The Four Color Media Monitor

Screen Rant described how the new Black Panther movie, which apparently is drawing some elements from Christopher Priest's run on Black Panther from at least 2 decades ago, but may also be using ideas seen in Ta-Nehisi Coates' run (or in World of Wakanda):

Black Panther producer Nate Moore confirms that they won’t be adapting the concept of the Dora Milaje as some sort of ceremonial wives-in-waiting to the big screen – a controversial part of the comics. In less than a month, Marvel Studios’ first project of the year arrives in theaters as we get reacquainted with Captain America: Civil War standout T’Challa, who returns home after the death of his father to assume the title of Wakanda‘s new king and protector.

Things, of course, won’t go smoothly for the new ruler, although fortunately, T’Challa has some solid allies who are devoted to putting the sake of their homeland first and foremost; these allies are the Dora Milaje, the king’s bodyguards who are just as adept fighters as their cat-suit wearing leader. In the comics, they double up as potential future wives for the hero, something that has rightfully caused concern as the movie’s release approached. However, fans needn’t worry about this making the leap to the big screen.

Now here's a bit of interview data:

Is the betrothal aspect explored as well?

Nate Moore: It’s not. You know, that was sort of part of the original Christopher Priest run where they were all betrothed which we felt wasn’t necessary to tell the story of the Dora and in a way we all kind of rejected as being a little creepy. So we will not be exploring that.

Can we get something straight here? Black Panther debuted way back in 1966, in the pages of Fantastic Four, and the idea of a harem of betrothed wives and the notion T'Challa would practice polygamy weren't explored then. That was, as noted above, something that turned up 2 decades ago in Priest's run on the volume from the late 90s-early 2000s, and it shouldn't have to define BP's world if nobody wants it to.

But then, maybe that's not exactly the concern here. What could be the worry is if the screenplay setup makes T'Challa look like a pimp with a squadron of women in his employ, and it won't make much difference whether they're security agents with formidable skills, it could still have the effect of making BP look pimpish, especially if his security team and such are only comprised of gals.

On which note, if this relies in any way on Coates's more recent run, which was clogged with absurdist feminist propaganda, I'd say that'll be a very bad idea. But if the screenplay makes it look like T'Challa's commanding a group of women, their job as security staff notwithstanding, wouldn't that still have the effect of making the tale look a little creepy, as they're arguing? It would've worked better if they just made the top supervisors of a security staff women, and put more emphasis on co-starring a lady diplomat whom T'Challa could romance. But then, what if it turns out social justice has invaded this film to the point where that's not possible?

And this isn't the only Marvel film in the works that could be affected by political correctness. The film based on Carol Danvers in the Captain Marvel mode is even more noticeably affected, as she wears a full body suit very much like the one forced upon her of recent in the comics, proving the filmmakers lack the confidence the Wonder Woman moviemakers had when they stuck by the iconic swimsuit costume H.G. Peter and other notable artists worked so hard to create with Bill Marston. And not just the Captain Marvel filmmakers. Even the Screen Rant site itself, based on the following:

With production finished on Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers 4, Marvel is moving on to more of 2019’s movies. Filming has kicked off on Captain Marvel, with Brie Larson heading to California to film her first scenes in costume. Naturally, set photos quickly hit the Internet – and took fans by surprise. Concept art had led fans to expect a version of Captain Marvel’s iconic red-and-black costume. Instead, the photos showed Larson wearing an outfit that was green and gray.

What’s going on? And what does this costume actually mean?

I think it means Marvel's comics and movie divisions aren't as independent of each other as hitherto thought. And while the first costume she wore as Ms. Marvel in the late 70s may have had some red and black (but far more red), it doesn't look like that's what they're alluding to. Nope, they're talking about the recent PC design, which was made worse after Marvel's modern artists began drawing her to look more masculine. Besides, the first costume design Carol wore as Ms. Marvel wasn't even the most famous. Rather, it was the second design, with a lot more black, a gold light streak design on the front, and a red sash fastened to her waist. Drawn by the late Dave Cockrum, it was beautiful and dignified, and has better lasting value than the dull, unimaginative design they're going by today; a complete slap in the face to Cockrum's memory. One thing the movie's approach has going for it is that Brie Larson wears her hair longer than is currently drawn for Carol in the comics. But the costume is still very PC-pandering, and that's not likely to bode well.

I also don't like what they say regarding the Kree-Skrull War:

Marvel visionary Kevin Feige has already confirmed that Captain Marvel will be partly inspired by a classic arc known as the Kree-Skrull War. Avengers writer Roy Thomas drew inspiration from Raymond F. Jones’s This Island Earth. He imagined a story in which the planet Earth became caught in the conflict between two vast, powerful alien races – neither of whom cared whether or not Earth survived. The planet became the cosmic equivalent of a Pacific island in World War II, with native islanders horrified as the Americans and the Japanese waged war on their shores.

It's just like them to take everything out of context and draw a moral equivalence between the US and Japan, rather than compare the Kree and Skrull to commies and fascists, recalling that Mar-Vell was a metaphor for defects from the Soviet Union. If WW2 is the political view they're going by in the film, it won't work well at all.

The Marvel movies have always tended to draw inspiration from the Ultimate Universe. Significantly, Brie Larson’s costume is actually a blend of the tradition Mar-Vell outfit and the one he wore in Ultimate Secret. These first set photos definitely tease that the Ultimate Universe is continuing to influence the MCU – and will perhaps inform the plot, as well.

This is another problem I see in the Marvel movies. If the now defunct Ultimate line is where they're getting ideas from, it's ridiculous. What's so wrong with what the [original] 616 universe boasts that they can't draw more from that?

This may offer a subtle clue as to why Captain Marvel is set in the ’90s. Until the ’90s, space exploration was essentially caught up in the Space Race – a period of intense rivalry between the United States and the U.S.S.R.. The fall of the Berlin Wall changed everything, though, and humanity began to focus on space exploration as an end in itself. The Hubble Space Telescope was launched; construction began on the International Space Station; and NASA landed the Pathfinder on Mars. Before the ’90s, space exploration had been a matter of intense rivalry. Now, humanity was looking outwards. Significantly, the USAF maintained a strong connection tie to the American space program.

In the context of the MCU, in the ’90s humanity was taking its first faltering steps into space. And it looks as though that drew attention – from both the Skrulls and the Kree. Neither race will be on Earth with humanity’s best interests at heart. Both are really focused on defeating the other in battle. It’s possible that, in a plot thread lifted from Ultimate Secret, one or both races may intend to prevent humanity reaching the stars.

Whatever their intentions with the plot, I don't see why it has to be set in the 1990s, unless maybe they think the Clinton era was inherently better than any other.

It’s worth stressing one final detail. Brie Larson may be wearing gray-and-green in these set photos, but she’ll inevitably move to the classic color scheme by the end of the film. Concept art released at last year’s San Diego Comic-Con showed Carol Danvers in her traditional red-and-black. There’s no way Marvel would officially release concept art that was so different to the finished product.

She may return to "classic" colors, but if she doesn't wear the 2nd costume design by Cockrum with black and a beam streak on the front with sleeveless shoulders and that shows her legs, then that's where the film succumbs to social justice, as it will if any negative politics are shoved in. Beyond the likelihood she'd need a full bodysuit in space, she does not have to wear such an obvious capitulation to PC. If Gal Gadot didn't have to do that in the WW film, then Brie Larson shouldn't have to in the Captain Marvel movie, though I must say, it doesn't look like they're going about setting up premises the right way. A better idea would've been to begin with Mar-Vell, and then pass a mantle to Ms. Marvel. This film makes it look like they feel there HAS to be a movie starring a heroine at all costs.

Captain Marvel remains a subject of mystery. Why is the film set in the ’90s? How will Mar-Vell be portrayed, and will Carol Danvers wind up allying with the Kree? These first set photos have offered some intriguing hints, and fans are sure to examine every future photo in search of more clues.

Nope, not this fan. For now, what I'm wondering is why Marvel had to shove Carol out of her better role of Ms. Marvel for the sake of a Muslim character in a book rife with bigoted politics. If moviegoers with a realist view catch onto that, it could be embarrassing for the film if anybody knows the comics were sullied with some of the worst SJW-pandering.

Labels: Black Panther, marvel comics, msm propaganda, women of marvel