Movies

Marvel Removed Female Villain from ‘Iron Man 3’ over Toy Sales

In a recent interview with Uproxx, The Nice Guys writer-director Shane Black dropped a quiet bombshell about his work on Iron Man 3.

All I’ll say is this, on the record: There was an early draft of Iron Man 3 where we had an inkling of a problem. Which is that we had a female character who was the villain in the draft. We had finished the script and we were given a no-holds-barred memo saying that cannot stand and we’ve changed our minds because, after consulting, we’ve decided that toy won’t sell as well if it’s a female.

What?

So, we had to change the entire script because of toy making. Now, that’s not Feige. That’s Marvel corporate, but now you don’t have that problem anymore.

Ike Perlmutter is gone.

Yeah, Ike’s gone. But New York called and said, “That’s money out of our bank.” In the earlier draft, the woman was essentially Killian – and they didn’t want a female Killian, they wanted a male Killian. I liked the idea, like Remington Steele, you think it’s the man but at the end, the woman has been running the whole show. They just said, “no way.”

Killian was Guy Pierce’s villain from the film. So the original plan was that he wasn’t the true villain. There was a woman actually pulling the strings behind the scenes. Looking back over the characters, it isn’t too hard to guess who that would have been. Rebecca Hall’s Maya Hansen was one of the developers of the Extremis technology but she made a strange and abrupt exit from the movie. Perhaps she was the original mastermind? Black seems to confirm this.

Stéphanie Szostak’s character was bigger at one point and we reduced it. Rebecca Hall’s character was bigger at one point and we reduced it.

Szostak played super-powered henchwoman Elle Brandt who made a fair impression with limited screen time. Evidently we were supposed to have more of her — a lot more.. So not only did we lose a female criminal mastermind, we also lost a kick ass female henchwoman.

Like Paul Dini’s experiences with Young Justice, this is yet another director confirming that major studios are interfering in the creative process and squashing female characters — not for legitimate story reasons — but because they believe girls will not buy toys. When you combine that with the toy industry’s reluctance to make superhero toys for girls, and you have a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Hopefully, Marvel Studios will do better now that Marvel CEO Ike Perlmutter has been removed from the creative process. His views that “female heroes are a disaster” were well known in the industry.

The Ghostbusters Are Girls Now — But No One Told the Toys

Despite howls of protest from man-children across the Internet, the new Ghostbusters will hit screens this summer, and the first batch of toys are creeping on to  toy shelves. And while here are some great action figures and LEGO playsets, not all of the toys have caught on that the new Ghostbusters are for girls.

The new Ghostbusters Electronic Proton Pack released for the movie features a boy on the front of the box and the same boy on the back of the box.

Just to make sure we weren’t imagining things, we went back to the Ghostbusters trailer and checked out who was wielding the proton packs in the movie.

Ghostbusters - Yep, They're Women
The Ghostbusters – Yep, They’re Women

Another toy that has hit shelves is the Ghostbusters Sidearm Proton Blaster. Again, the photos on the front and the back show a boy playing with the blaster — not a girl.

To be clear, there is nothing wrong with boys playing with these toys, but when they are toys based on a movie starring women, and the marketing completely excludes women and girls — it’s jarring.

The assumption seems to be that action-oriented toys are for boys and that boys will not buy them if they see a girl on the box. I wonder how those boys would feel about buying the “proton blaster” if they knew a woman licked it first?

Dr. Jillian Holtzmann boy-proofs her blaster.
Dr. Jillian Holtzmann boy-proofs her blaster.

Toy companies still have no faith that girls would want to engage in heroic role playing; and retail stores still have no idea where to put a toy for girls that is not coded purple or pink, or — heaven forbid — a toy that is supposed to appeal to both genders equally.

There is still work to do.

Oscar-Winner Lupita Nyong’o Is in Talks to Join “Black Panther”

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Oscar-winner Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years A Slave)  is in talks to join the upcoming Black Panther helmed and written by Creed director Ryan Coogler. Nyong’o would join Chadwick Boseman, who premiered the titular character in this summer’s Captain America: Civil War.

Nyong’o would reportedly play the love interest in the film. It’s unknown whether the love interest will be an established character from the comics or a new character developed for the film. While T’Challa has had different love interests, his most prominent partner is Storm from the X-Men, who was his wife for a significant period of time. That can’t happen in the MCU because 20th Century Fox still owns the film rights to the character. So N’yong’o’s possible role is a mystery.

Black Panther hits theaters on Feb. 2, 2018.

ABC Cancels “Agent Carter”

ABC pulled the plug on period spy and superhero drama Agent Carter today. The writing has been on the wall for some time. The show had dipped in the ratings this year, and star Hayley Atwell had signed on to the new ABC drama Conviction. The network swore that Atwell could do both, but it seemed highly unlikely.

Agents of SHIELD is left to carry the MCU banner on ABC, as the network also passed on SHIELD spin-off Marvel’s Most Wanted.

Peggy Carter crying

This Badass Woman in “Civil War” Didn’t Get a Name — But We Know Who She Is

Midway through Captain America: Civil War, T’Challa, King of Wakanda, heads to his car, ready to embark on a mission of vengeance as the Black Panther against the Winter Soldier, whom he believes killed his father. Sensing the conflict to come, the Black Widow attempts to intercept him, positioning herself between T’Challa and the door. Then an imposing bald woman who was with T’Challa steps to the foreground and says one line:

Move or be moved.

The way she held herself and delivered that single line of dialog conveyed to the audience that this is a woman who believes she can best the Black Widow in a fight. T’Challa evidently agrees, but defuses the situation with a simple, “As entertaining as that would be…”

Dora Milaje
Black Panther and the Dora Milaje prepare to battle Dr. Doom

So who is this badass woman who can compete with Marvel’s best? Although it is not explicitly stated, there is almost no doubt that she is a member of the Dora Milaje (dora-meh-LAH-shay), the King of Wakanda’s personal bodyguards and some of the most deadly fighters on the planet.

In Wakandan tradition, the Dora Milaje are also a pool of potential brides for an unmarried king. Each tribe of Wakanda puts forth their best representative so that all tribes have an interest in maintaining the peace as one of their own is in running for the crown. In current comics, T’Challa has announced that his bride will no longer be selected in such an arbitrary fashion.

Dora Milajae in Captain America: Civil War
Dora Milajae in Captain America: Civil War

The Dora Milaje are also featured prominently in the first few issues of Ta-Nehisi Coates run on the rebooted Black Panther comic book, and their role in Wakanda society is slowly being fleshed out with complexities that make them far more than a fantasy for adolescent boys.

With the Black Panther movie on the way there is no doubt in my mind that we have not seen the last of the Dora Milaje, and based on first impressions — that’s a very good thing.

Russo Brothers Accidentally Reveal Captain Marvel in Avengers: Infinity War

It looks like Captain Marvel will appear in Avengers: Infinity War, Part 1 — before her solo movie hits theaters a year later.

Infinity War directors the Russo Brothers were speaking at the Smithsonian and running through the list of characters in the movie, when one of them blurted out the name “Captain Marvel.” A fan in the crowd pounced and asked, “Did you just confirm Captain Marvel?”

Russo replied, “”Um….Captain Barvel. Totally different character.”

So there you have it. Either Carol Danvers will be joining the Avengers in Infinity  War, Part 1, or the House of Ideas is ready to introduce the exciting new character, “Captain Barvel.” We’re betting on the former.

h/t Comicbook.com

Marvel Commits to Black Widow Solo Movie

After years of speculation and pleading from fans, Marvel has finally made the first tenuous moves towards making a Black Widow solo movie. In an interview with Deadline, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige moved Black Widow to the top of the stack of characters under consideration for their own movie. Even more exciting than that, he  didn’t use the word “movie.” He used the word “franchise.”

DEADLINE: You’ve got a bunch of characters in this movie from Falcon and War Machine and Black Widow and Hawkeye, who have so far guest starred in movies with another character’s title above the fold. Is there one destined to get a solo movie down the line?
FEIGE: We’ve announced the next nine movies, 10 counting Civil War, through the end of 2019. Where we go beyond that are ongoing discussions that we’ll focus on in the next few years because we have a lot to do before then. Of the characters that you’ve just mentioned I would say certainly the one creatively and emotionally that we are most committing to doing is Black Widow.

DEADLINE: Why?
FEIGE: We think she’s an amazing character. We think Scarlett Johansson’s portrayal of her is amazing. She’s a lead Avenger and has amazing stories in her own right to tell that we think would be fun to turn into a stand-alone franchise.

Did you hear that? They are “committed to doing” a Black Widow movie. No turning back from that. We’re going to hold them to it.

Alicia Vikander Cast as Lara Croft in New Tomb Raider Movie

Hollywood has decided to take another crack at Tomb Raider, and they have cast Swedish actress Alicia Vikander in the title role. Vikander is a departure from the previous Croft, Angelina Jolie, who was older and — um — let’s say, more physically robust? But the new Tomb Raider film is based on the recent reboot of the video game franchise, which focuses on a younger, svelte, more clothed version of the British globe-trotting archaeologist.

Vikander is hot right now having co-starred in Ex Machina, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., and The Danish Girl in recent years. The previous Tomb Raider films were not particularly well-received, so it will be interesting to see if the movie — like the video games before it — can reinvent Lara Croft for a more sophisticated and diverse audience.

 

Reebok Celebrates “Alien Day” by Releasing Ellen Ripley-Inspired Shoes Just for Men

Ellen Ripley in "Aliens" wearing "Alien Stomper" shoes
Ellen Ripley in “Aliens” wearing “Alien Stomper” shoes

Ellen Ripley from the Alien franchise is an iconic action hero from an era when Hollywood actually managed to cast women in those roles on a semi regular basis (see Sarah Connor for more details), so we couldn’t have been more excited when we found out that the move studio had designated 4/26 as “Alien Day,” after the planet “LV-426” where the first two films took place.

One of the coolest tie-in promotions for that day was from shoe manufacturer Reebok, who announced they were releasing limited-edition “Alien Stomper” shoes based on the iconic footwear Ripley wore in the film Aliens. Fans around the world were salivating at the thought of slapping a piece of movie history onto their feet. Reebok hyped the shoes on Twitter for weeks until fans were in an absolute frenzy waiting to get them.

Men's classics
Men’s classics

But when Alien Day came and fans flocked to the Reebok website, they quickly discovered something strange. “Alien Stompers” — the shoes made famous by one of the greatest female action heroes of all time — only came in men’s sizes.

The first sign of trouble was that Reebok only listed the shoe under “Men’s Classics” — no women’s listing was given. When contacted by webzine Gizmodo, Reebok issued a statement:

The Alien Stompers were released in men’s sizes due to retail demand.

Sure, that makes sense. Men love Ripley, too. But didn’t they think women might want to wear shoes inspired by a classic female character?

Cosplayer Yaya Han summed up the feelings of many female fans.

After the story broke wide, Rebook issued a new statement, claiming the previous statement was “unauthorized.” The new statement read:

The Alien Stomper was mis-categorized on our US website as a men’s shoe. While size availability varied by market, the Alien Stomper is a unisex style and was produced in sizes (US Men’s) 3.5 – 12, which is a typical size range for a unisex model.

Currently, we have not found anyone who was able to find a size smaller than a men’s 8 — except Yaya Han, who managed to find a still-too-large men’s 6. So we have our doubts about those smaller sizes ever existing.

Whatever they were thinking, there is no doubt that Reebok blew it this time, taking what should have been a PR slam dunk and turning it into a catastrophe.

Game over, man. Game over.