Black Panther was just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to diversity and representation in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Speaking on
Playback with Kris Tapley, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige acknowledged that the success of the film, which was the first in the MCU to feature a cast predominantly comprised of black actors, encouraged the studio to stay on its current path towards a more inclusive Cinematic Universe.
"Yes, absolutely," Feige responded when asked about the groundbreaking film. "Sometimes people have asked very directly, 'Is [Black] Panther a one-off?' in terms of inclusion representation and the answer is no, it's the beginning. That it worked out as well as it worked out just encourages to head in the direction that we were going to head anyway. You look at that film and the experience of the film, it was incredible. That movie, obviously, would not have been what it was if everyone sitting around the table looked like me or you and that's actually true for all the movies."
Black Panther has hailed as "
revolutionary" and a "
groundbreaking celebration of black culture." It was the unique subject and themes of the movie - things that hadn't been addressed in mainstream Hollywood, let alone the prior 10 years of the Marvel Cinematic Universe - that helped make it one of the most successful movies for Marvel Studios.
Black Panther is the highest-grossing MCU film domestically, topping
Avengers: Infinity War by $22 million stateside.
Simply put,
Black Panther was a film unlike that of which audiences have experienced before. And moving forward, it sounds like Marvel Studios will continue to embrace diversity. In fact, they already have.
"As Marvel Studios has grown and as our creative team has grown, it's the same thing," Feige said. "It's almost half men, half women now. We try to grow and promote in-house, almost anybody that works around me has worked here for many, many years and people are going on the produce some of our next films came in below people producing the films now. When you have diverse voices, you get better stories and you get more exciting stories and you get more surprising stories and that is something very, very clear to us."
Looking ahead,
Captain Marvel will be the first Marvel Cinematic Universe solo film to feature a female superhero in Brie Larson's Carol Danvers. The film is also the first in the MCU to have a female director; Anna Boden co-directed the movie with Ryan Fleck.
There's also the
Black Widow movie with Cate Shortland reportedly hired to direct along with
The Eternals, which will be helmed by Chloé Zhao. There have also been reports that Marvel Studios is developing a
Shang-Chi movie, which would mark the MCU's first solo film to feature an Asian superhero.
The future is bright for Marvel Studios and it's bright because it's diverse.