Story Behind Black Panther & Captain Marvel:
By the time we reached Avengers: Age of Ultron, the MCU was established extremely well! People were totally in, and that’s when Marvel started to expand very quickly. After the Civil War and Doctor Strange, they started producing 3 movies per year. And most importantly, diversity finally got importance. Guardians of the Galaxy proved that Marvel can sell anything, but there were still a few eyebrows raised amongst Disney executives when they were asked to green light Black Panther and Captain Marvel.
Black Panther was a film that everyone needed. Ryan Coogler brought upon us a master piece which will remain Supreme forever. Not only has this film been acknowledged economically and critically but it has been huge when it comes to winning awards as well. All the great Cast members came together for this flick to give us something so special and dear to our hearts. Never before had films with actors of color, got the push that Black Panther got. And the same goes for Captain Marvel when it comes to films with female lead characters.
Wonder Woman had started the women empowerment moment on the big screen, and its success would’ve made Disney even confident upon their own product. But we have to note that it was because of the efforts of Bob Iger that both Black Panther and Captain Marvel got green lit, and were ultimately the biggest success stories for Marvel.
Iger said that Kevin Feige was always ready to make Black Panther, but an unnamed Marvel executive in New York wasn’t as easily sold to the idea as films with African America actors usually don’t sell well in international markets. But Black Panther turned out to be a revolution and proved everyone wrong.
All this was revealed in Bob Iger’s new book The Ride of A Lifetime, where Iger reflected upon the story behind getting Captain Marvel and Black Panther made:
“I’ve been in the business long enough to have heard every old argument in the book, and I’ve learned that old arguments are just that: old, and out of step with where the world is and where it should be. We had a chance to make a great movie and to showcase an underrepresented segment of America, and those goals were not mutually exclusive. I called Ike and told him to tell his team to stop putting up roadblocks and ordered that we put both Black Panther and Captain Marvel into production.”
Black Panther went on to break the Box Office & Captain Marvel also produced numbers that Disney is very proud of. Individually, both Black Panther and Captain Marvel earned $1.346 Billion and $1.128 Billion respectively. These two are the biggest starts for any solo movie franchise in the MCU. So, what more could Marvel/Disney ask for.
Now that these two properties have proven successful, Marvel has green lit a bunch of new projects that no one actually thought they would. Characters like Blade, Ms. Marvel, Shang-Chi, She-Hulk, Namor are all pushing the diversity agenda. Eternals will be a film that has the most unique cast we have ever seen. That’s the most exciting part about the movie. So, Disney could easily see the success of Captain Marvel & Box Office replicated in these future films.
Marvel’s future is huge and there’s a lot that could happen. Black Widow is going to kick off the future slate on May 1. Here’s how the rest of the Phase 4 slate looks like – The Falcon and The Winter Soldier in Fall 2020, The Eternals on November 6, 2020, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on February 12, 2021, WandaVision in Spring 2021, Loki in Spring 2021, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on May 7, 2021, What If? In Summer 2021, Hawkeye in Fall 2021, and Thor: Love and Thunder on November 5, 2021. Following these are Ms. Marvel, Moon Knight and She-Hulk. Black Panther 2 has been scheduled for May 6, 2022.
