Films like Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel aren’t the first films to star female superheroes, but they are a good sign of things to come. For years, studios feared that audiences would receive women headlining comic book movies poorly, following the failure of films like Catwoman and Elektra. However, now superheroines are big business, which is great for studios and fans.
Once Captain Marvel becomes the success it inevitably looks geared to become, the floodgates will open. Birds of Prey and Black Widow are already on the horizon. Supergirl and Batwomanhave series on CW. Tons of superhero films starring women will hit the market. But which films would be most interesting to watch? Which women should get their time to be heroes? Which will be most enjoyable to watch? Which stories have the most potential? In the post-Captain Marvel era, which female superhero movies will top the box office?
America Chavez
One of the more controversial superheroes in recent years, America Chavez is the first Latin-American LGBTQA superhero to star in a Marvel Comic book. She’s brash, full of personality, and an incredible character to star in an MCU film.
What Chavez brings to the table is uniqueness. Her story is unique. Her powers are unique. She comes from another universe. She has two moms. She will beat you in the face. There is no one in the MCU quite as brash and intense as America. While this has angered some fans, the world of superhero cinema needs a female superhero this confident.
Kitty Pryde
Kitty Pryde has often been disregarded by fans of the X-Men films as just that character always put out-of-focus (or that character played by Ellen Page sometimes). However, what fans are overlooking is that Kitty Pryde is one of the most dynamic mutants around.
Starting out as a plucky teen dealing with her identity as a mutant and Jewish girl, Pryde quickly rose to prominence, becoming a surrogate daughter to Wolverine, joining multiple teams—including the X-Men— Guardians of the Galaxy, and Excalibur, to becoming the leader of a whole team of X-Men. Also, she has a pet dragon.
Kitty Pryde’s journey can be a fascinating one of growth and discovery. Her powers may not seem impressive, but her creativity using them makes her one of a kind.
Catwoman
Yes, Catwoman had a movie. It was terrible. But considering that version of Catwoman wasn’t Selina Kyle, it seems like a bad idea to let that film eliminate any possibility for a good Catwoman superhero movie to be told.
Catwoman is a burglar who can stand toe-to-toe with Batman and the criminals of Gotham. She could find herself involved in some neo-noir heist story, with stakes escalating as the whole of Gotham converges around her. There are so many interesting stories that can be told with Catwoman — with or without the Dark Knight showing up. Catwoman—Selina Kyle–deserves a good superhero movie.
Faith
Faith seems like an unusual female superhero to get a movie. After all, she isn’t a DC or Marvel character; she’s valiant. However, among superheroes, Faith is noticeably different.
This is not to say that, just because Faith is a nerdy, plus-sized heroine that she’s somehow inherently deserving of a movie over, say, Riri Williams. It’s that Faith is such a unique hero—unlike anything prior put out onto film—that she would stand out as a character who also happens to have a great character and story that can be mined for stories.
Kamala Khan
Another character who has garnered much attention since her inception, Kamala Khan is a Muslim girl from NJ turned into an Inhuman who, inspired by her idol, Carol Danvers, takes up her old moniker as Ms. Marvel.
Kamala started as a popular example of a diverse superhero but has become such an integral, beloved character. She’s a fan of heroes who deals with teenage problems. She’s brave; but also human. She’s a team player with unique powers and abilities.
She’s, in essence, an incredible modern hero who, in a few short years, has become one of the most beloved superheroes around.
Jane Foster - Thor
Jane Foster has appeared in the MCU as Thor’s girlfriend. However, her best stories come when she becomes worthy of Mjolnir itself and inherits the powers of Thor — all while dying slowly of cancer.
The tragedy of Jane Foster’s Thor offered readers a viewpoint on a superhero struggling with terminal illness. All-powerful, yet devastated by a very real ailment. To see a pre-established character in the MCU headline her own film would be a treat.
Not to mention it would give Natalie Portman a role worthy of her incredible acting abilities.
Spider-Woman
Coming off of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, many seem eager to see more of Spider-Gwen, to the point where she will be receiving her spin-off film. However, MCU fans have been eager for a different Spider-Woman to take center stage for some time: Jessica Drew.
Jessica Drew may look like a Spider-Man cast member, but her history is intertwined with the greater Marvel universe. Friends with Carol Danvers, given powers thanks to Hydra, Jessica Drew has connections with the whole superhero world. Beyond the role she can play in world building the expanded universe, Jessica Drew exists as a unique, different character unlike any we’ve seen on screen before.
She-Hulk
What do you do when you’re given the powers of the Hulk but retain your personality and intelligence? Become a lawyer!
There hasn’t been a superhero movie that’s also a courtroom drama since Ben Affleck’s Daredevil, which didn’t exploit the potential intrigue of its courtroom setting. A She-Hulk movie can be at once an entertaining superhero film starring a fabulous character who gains confidence in herself thanks to her abilities AND a fascinating super-powered drama about law and order.
Storm
Of all the X-Men, Storm may be the most beloved. She’s constantly appeared on screen as a core member of the X-Men, but never once has she been given a staring role — or a character arc divorced from the rest of the X-Men. As an incredible character in her own right with a lot of history, this is a misstep.
Storm’s story can take her across Africa, where she stole to survive, where people believed her to be a God — where she married T’Challa and became queen of Wakanda. Her story can have her confront mutant oppression on her own terms. She can do all sorts of incredible things! She’s one of the most beloved women of color in the comic book world. She needs a story where her own story can be told.
Batgirl
Barbara Gordon remains one of the most beloved superheroes around. Daughter of the Gotham Police Commissioner, mentee to the Dark Knight, and, eventually, leader of the Birds of Prey, Barbara Gordon has worn many hats over the years, yet so many casual superhero fans dismiss her as just Batgirl.
A Batgirl film can bring her rise, fall, and rise again to a new audience of people who need to see one girl without powers strive in a world of Gods and Monsters.
