meantime, the studio could be doing a heck of a lot more with its leading ladies. That’s where Tessa Thompson comes in.
Thompson, who plays warrior badass Valkyrie in Rangarok, apparently rallied the women of Marvel to lobby Kevin Feige for an Avengers-style all-female superhero team-up. Per iO9, Feige and Thompson recounted the story at a recent press conference for the upcoming Thor sequel. The actress says she “marched up with a couple of other women that work in Marvel and we went to Kevin, ‘What about a movie with some female super heroes? Like all of them?’”
In what Feige describes as a “pretty amazing moment,” he turned around to discover “every female hero we have is standing there.” When they asked if he was game for a movie led by the women of Marvel, the studio head reveals that he said yes. Dropping what Feige called a “deep cut,” Thompson added that there’s “precedent” for such a team-up, citing Marvel’s Lady Liberators. That team was discretely assembled by Enchantress in 1970; over the years it’s included heroes like Black Widow, Wasp, Scarlet Witch, She-Hulk, and, yes, even Valkyrie.
Feige’s willingness to make such a film happen is great, but in recent years, the Marvel Studios boss has repeatedly said he’d like to make a Black Widow solo film, too. Despite Scarlett Johansson’s interest in the project, and public support from co-stars like Chris Evans and Jeremy Renner, a Black Widow movie has yet to be formally announced.
For the time being, Captain Marvel is the only solo female superhero film currently in development at the studio. The project, which is set to star Brie Larson in the title role, is part of a Phase Four lineup also includes Black Panther, two more Avengers sequels, and Ant-Man and the Wasp — at least Evangeline Lilly is the co-lead of that film, but there’s always room for more.
Thor: Ragnarok hits theaters on November 3.
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