Nia DaCosta Makes Marvel History

Marvel is making history once again with its cinematic universe and the Captain Marvel franchise. The first film introduced the character as the most powerful hero on the Avenger roster and was directed by Anne Boden, Marvel’s first female director, with Ryan Fleck. While the film was a box office smash it was met with mixed reviews from fans and critics alike so perhaps Marvel is looking to take the film in a new direction with a brand new director. The company has hired Nia DaCosta to direct the sequel to Captain Marvel making her the first African American female director in the franchise.

Dacosta emerged on the scene with the success of her debut film Little Woods, and if her name sounds familiar it could be because she's also directing the highly anticipated reboot of Candyman. There's no telling what direction DaCosta is taking the film in but she is sure to bring a fresh take to film and could bring the much-needed life support needed for a trilogy. A makeover wouldn't be so bad especially when considering it took the Thor franchise three tries before it finally found its footing. It’s also worth noting that Netflix recently made history for hiring its first African  American woman to direct a comic adapted film, garnering rave reviews for its film The Old Guard and showing the industry Black women can produce great action films also.

Aside from her history-making hiring, DaCosta also has received the largest budget to ever be handed to a Black female director. Not much is known about the storyline however the movie will supposedly follow after the events of Endgame and will be set on Earth at some point to connect the movie with the upcoming series WandaVision which will introduce the adult version of Monica Rambeau. In all the future is looking bright for both Marvel and DaCosta. 

Where' the MCU Black Super-heroine?

On October 7th many of the Marvel Cinematic Universe actors and actresses met at an undislocuded location for a top secret photo shoot. Not so secret, of course, that a few of the stars couldn't uploaded some candid pictures to their personal social media accounts. One picture in particular that

caused a commotion was shared by Samuel L. Jackson, featuring fellow Marvel Black leading men Don Cheadle, Anthony Mackie, Chadwick Boseman, and newcomer to the franchise Laurence Fishburne. Besides simply being a picture of black excellence, the photo also is a refreshing sight of diversity after years of the cinematic universe being speared by white men.

It's no secret that Marvel has worked hard to address its diversity issue, from color bending characters for points in inclusiveness (sorry Idris Elba, and Tessa Thompson) to adding more Avengers into the fold, but for every leap there are still stumbles. Elba, along with the aforementioned five gentlemen, represent diversity well, in their respective roles, and yes the arrival of Marvels first female led movie is long over due, but one has to wonder why marvel has yet to deliver a canonical female African American hero? While looking forward to Thompson's portrayal as Valkryie, being that in the comics the character is a blonde hair, blue eyed Asgaurdian so the hero doesn't exactly fit the criteria. Similarly, Simone Missick's amazing portrayal of Misty Knight from the Netflix series Luke Cage is also disqualified in that the MCU remains separate from its televised siblings.

There is no logical argument as to why after 16 films we have yet to see a woman of color in the Avengers line-up. It's not as if there's a shortage of Black female Avengers. Notably there's Moondragon, and the new Iron man RiRi Williams, but given the direction of the Marvel movies the most logical is a woman they're already naming a film after. Unless you're a comic fan, the name Monica Rambeau is fairly unfamiliar. However this African American super-heroine has been a mainstay in the Avengers since her debut in the 80s, and is in fact the first female to wear the mantle of Captain Marvel.

After being exposed to extra-dimensional energy, she gains the ability to absorb, generate, manipulate and transform into energy; she joins the Avengers in hopes of learning to master her newfound abilities and over time proves herself as a valuable member, eventually becoming a field leader for the team. Despite beginning her superhero run

as Captain Marvel, over the years the hero has repeatedly changed her code name, allowing Carol Danvers to claim the title of Captain Marvel for herself while Monica most recently goes by Photon. With details about the Captain Marvel movie and the cast remaining top secret, one can only wonder, and hope, that the movie will give us our first glimpse of an African American hero who naturally fits into THE MCU. While the likelihood of receiving a film about Monica Rambeau is highly unlikely, there is ample opportunity to introduce her character into the fold without the necessity of a backstory as done with Hawkeye, Black Widow, War Machine, and Falcon. In contrast, we also don't want a rushed addition just for the sake of adding "more" (as done with the inclusion of Vision).

Understandably, the handling of such a monumental character has to be approached with caution however if marvel truly wishes to expand and represent true inclusion then Black America is going to have to see a Black female as a hero sooner than later.