Last week, the trailer dropped for what will be the 26th movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise: Eternals, directed by Chloé Zhao. Opening with a dreamy, misty shoreline, we hear Skeeter Davis’s The End of the World. An ominous spaceship appears over the ocean, and the Eternals begin to prepare for the impending battle.
This year, Zhao was only the second woman (and first woman of colour) to win Best Director at the Academy Awards: a reminder of Hollywood’s entrenched gender and race biases. The cinematic world of Marvel, which began with Iron Man in 2008, has been similarly male and white.
By Sarah Whitten, CNBC •
Updated 2 hours ago
Disney
In the last few years, Hollywood has learned that movies with diverse casts and creators can be see big box office returns.
Marvel s Shang-Chi and the Ten Rings has the chance to become as successful as Black Panther was in 2018.
Disney is already touting its confidence in the film, as well as the movie theater industry as a whole, by committing to a 45-day exclusive theatrical window for the new superhero film.
If Hollywood needed a sign that diverse content sells, it got one in 2018. Download our mobile app for iOS or Android to get the latest breaking news and local stories.