Captain Marvel one of many superhero movies meant to empower and spark conversation
Posted March 9, 2019 5:25 pm.
Last Updated March 10, 2019 9:38 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
CALGRY (660 NEWS) – On Friday Disney owned-Marvel Studios released their first female-fronted superhero movie, Captain Marvel.
The movie starring Brie Larson and Samuel L. Jackson takes place in 1995 when a former U.S air force fighter Carol Dancers (Larson) turns into Captain Marvel when she is infused with alien superpowers when the Earth is caught in the centre of “galactic conflict.”
Thor Diakow, film critic for Breakfast Television on CityTV, told 660 NEWS that we are in an exciting era of movies.
“In the past we have seen female characters in the Marvel movies like Black Widow played by Scarlett Johansson, but this is the first time we see in the Marvel Universe a female character that is the driving force behind the story,” Diakow said, continuing that the only other superhero movie we see this is in the Warner Brothers DC Studios movie Wonder Woman.
Diakow explains the history of the character Captain Marvel goes back to the 1960s when the character was initially written as a male superhero, however that changed in the ’70s with the feminist movement.
“It is no surprise that comic books since their inception have always been an avenue and a platform to spread social messages and address topics of injustice, civil strife, and equality,” Diakow said. Two other characters who hold the same role as Captain Marvel in this sense is Captain America back in the Second World War, and the Black Panther who has been a conversation since the movies release in early 2018.
However, it is not just the fact that Captain Marvel is the first leading woman in this era of movies that is empowering, but the characters name also leads to a source of empowerment.
“You look at the name of Captain Marvel it is empowering, it encompasses the entire universe that we are talking about here,” Diakow said. “Judging by what they do with her in the film, she is one of the most powerful forces in the galaxy.”
The movie is projected to earn between $156 million to $160 million during its debut weekend at the theatres – expecting this movie to be the biggest blockbuster so far in 2019.
Diakow explains what makes superhero movies still popular even after so many have been made, is the ways that both the Marvel and DC studios continue to find new ways to tell stories.
“They are just trying to find a unique package, to spread a message of empowerment through the form of a rousing adventure story, with a lot of great messages at its core.”
– With files from Associated Press
