Marvel Studios'Â executive VP of film production, Victoria Alonso, revealed that Marvel Studios has big plans to continue the development of the MCU. In addition to teasing more animated projects after What If...?, Alonso insists that feedback from MCU fans is an important part of what Marvel hopes to accomplish in the future.
During the NALIP Media Summit, which highlights Latinx voices in the industry, Alonso notes how important it is to include diverse voices, especially on a stage like the one Marvel Studios provides. While Marvel has typically stuck with a human approach to its storytelling, as a filmmaker, Alonso knows that it's not the only way. Alonso cites animation as her "first love" and teases that while Marvel is just branching into animation with What If...?, there will be more to come from the studio. "We're going to have our animation branch and mini studio, and there will be more to come from that as well," she said to Variety Senior Editor Marc Malkin.
Diversity is a personal project for Alonso. Married to Imelda Corcoran (who played Selby in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier), Alonso mentioned a number of struggles she has faced in her profession as a gay woman born outside of the United States. "If you cannot find your own fit in those rooms, make your own rooms for you," Alonso said. "If the room didn't want me, I walked away unless I felt like I belonged in that room, and I refreshed their minds of the reasons why I should be there."
Alonso finds it incredibly important for people to find themselves represented on the screen. "There's a layer of shame that goes away, there's a layer of 'I don't belong, I don't deserve it, I am not worthy' that goes away," she said. As reflective and inspirational as Marvel characters can be, Alonso reminds upcoming talent that not all superheroes wear capes. "You don't need a cape, you don't need a hammer, you don't need a shield." Alonso said. "Your superpower is your voice and your voice will create change for yourself, for society and for those who you love."
Recently, Marvel has made many strides in representation, including the recent LGBTQIA+ confirmation in Loki, leading women in Captain Marvel and Black Widow, and minorities in Black Panther and the upcoming Shang-Chi film. Over the past year, Marvel has continued to make significant strides in representation through its use of streaming services. WandaVision, led predominantly by women including Wanda, Monica, and Agatha, illuminated the story of secondary characters like Wanda and Vision. In addition to crowning Sam Wilson as the new Captain America, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier provided meaningful conversations about race.
So while much of the conversation about the MCU's future has been about the multiverse and the potential formation of a new superhero team, it appears fans can look forward to a more diverse cast of characters to carry out those storylines compared to the first three phases of the franchise. Loki star Tom Hiddleston has already teased that the animated series What If...? will continue to set up what's next for the MCU, so perhaps fans will have a better sense of what the future holds for Marvel Studios after the show premieres in August.
What If…? will premiere on Disney Plus on August 11, 2021.
Source: Variety