Dear Media,
Please stop tying the success of the upcoming Captain Marvel debacle to the future of female-led action and super hero films. It is a false connection that lives in the Tyler Perry-esque argument of, “we only know we made it if our shitty films still break records.” This upcoming Marvel film looks B.A.D. I’m talking Justice League bad, and you know dang well people only saw that movie out of respect for Wonder Woman, to gawk gleefully at Aquaman, and to have grounds upon which to trash talk the film. It sucked. Captain Marvel will suck. I am still debating whether or not I am going to see it in the theater. Why? Out of respect for the MCU and for the hopes of a handful of really good Samuel L. Jackson moments. I have no interest in the tired origin story of a robotic Bree Larson. In fact, I find the retcon personally offensive.
Fact: Comic Book Captain Marvel was whipped so badly by Rogue that she lost her powers permanently and memory for nearly a decade. She was never tier 1. She will never outshine Thor in my book, let alone the freaking Hulk, so my bias is clear. This is not a man vs. woman thing. In truth, I’d prefer they unleash Scarlet Witch (far more powerful in canon, and a much better actress) vs. letting this poorly CGI’d nightmare take center stage for the future of the MCU.
We are deep into a market correction of female driven action narratives. Gone are the days when Ripley stood alone. We know a woman can run this. Last night I was treated to a preview screening on Alita: Battle Angel and I can tell you it is everything Captain Marvel won’t be. In fact, it should not be in the same conversation. Only, it is in the same conversation because we are still operating in stereotypes and divisions and lazily drawn classifications. There is no reason that the perceptions of future success of female action narratives should rely on the success of Captain Marvel. Heck, if you want to play that game then rest your fate on Alita. In fact, that question should’ve already been decided with the wild success of Wonder Woman, the coming (and already obvious) success of WW1984, and the aforementioned fact that people actually showed up for Justice League.
Captain Marvel is a failure before it hits the screen, and that is on the actors and the writers and the director. It is not ‘on’ the possibilities of women leads succeeding at the box office, so stop trying to act like it is just to excuse and prop up a crap movie.