Marvel movies boss Kevin Feige wants to move past “completely white” casts

Comic books have been changing lately. No longer whiter than the line you’re standing in at Woolworths, there’s been an explosion of colour within those universes as the big two in particular have focused heavily on widening their multicultural scope. Something that the movies so far, have been slow to capitilise on. Now fair enough, making a film takes time. Years of it in fact as it does happen to a Herculean effort to put together a cinematic extravaganza that has a budget equal to the GDP of a European nation.

But with Marvel’s massive phase three of movies shaping up a new direction for their cinematic universe, the time might finally be right to have a cast that is a lot more inclusive. So says the big cheese of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Kevin Feige, who spoke to Vulture about creating a more dynamic cast for future movies. “In the movies we’ve already made, and certainly in the movies that are coming up, it will be as inclusive a group of characters as one could want,” Feige said.

For us, it’s important that we don’t feel like a completely white, European cast.

The first such movie that’ll feature a lot more diversity within its cast? Spider-Man: Homecoming, as Peter Parker’s high school will reflect how American high schools have become a lot more representative of the multi-cultural population. “Our filmmaker [Jon Watts] came in and had pictures of real high schools, and they are as diverse as you could imagine,” Feige explained

That was something that was important to us, to set it apart from other Spidey films that have been made — to carve that niche — and to have it represent the world today.

And I’m down with that. As a fan of comic books and the media spinning out of that fantastic art form, I want them to thrive. But it can only do that by attracting new audiences. People want characters that they can relate to, that they can identify with. And if the price for that future means seeing newer faces stepping up to represent these fictional universes, then I’m more than happy to pay it.

Although I’m pretty certain that the group of racists who whinged endlessly about Idris Elba being cast as a fictional Asgardian gatekeeper god who guards the Rainbow Bridge are going to be downright livid.

Last Updated: November 3, 2016