A Tale of Two Trailers - Part One; Captain Marvel and Diversity in the MCU

Unless you've been living under a rock, or have been turned to dust, then you'd know that this week has been huge for Marvel fans. Captain Marvel got it's second trailer and after months of speculation, various teases on twitter by the cast and a cryptic puzzle by the Russo brothers; the finale to phase three is titled; Avengers: Endgame. A 3rd trailer was due to be released on Saturday the 8th of December for Spider-Man Far From Home. However, it failed to arrive and is now rumoured for the 18th of December, allowing fans to focus on Endgame instead. 

Cryptic Tweet by The Russo Brothers

Title worked out on the 19th of September 2018

Only a few had worked it out and the Russo's hinted it wasn't spoken in Infinity War. Which is technically correct as Avengers: Endgame was never uttered, just endgame. Endgame had also surfaced in Age of Ultron either way the misguiding was very sneaky!

Doctor Strange definitely not uttering the sequels title in Infinity War... 

But enough of the fan talk, both trailers revealed two distinctive issues. Captain Marvel deals with diversity and responding to online criticism and Endgame deals with marketing and transmedia issues. As such each trailer will be split into two different posts. Here I will discuss Captain Marvel's second trailer and in an upcoming post I will be speaking to an ex-Supervisor of Regional Marketing Operations & Asset Management, TWDC EMEA/UK (2017-2018) for the UK Disney offices in regards to Endgame. 

Captain Marvel and Diversity within the MCU

For all those who have yet to see the trailer, take some time and watch the above. Captain Marvel is a major milestone for the MCU as even though the films have been in production for ten years there has yet to be a female led solo film, Ant Man and the Wasp had shared billing but it was still very much Scott Lang's story not Hope Van Dyne's . Marvel has managed to cultivate a complex interconnected world that has drafted in dozens of directors, writers and actors. But despite this, critics have noted that for year the MCU has predominately focused on white men at the centre, both on screen and off screen. There has been tweaks to minor existing characters but not to leading roles. 

The controversy came to light significantly in 2016 when Tilda Swinton was cast as the Ancient One in Doctor Strange. This character, from the comics was traditionally depicted as Asian. Noneless, the character has roots in racist stereotypes so by casting Swinton, Marvel was attempting to avoid the issue. Instead of correcting the stereotypes the casting of a Celtic version drew more attention to the notion that the MCU is overwhelmingly white. In a statement from Kevin Feige he addresses these concerns and assures audience that the MCU will be more diverse; "I think that in the movies we've already made, and certainly in the movies that are coming up, it will be as inclusive a group of characters as one could want," Feige told Vulture  "For us, it's important that we don't feel like a completely white, European cast."

Marvel is moving forward with the inclusion of a solo film around the hero Black Panther. Marvel's first African America superhero, it wasn't the first in the industry, but it was revolutionary for it's representation of  African culture through the fictional country of Wakanda. If we reflect back on the MCU then we can analyse the gaps in diversity over the years. 

Top Billing For People of Colour 

With a total of 45 white actors getting top billing, and a total of 69 in the MCU, that results in roughly two-thrids of white actors. Samuel Jackson who plays Nick Fury crops up as a regular top-billed sole person of colour across the various movies he appear in. Other actors of colour receiving a bill aquatints to 24 people, resulting in 34.8% in total. Aside from Black Panther, Ant Man and the Wasp, Guardians of the Galaxy and the upcoming Captain Marvel. Every other standalone film stars a white male in the role meaning that only four out of twenty one films, a total of 19% in the franchise are diversely led.  

Top Billing of Women

A women has never led a movie but Captain Marvel will change that. Scarlett Johansson is the most recurring top billing women but she has always played a secondary character, Black Widow, or at most been part of an ensemble cast. Rumours have surfaced for years that Black Widow will be getting a standalone film, but is it too late to go back to include now that the older cast are being swapped out for younger heroes. Nonetheless, there has been at least one top billed women in every MCU film, but they are either a secondary character or a love interest for the protagonist. Not quite Bechdel breaking characters! Infinity War contains the highest number of top billed women and people of colour, but they are massively outnumbered by significant margins by men and white characters. Regardless of what happens, Brie Larson will be the first women to ever helm her own Marvel film.

Number of Films Written or Directed by Women

What is more shocking is the lack of female presence off screen. Only one woman has written or directed a Marvel Studios film.  Nicole Perlman co-wrote Guardians of the Galaxy and is bound to return to co-write Captain Marvel meaning the diversity behind the scenes will increase significantly in 2019. As the film will be co-directed by Anna Boden and a team of women; Liz Flahive, Meg LeFauve, Carly Mensch, Geneva Robertston-Dworet will join Perlman in writing.  Although, it is worth noting that there has not been a sole credited women for directing or writing. 

Due to it's importance, Perlman has been feeling the pressure of writing a script of this magnitude as she wants the movie to do right to female superheros and for women in general; 

"We've been talking a lot about archetypes and what we want this movie to be about and just how to write a strong female superhero without making it Superman with boobs. ... Meg and I are doing a lot of brainstorming and we'll catch ourselves and say, 'Wait a minute, what are we saying [here] about women in power?' Then we have to say, 'Why are we getting so hung up on that? We should just tell the best story and build the best character.' And then we have this constant back-and-forth about how to tell a story that is compelling, entertaining, moving, kick-ass, and fun, and also be aware of what those larger implications might be. It's a lot more complicated than just writing Guardians."

The fact that the writers are putting so much care and attention into the script means that Marvel isn't just cashing in on diversity. Time is being spent crafting the characters so that they are unique and represent a community/gender that hasn't been done a lot in the Hollywood mainstream. As a result of this Captain Marvel is no longer sidekick fodder for the males to rely on, she is a bad-ass in her own right. 

As the new trailer provided this week, Brie Larson's portrayal of Carol Danvers is being ripped from the comic book roots and is being given a new origin. In the comic lore Danvers only become "Captain Marvel" in 2012, following the death of the original male Kree alien known as Mar-vell as Carol was a half-human/half-Kree who got her powers from an encounter with Mar-vell and owed her powers to him. Albeit, the trailer reveals that Carol has been Captain Marvel from the start and roots her character in the sense that she is a strong, independent female superhero. 

The evidence on whether this was a wise movie will come when the film premieres, Jude Law has widely been tipped to play a version of Mar-vell who acts as a mentor figure but the trailers seems to suggest the character will have a more complex relationship with Carol compared to the comics. Captain Marvel is supposedly the most powerful hero in the galaxy and the key to defeating Thanos so the very least Marvel can do is let Carol Danvers be her own character without the reliance of males.  

The trailer also reveals a more startling concern. After the release of the first trailer the internet reacted and thousands of sexist trolls aired their concerns that A: Carol Danvers never smiles and B: punching an old lady in the face isn't very lady like. One twitter user went so far as to photoshop smiles onto photos of the character. 

These comments were nonsense even so Brie Larson responded back with hilariously photo-shopped pictures of male Marvel stars smiling.  The results as expected were jarring and clearly illustrated the double based standard of the smile more complaint. Larson wrote on Instagram;

"Breaking news: You can be you. That means you can smile or not, you can be strong in the ways you want to be. You can own who you are. If anyone tells you different don't trust them."

Telling a women to smile is archaic, it implies that women are here for amusement and to "look cute," and denies them the basic right to their own emotions. This complaint is rarely thrown at men and Larson's post emphasises that. 

Screencapture from The First Captain Marvel Trailer

In terms of the punching an old lady, an adorable old lady who she punches really really hard, this issue arises from the ignorance of the viewers and Marvel assuming the fans knew what was going on. For those who aren't familiar, in the comics a race known as Skrulls can shape shift and take over identities.  Now unless you follow the comics and other forms of media religiously then you were never going to know. It was a dark take for a Marvel film and clearly didn't land as they expected. With comments such as: "Why is she punching an old lady, so much for feminism appearing online." Mixed with the smiling controversy and the whole issue was blown out of the water. 

Fan Tweeting About Skrulls 

This brings us onto trailer two, many have continued to express their fandom but now many are accusing Marvel of course correcting the trolls on the internet. Granted the first trailer was going to bring complaints on social media, just look at the reaction to a female Doctor Who. Sure enough, the objections came and they were extinguished by others on the internet. These comments make the trailer a curious thing to watch, as they expand on the old lady scene and clearly show she is a Skrull, who is tougher than she looks and is in fact a bad guy. Done through Samuel L Jackson's running narration which expands more on the films plot details.

As the camera lingers long enough on Jackson and Larson in a vehicle, after the line "Noble warrior heroes" Carol then smiles as the Marvel logo dominates the screen.  But is it a specific response to criticism? Marvel will never admit it but if we look to Endgame they didn't reveal any plot details either and relied on giving a gist of the tone of the film. Granted they don't want to reveal major plot points but there wasn't any indication of how the world was going to be saved.  Launch trailers for Thor and Captain America do exactly the same thing, introduce the powerful force in the first and then humanise them in the second. 

The issue arises when trying to distinguish the criticism from the first, as the opening scenes directly hit the issues on the head. Even if it was a legitimate move, then it could empower future critics by convincing them they have been understood and listened to. Marvel is at a no win situation, as it becomes impractical to not evolve promotions for Captain Marvel. The situation is nonsense Hawkeye and Ant-Man have returned for Endgame marketing despite the lack of appearances in Infinity War but that wasn't a response due to the fans. It was always the plan. Carol Danvers is a hero who doesn't need anyone's permission to have her emotions approved, or how she goes about saving the universe. If shes punching an old lady, there is probably a good reason. 

As Marvel continues to change, it's result leads to Marvel making more and more diverse movies. Black Panther broke records, including biggest solo superhero launch and biggest opening for a non white director.  As discussed in the previous post, maybe audiences aren't fatigued by superhero movies, they are perhaps tried of watching the same kinds of superhero movies by the same type of people. By diversifying the genre Marvel is beginning to tell new stories that haven't been told.