You know what they say: female superhero movies are like buses — you wait forever and then two come along at once. As well as the first trailer for DC’s Gal Gadot-starring Wonder Woman, this weekend’s Comic Con in San Diego saw the announcement of Brie Larson as Captain Marvel — Marvel’s first female-led superhero movie. The news couldn’t be longer overdue.
Despite the enormous popularity of assemble characters such as Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow, since Iron Man kick-started the studio’s much-trumpeted Cinematic Universe back in 2008, we’ve had thirteen films of varying quality, none of which have been led by a woman. Similarly at rival DC, we’ve seen reboot after reboot of various Batmen and Spidey senses while, up until Gadot’s scene-stealing appearance in this year’s Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, there’s been no live-action version of Wonder Woman since Lynda Carter’s take on the character in the 1970s.
Following the commercial success of female-fronted blockbusters such as Jennifer Lawrence’s Hunger Games franchise and Paul Feig’s various Melissa McCarthy vehicles, it appears that studio bosses are finally waking up to the idea of more gender equality on screen; something that Margot Robbie, star of the upcoming DC movie Suicide Squad, believes will be only too welcome.
“I don’t think it’s any secret that the industry is definitely gravitating towards female leads and giving women a voice,” she told Bustle on set back in June of last year. “They’ve finally realized that women go to see movies as much as men do. Ticket sales are coming from them as well, so why not appeal to them?” Well, quite. Check her out as fan favorite Harley Quinn in the extended teaser trailer, below.
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Text Matthew Whitehouse
Image via Instagram