# Will DC or Marvel be the first to deliver a modern female-headlined super heroine movie? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 13, 2014, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-dc-or-marvel-be-the-first-to-deliver-a-modern-female-headlined-super-heroine-movie/681226 "2014-02-13T08:16:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-dc-or-marvel-be-the-first-to-deliver-a-modern-female-headlined-super-heroine-movie/681226/41 "2014-02-14T17:15:17Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > None of those are superhero film, or characters. > > Chalk & Cheese. You didn’t put that qualifier on it. What you originally said… > [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > I think the problem may be that I’m not sure how many successful action movies have had the lead role be a woman. So…myself and others pointed to SEVERAL female lead action movies that were at least modest hits. Now you seem to be backtracking. ---
**Author:** ![Osiris\_the\_1st](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9de0a6/32.png) [@Osiris\_the\_1st](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Osiris_the_1st)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-dc-or-marvel-be-the-first-to-deliver-a-modern-female-headlined-super-heroine-movie/681226/42 "2014-02-14T17:29:45Z")
> [@epbrown01](#): > > This. If the next Superman movie does well, they’ll start ramping up Supergirl, I’ll bet. Wonder Woman is iffy - the character has great potential, but few writers seem able to capitalize on it. Whedon and Raimi would be good, but both seem married to Marvel projects. Whoever wrote the Justice League cartoons (Dwayne McDuffie mostly) would be good - I loved all of the female characters on those series and WW was a great mix of warrior, princess, and woman (usually teasing Batman). I’ll bet that Warner Bros./DC really wish they’d kept Whedon on Wonder Woman instead of booting him in favor of doing the Ally McWonder Woman TV pilot. I’m really afraid that the tentativly titles Batman Vs. Superman film will just ruin Wonder Woman. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-dc-or-marvel-be-the-first-to-deliver-a-modern-female-headlined-super-heroine-movie/681226/43 "2014-02-14T17:41:50Z")
> [@Push\_You\_Down](#): > > You didn’t put that qualifier on it. > > What you originally said… > > So…myself and others pointed to SEVERAL female lead action movies that were at least modest hits. > > Now you seem to be backtracking. I also question the idea that “action film” and “superhero film” are completely discreet genres. Is there really an audience out there who’s okay with a cat-suited ninja woman beating up zombies, but would balk at a cat-suited ninja woman beating up skrulls? The Deadly Viper Assassination Squad passes muster as an appropriate foil for a female protagonist, but not the League of Assassins? ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-dc-or-marvel-be-the-first-to-deliver-a-modern-female-headlined-super-heroine-movie/681226/44 "2014-02-14T18:09:50Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > Yeah, not a damn chance I’m going to watch that. I don’t know the series but if I was making the movie, I’d start out with Gamora (Thanos’s adopted daughter and now his enemy), Drax (a man killed by Thanos and back for revenge), Moondragon (Drax’s daughter) and Phyla-Vell (Moondragon’s lover). Rocket Racoon and Groot, as far as I can tell, don’t have these sorts of close links to Thanos - they’re just there. Just to be clear… you’ve determined the watchability of a movie based on a 2 second GIF. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-dc-or-marvel-be-the-first-to-deliver-a-modern-female-headlined-super-heroine-movie/681226/45 "2014-02-14T18:21:14Z")
> [@B.Serum](#): > > Just to be clear… you’ve determined the watchability of a movie based on a 2 second GIF. No. That should have been obvious from the fact that I referred to the characters by name, including characters who aren’t going to be in the movie, and their backstories. ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-dc-or-marvel-be-the-first-to-deliver-a-modern-female-headlined-super-heroine-movie/681226/46 "2014-02-14T18:36:44Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > No. That should have been obvious from the fact that I referred to the characters by name, including characters who aren’t going to be in the movie, and their backstories. Ah, that’s a relief. For a minute there, I thought you were making a hasty dismissal of a movie based on arbitrary criteria rather than on how good of a film is. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-dc-or-marvel-be-the-first-to-deliver-a-modern-female-headlined-super-heroine-movie/681226/47 "2014-02-14T18:56:09Z")
> [@B.Serum](#): > > Ah, that’s a relief. For a minute there, I thought you were making a hasty dismissal of a movie based on arbitrary criteria rather than on how good of a film is. I am dismissing the movie because people are trying very hard to convince me that it’s a movie I wouldn’t like. Quality doesn’t come into it. That’s what happens when your biggest selling point is a goddamn talking raccoon. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-dc-or-marvel-be-the-first-to-deliver-a-modern-female-headlined-super-heroine-movie/681226/48 "2014-02-14T19:12:08Z")
> [@Push\_You\_Down](#): > > You didn’t put that qualifier on it. > > What you originally said… > > So…myself and others pointed to SEVERAL female lead action movies that were at least modest hits. > > Now you seem to be backtracking. You just quoted two different people. And the OP is about superhero(ine) movies. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-dc-or-marvel-be-the-first-to-deliver-a-modern-female-headlined-super-heroine-movie/681226/49 "2014-02-14T21:36:37Z")
Ahh dammit. Sorry for that guys. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-dc-or-marvel-be-the-first-to-deliver-a-modern-female-headlined-super-heroine-movie/681226/50 "2014-02-14T23:30:24Z")
> [@Push\_You\_Down](#): > > Marvel isn’t afraid of Obscure. 99% of the world hasn’t heard of the Guardians of the Galaxy AND YET here we are waiting for Andy from Parks and Rec to fly around with a talking raccoon and a talking tree. What the fuck did they do to GotG, that’s not how I remember it. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-dc-or-marvel-be-the-first-to-deliver-a-modern-female-headlined-super-heroine-movie/681226/51 "2014-02-14T23:38:47Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > What the fuck did they do to GotG, that’s not how I remember it. I know. I liked the original team lineup, and have no idea what’s going on now. It looks like they crossed GotG with Howard the Duck. ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2014, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-dc-or-marvel-be-the-first-to-deliver-a-modern-female-headlined-super-heroine-movie/681226/52 "2014-02-15T00:11:41Z")
Y’all are probably remembering the _Guardians of the Galaxy_ with Martinex, Yondu, Vance Astro, Starhawk, etc. That is _over forty years gone_ now, and probably hasn’t been so much as namechecked by Marvel in decades. There is utterly possibility they’d’ve made a movie for some fossilized comic series only remembered by a few grognards. The movie is based on the new _Guardians of the Galaxy_ series that spun out of the Annihilation: Conquest miniseries a few years back. It sold really well, was well received, and has lots and lots of fans who are of the target age to be moviegoers. I liked the old GoG, but the new version was by Abnett & Lanning, and kicked all the asses. As to the OP: Marvel has been deliberately upping the visibility and prominance of Captain Marvel for years now (since ~House of M, IIRC). Their movie franchise is going gangbusters, and DC is… not. I think she’s got a good chance of being the next big thing. Her utterly convoluted backstory – Kree mixup, Rogue throwdown, her icky kid, Binary, Warbird, etc. – is easily jettisoned. And her newest costume doesn’t have the “crimfighting swimsuit model” look that she (and Wonder Woman) used to have. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2014, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-dc-or-marvel-be-the-first-to-deliver-a-modern-female-headlined-super-heroine-movie/681226/53 "2014-02-15T00:32:29Z")
> [@Lightray](#): > > Y’all are probably remembering the _Guardians of the Galaxy_ with Martinex, Yondu, Vance Astro, Starhawk, etc. That is _over forty years gone_ now No, it’s not. Not quite 20. They had a title running from 1990 to 1995, which tied into the New Warriors (Vance Astro and Vance Astrovik are alternate versions of the same guy)…that GotG is currently officially listed as existing on Earth-691, whereas the current team is in 616. But, despite the issues with Vance’s history, the setting of the 90s series was treated as the future of Earth-616. An alternate version of the Earth-691 team (from a universe designated Earth-669116 - har) appeared in an arc of the current GotG series, interacting with the modern team. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2014, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-dc-or-marvel-be-the-first-to-deliver-a-modern-female-headlined-super-heroine-movie/681226/54 "2014-02-15T16:54:27Z")
> [@Push\_You\_Down](#): > > You didn’t put that qualifier on it. > > What you originally said… > > So…myself and others pointed to SEVERAL female lead action movies that were at least modest hits. > > Now you seem to be backtracking. You **do** realize that you are conflating the quotes of two different posters out of context, _don’t you?_ ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2014, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-dc-or-marvel-be-the-first-to-deliver-a-modern-female-headlined-super-heroine-movie/681226/55 "2014-02-17T19:46:24Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > I am dismissing the movie because people are trying very hard to convince me that it’s a movie I wouldn’t like. Quality doesn’t come into it. That’s what happens when your biggest selling point is a goddamn talking raccoon. I see passion in your eyes. ---
**Author:** ![Find\_Friends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@Find\_Friends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Find_Friends)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2014, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-dc-or-marvel-be-the-first-to-deliver-a-modern-female-headlined-super-heroine-movie/681226/56 "2014-02-17T20:07:12Z")
I’m going to go out on a limb and vote for the original [Red Tornado](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Tornado_(Ma_Hunkel)), also known as the **Red Tomato** , famous for being all brawn and no brain. Also famous for being one helluva cook! The idea is too silly NOT to be a success. Look for the next cult classic. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2014, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-dc-or-marvel-be-the-first-to-deliver-a-modern-female-headlined-super-heroine-movie/681226/57 "2014-02-17T20:23:30Z")
Ooo, [Phantom Lady](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantom_Lady)! No expectations for her character except to look good without much on! ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2014, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-dc-or-marvel-be-the-first-to-deliver-a-modern-female-headlined-super-heroine-movie/681226/58 "2014-03-10T22:09:11Z")
Ah, yes, and since the name “Phantom Lady” is public domain, there’s some possibility that if this superhero movie thing hangs on long enough, \*someone \*will make a Phantom Lady movie. ---
**Author:** ![tullsterx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tullsterx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tullsterx)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-dc-or-marvel-be-the-first-to-deliver-a-modern-female-headlined-super-heroine-movie/681226/59 "2014-03-11T18:48:42Z")
I guess it was DC, but both have already done that. There was Elektra, and Cat Woman, Super Girl, Red Sonja. . . another thing that unites them is poor box office performance. But, I think they’re doing a Black Widow movie. Maybe that will do better. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-dc-or-marvel-be-the-first-to-deliver-a-modern-female-headlined-super-heroine-movie/681226/60 "2014-03-11T19:30:02Z")
> [@tullsterx](#): > > I guess it was DC, but both have already done that. There was Elektra, and Cat Woman, Super Girl, Red Sonja. . . another thing that unites them is poor box office performance. But, I think they’re doing a Black Widow movie. Maybe that will do better. You missed the keyword “modern.” And 1984’s Supergirl is probably the first. > **[Supergirl (disambiguation)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supergirl_%28film%29)** > > Supergirl is a DC Comics superhero character. > Supergirl or Super Girl may also refer to: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-dc-or-marvel-be-the-first-to-deliver-a-modern-female-headlined-super-heroine-movie/681226.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-dc-or-marvel-be-the-first-to-deliver-a-modern-female-headlined-super-heroine-movie/681226.md?page=4)