Marvel’s powerhouse directors Joe and Anthony Russo of Captain America: Winter Soldier fame, as well their upcoming Civil War, delved into a very prominent topic that had yet to be touched by the cinematic universe.
Marvel’s television series has circled much respect for their contribution of LGBT characters by audiences, having already brought in gay and lesbian characters through Jeri Hogarth of Jessica Jones and Joey Guitierrez of Agents of Shield respectively.
Speaking to Collider, Joe Russo responded to the question with an insightful response of Hollywood’s late blooming:
I think the chances are strong. I mean, it’s incumbent upon us as storytellers who are making mass-appeal movies to make mass-appeal movies, and to diversify as much as possible. It’s sad in the way that Hollywood lags behind other industries so significantly — one because you think that it would be a progressive industry, and two it’s such a visible industry. So I think it’s important that on all fronts we keep pushing for diversification because then the storytelling becomes more interesting, more rich, and more truthful.
Recently, Marvel has received criticism due to their casting of Dr. Strange’s The Ancient One, who instead of keeping the roots of Asian descent, the part went to Scottish actress Tilda Swinton.
Fellow director and brother Anthony Russo also contributed his thoughts on a positive outlook to future possibilities:
I think this is a philosophy of Marvel, in success it becomes easier to take risks. There’s a lot of unconventional ideas in ‘Civil War’ in terms of what people’s expectations of a superhero movie are, but I think we were able to do that because ‘Winter Soldier’ worked and Marvel’s been working in general, so there’s more of a boldness in terms of what you can try and where you can go. So I think that’s very hopeful for all of us moving forward that bolder and bolder choices can be made.
Captain America: Civil War opens in theaters this Friday.