Tessa Thompson says “women rule supreme” in Marvel’s Phase Four

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

For the longest time superhero movies have been all about the male heroes, with the myth being propagated that audiences weren’t interested in seeing women being the heroes. But movies like WONDER WOMAN and BLACK PANTHER are changing that, and actress Tessa Thompson is confident that when it comes to the MCU the future is indeed female.

While promoting her new movie ANNIHILATION with Entertainment Tonight, Thompson spoke about how we’re seeing more and more women taking on major roles in the MCU. When it comes to Phase Four, we will see this trend of women stepping into the spotlight continue to spike.

I think what we're seeing, regardless of a lady liberator or an A-force movie or a female ensemble Marvel movie, is that in Phase Four, women rule supreme. We're seeing a Black Widow movie in the works, which I hear about and is so exciting, Captain Marvel with Brie Larson and DeWanda Wise. We're seeing that women are at the forefront of these stories [and], of course, with Black Panther those incredible warrior women in that film.

Marvel had been criticized in the past for not having enough female heroes in their movies, but recently they’ve been making great strides to remedy that. Thompson had a major role in THOR: RAGNAROK as the warrior Valkyrie; Captain Marvel (starring Brie Larson) is getting her own movie; GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 introduced Mantis (Pom Klementieff) and gave Nebula (Karen Gillan) a more important role and; a solo movie around Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) took a major step forward by hiring writer Jac Schaeffer to tackle the script (though it’s a long way off). There’s even been interest in doing an all-female team-up movie, according to Thompson, which would probably be massive if it ever hit theaters.

Marvel isn’t the only one adding more female heroes to their line-ups. WONDER WOMAN from Warner Bros. and DC shattered the box office, becoming one of the most talked-about movies of 2017. Even Sony is planning their SILVER & BLACK movie, with Fox having Zazie Beetz as Domino to DEADPOOL 2.

Whether it’s Thompson, Gal Gadot, or any of the women in PANTHER, the women in these new comic book movies are kicking all the ass and taking names in the process. They’re demanding an equal place on the stage with the big boys, like Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) and Thor (Chris Hemsworth), and there’s no doubt they’ll get even more time to shine in the future.

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR hits theaters May 4.