Photo: BEImages/Matt Baron.
Marvel may have had a summer to remember, but Jessica Chastain isn't that impressed. The Oscar-nominated actress sat down with The Wrap to discuss her upcoming anti-romance romance, The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby, and called out the superhero movie house for marginalizing their female characters.
"Where is the Scarlett Johansson superhero movie? I don't understand it, why is it taking so long for this?” Chastain asked. “This woman clearly shows that people want to go see her in the movies. Lucy, didn't it beat Hercules by a lot opening weekend, when it was made for a lot less? She shows that she kicks ass, she's a great actress. Under the Skin is an incredible film, and why are we still waiting for a go-ahead on a superhero movie starring Scarlett Johansson?"
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT
Well, it turns out Chastain has a point. Lucy took home over $43 million on its opening weekend, compared to just under $30 million for The Rock-led Hercules, which was made for a whopping $120 million more than Lucy. Despite her recent box office prowess, ScarJo still doesn't command anywhere near the salary that The Rock does.
“To me, it's a no-brainer,” Chastain added. “You want to make money, put Scarlett Johansson in a superhero movie!”
While Johansson technically is in a superhero movie — she'll once again suit up to play Black Widow in next summer's The Avengers sequel — her character has yet to get her own standalone film, while Thor and Captain America are both going on movie number three. Marvel recently announced their slate all the way to 2019, and a Black Widow film is nowhere to be seen.
With female-led action films like The Hunger Games franchise and Divergent dominating the box office recently, one might think that Marvel would realize that audiences are hungrier than ever to watch women kick butt on-screen.
Unfortunately, that's not yet the case. Now can someone get Jessica Chastain a job at Marvel, please? (The Wrap)