We knew that Marvel was looking for female directors to helm their first big solo female superhero flick, CAPTAIN MARVEL, but they seem to be doing one better and exclusively hiring female screenwriters as well.
According to The Wrap, Nicole Perlman and Meg LeFauve are set to co-write Carol Danvers first onscreen adventure.
We have yet to see LeFauve’s work as a credited screenwriter; her first produced screenplay was Pixar’s upcoming INSIDE OUT (though she did produce the odd, overlooked DANGEROUS LIVES OF ALTAR BOYS). Perlman, however, is a Marvel vet: she was an uncredited script doctor on the first THOR, and was co-credited alongside James Gunn for GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY (she was the first female to get credit for writing a Marvel flick). Though there was some controversy over the level of Perlman’s contribution to the final film (including some dismissive remarks from Gunn himself), but I think it’s safe to say that if the WGA saw fit to attribute her with “at least 33%” of GUARDIANS (the minimal level of input required to receive credit), at least SOME of what we loved about the flick came directly from her.
While I kind of agree that this sort of gender and race-specific hiring does have vague echoes of reverse-racism (“We’ll hire ladies and African-Americans, but only for female and black-centric projects”), Marvel’s track record is such that any push to get this kind of female-driven project going can only be a good thing. One huge factor in the lack of female superheroes on film is just how badly male screenwriters and directors have fucked them up thus far (ELEKTRA and CATWOMAN anyone?). If they’re good enough for Marvel and Pixar, they probably have the goods, regardless of their gender, so I hope this works out and they knock out some gold to do CAPTAIN MARVEL justice.
Now, it’s all about finding that female director. Maybe they can get someone who just jumped ship from the DCU…
Marvel Marvel’s CAPTAIN MARVEL on July 6th, 2018.
