Lois Lane and the case for the female superhero movie.
Criticizing the lack of strong female characters. Features Buffy, Avengers, Wonder Woman, and quotes from Joss.
There are maybe very minor spoilers for Man of Steel.
June 14 2013
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Pointy | June 14, 12:18 CET
And I don't think it's going to be DC or Marvel to take the big plunge. A franchise like Hunger Games started to tip the balance and Emma Watson is about to star in a potentially huge movie adaptation of a series of fantasy novels. If those movies can sustain the momentum and show that yes, audiences would pay to see Katniss run around the forest for two hours, they'd be willing to see a female superhero from the DC or Marvel universe too - as long as it was well done.
the ninja report | June 14, 12:51 CET
And supported by well known and/or critically acclaimed stories or plot arcs. Which unfortunately doesn't seem to be there at the moment or like ever. Where's the Dark Knight Returns equivalent for Wonder Woman or The Scarlet Witch? Why can't we get a epic Night of the Owls type story line for The Black Canary or Captain Marvel?
Simon | June 14, 14:54 CET
Sunfire | June 14, 16:02 CET
I'm so beyond frustrated.
hann23 | June 14, 17:02 CET
KingofCretins | June 14, 17:05 CET
If you are a film executive, when you see a track record like Supergirl, Tank girl, Barb Wire, Catwoman, Aeon Flux, and Electra do you greenlight another female-centric superhero movie or do you go with what is more proven to make money, Male-centric superhero movie #483? It's similar to how there was a lack of big-budget fantasy pictures until the success of Lord of the Rings opened the flood gates or sci-fi and the original Star Wars.
Pretty much the only superheroine movies which have been successful have been animated movies.
guardian_owl | June 14, 18:16 CET
banner | June 14, 23:27 CET
If I had to choose one superhero I'd love to see on the big screen right now, I'd go with Oracle, Gail Simone-style, with a good helping of Black Canary, sans fishnets please. I'm still mourning Birds of Prey (the show) and that one was pretty terrible (but it had potential, gorram it!)
nyrk | June 15, 00:49 CET
I would be interested in a reboot of Elektra. The first one was truly terrible and I think enough time has passed where you could do one.
the ninja report | June 15, 11:33 CET
Simon | June 15, 13:48 CET
Mikelle Vein | June 15, 19:34 CET
nyrk, "quit marketing to the same demographic" translates into studio-speak as "stop making money." "The demographic" is where the cash is at, so they won't listen to you. I, on the other hand, agree with you exactly because of that: cash does not equal quality, and I'm all about quality.
I think the Veronica Mars movie might make a difference here. It'll mostly be watched because of the Kickstarter thing, but it's also a feature film with a female lead, and not a little genre appeal, despite being non-genre. VM's success might open some doors.
Also we can pin some hope on Our Main Man himself. Less so with Avengers 2, I think, but if that one also makes a mint, Joss will have enough cred to make some mountains move. A Joss-backed superheroine project might stand a much better chance than anything else, either with an established character or (dare I say it?) maybe something new.
ManEnoughToAdmitIt | June 15, 23:50 CET
Sometimes I worry that the rhetoric that gets used turns it into a zero sum game. The funny thing is I the sites I hang out with often have that attitude and its why I think the idea loses traction. Many male led movies are good, people say they're sick of them and they watch them. Then they say they want female led and they don't. It's one of the reasons those executives are so cynical.
I'm just not sure why "we should have more women heroes" needs to be packaged so often with the idea of "at the expense of." We really just need a good one made. Do both.
[ edited by azzers on 2013-06-16 21:55 ]
azzers | June 16, 12:03 CET
I absolutely support the idea that we need women-led Super-Hero movies now, though.
Ravenwing263 | June 16, 13:37 CET