Comic book movies (and comic books, themselves) have historically had an issue with female characters. Either the film wouldn’t have one. Or even worse, the film would have them but they’d be the pretty window dressing/love interest that the macho male hero would have to fight to defend. But in recent years, thanks to the changing cultural appreciation of these films and society as a whole, superhero films are no longer able to sideline female characters or use them solely for their looks. And according to a member of the “Dark Phoenix” cast, this is a welcome change.
One of the grandfathers of the current age of superhero films is Fox’s “X-Men.” The original film came out almost 20 years ago, and since then, over a dozen X-films have been produced by the studio, including the latest, “Dark Phoenix.” And star Alexandra Shipp, who plays Storm in the most recent films, comments that the new film finally takes advantage of its female cast and uses them to be more than just pretty window dressing.
“It’s really fun to be a part of a movie that is more explorative of their female characters,” Shipp said (via Digital Spy). “For a long time, especially with ‘X-Men’, we’re just, like, the big tits in the back.”
She continued, “What’s great about this is we’ve grown as a group, as a family and there’s something we can really build on as individuals. Everyone’s different, we’re not just boobs and that’s nice.”
The “Dark Phoenix” set also proved to be an educational one for Shipp and her young castmates, as they got to work directly with a veteran female performer like Jessica Chastain, who plays the film’s mysterious villain.
“It was really cool to be chatting with them and talking about the things that we’ve experienced in this industry,” reflected Shipp. “We were having #MeToo conversations before the #MeToo movement started and I thought that was so interesting and so poignant.”
Sadly, this also points out that the production of this film was pre-#MeToo, which shows just how delayed the final Fox ‘X-Men’ film has been.
Alas, “Dark Phoenix” arrives, better late than never, on June 2.