People love Wonder Woman. This is a fact born out by box office data showing the Princess of Themyscira has now topped by Suicide Squad and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice at the domestic box office. But there’s a surprise windfall to the runaway success of Wonder Woman. It takes the pressure off Marvel Studios CEO Kevin Feige for the upcoming Captain Marvel solo film.
In a recent interview with Mashable about Spider-Man: Homecoming, Feige detoured into giving thanks to the Wonder Woman cast, crew, and fans for proving female-led superhero movies aren’t cursed.
“[T]he question would have been before [Wonder Woman] is, ‘Do you think people want to see a female superhero movie? Do you think audiences are ready to go see a big … Are you nervous about Captain Marvel being a big, the first female hero?’ [Before] I would always say no, because there hasn’t been a good one in a long time. There were, you know, 15 years ago, a bunch of bad ones. Did they fail because they were female lead movies? No. They failed because they were not good movies. I don’t have to say that anymore. Thanks to Wonder Woman. Because it just blows that fallacy out of the water.”
In a way, it’s fitting that Diana would break this glass ceiling. After all, she was the first female superhero to break out and stick in our collective pop culture memory (though she owes a lot to the very first female superhero, Fantomah, Mystery Woman of the Jungle). So of course she should be the torchbearer, lighting the way for all the future female-led superhero movies to come. Cast off the shame of Catwoman and Elektra, ladies. It’s your time to shine!