‘Black Panther’ Executive Producer Talks Diversity in the MCU
Marvel has always had a bit of a glaring problem with diversity. Whether it’s as egregious as the senior VP of sales and marketing claiming it killed their latest comic sales, or just another movie starring a white guy named Chris, fans have overall been disappointed in the seemingly purposeful lack of diverse characters and storylines from marginalized perspectives.
Nate Moore, executive producer of Captain America: Civil War and Black Panther, recently tried to dispel fan concerns. Speaking with Complex UK about Marvel’s upcoming cinematic line-up, which after Black Panther will focus on Captain Marvel and Ant-Man & The Wasp, Moore stated the following:
“We want to tell the best stories with the strongest developed characters and scripts that we can. Our biggest concern is that, in trying to get more characters out there, we rush something that’s not ready and we deliver something that’s not up to our standards. So it’s less about us rushing a character that’s diverse to get it out quickly and more about figuring out how to do it right.”
Rather than directly address accusations of Marvel’s diversity problems, Moore provided a more general criticism about Hollywood’s relationship with marginalized identities:
“Hollywood is a bit agnostic as far as race and gender. They’re just trying to get as many people as possible to see movies so they just want faces that get people into seats, frankly. And because there aren’t as many roles for people of different ethnicities, you tend to see a lot of guys like Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio who are super talented, but who maybe aren’t as diverse as other actors out there.”
However, Moore ultimately had an optimistic outlook on the media’s commitment to representation, and even stated that he believes the last few years’ initiatives towards increased diversity have been somewhat successful:
“[Diversity is] definitely accelerating. The conversation has always been there but now… with films like the Fast and the Furious and Marvel franchises, and also on television with shows like How To Get Away with Murder and Scandal, whenever programs featuring diverse casts work, it opens a door for someone else to take a chance on another film or show that would seem risky. The more normalized that diversity in film becomes, the more commonplace it’ll become.”
Do you agree with Moore’s assessment about the current state of Marvel’s cinematic universe? The publisher certainly isn’t lacking in comic characters of color, who exist on a wide spectrum of gender identities, sexualities, economic realities and life experiences. Aren’t these storylines just as richly developed as the storylines of Marvel’s legacy characters, by now suitable and nuanced enough for film adaptation?
Let us know your thoughts on this persistent problem in the comments. On a happier note, let’s also celebrate the recently released Black Panther teaser trailer! So far, it definitely seems like Marvel is doing right with this franchise.
Source: Complex UK
