Black Panther Is The First Step Into A More Diverse MCU Says Kevin Feige

Black Panther really shouldn’t have been that big a deal in terms of the race discussion. The cast for that film absolutely should have been the way it was and yet, the film really broke new ground (sadly) in terms of success with a predominantly non-white cast. And a success is probably selling Black Panther slightly short. It was huge, especially domestically in the US. So speaking with Variety Kevin Feige was asked if the success of that landmark movie helps them to ensure this diversity carries on in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Here is what Marvel’s top man said.

“Yes, absolutely, 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.”

Feige also went on to talk about how diversity isn’t just in front of the camera either.

“As Marvel Studios has grown and as our creative team has grown, it’s the same thing. 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.”

Is this the reason that Marvel movies are getting such a high hit rate or not? Hard to say, for me, Black Panther was a key member of the Avengers and his film was perfect for showcasing the diverse acting talent out there. I’m not always going to agree with the race swapping that sometimes happens with these big characters. I guess it’s a case by case basis for me personally.

RELATED: Kevin Feige Recalls When No One Believed In The MCU Or Thor

The problem Marvel perhaps have is that the comic source material wasn’t all that diverse, to begin with. I place no blame on Stan Lee, Ditko or any of the other great comic book creators for that. In the ’60s when Marvel began, the world was a very different place and they would have been actively discouraged from making more diverse characters, to begin with. Society wasn’t ready for it in a nation that still had black people being treated as second-class citizens.

I have faith in Feige to be fair and happy to see whatever Marvel cooks up for us next.

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SOURCE: Variety

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