Current Events > Jessica Alba: "Marvel movies are still quite Caucasian."

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https://www.insider.com/jessica-alba-believes-marvel-films-are-still-quite-caucasian-2022-7

Jessica Alba said that Marvel films are "still quite Caucasian" in regards to inclusion and diversity.

Alba, 41, discussed her thoughts in a new interview with Glamour UK's Emily Maddick this week while touching on the lack of representation she saw as a young actress in Hollywood. Alba played Sue Storm in the 2005 film "Fantastic Four," and its 2007 sequel, "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer."

Alba acknowledged that she's noticed a push for diversity in recent years, but the entertainment industry still has a long way to go.

"Even if you look at the Marvel movies that's the biggest driver of fantasy and what's happening right now in entertainment, because it's sort of the family thing it's still quite Caucasian," Alba told the outlet.

She then referred to her "Fantastic Four" films, adding, "I would say I was one of the few back in the day ... And it was before Marvel was sold to Disney ... but it's still quite more of the same."

Marvel, which Disney acquired in 2009, has made efforts to include more diversity in its projects in recent years. A nearly all-Black cast starred in "Black Panther" in 2018, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe unveiled its first Asian-American superhero in "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings." Anthony Mackie, a Black actor, will also play Captain America in an upcoming film.

On Disney+, the series "Ms. Marvel" introduced the franchise's first Muslim superhero.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/4/8/9/AAaB-xAADfQ5.jpg

Is she pretending the F4 movies didn't try to make her look white as hell

Idk why I misread her as Jessica Biel >____>

I talk about racism all the time. However I do not think she is a correct here. Marvel has more diversity then so many other brands. And women is big roles. So much so Alt-righters hate her.

She's not wrong.

America is pretty Caucasian

non-white guy here

the "everything is TOO WHITE11!!!" crowd is annoying af. look at the recent house of the dragon trailer for example. uhh, pretty sure the targaryens are supposed to be pale af. it's one of their defining physical features. and now Corlys is suddenly a token character smh

if you wanna criticize MCU films, go after things that matter like the villains being underutilized or the lack of direction in phase 4 (so far). not this superficial s***

Raikuro posted...

Is she pretending the F4 movies didn't try to make her look white as hell

Yeah, everyone I knew back then had a crush on her... even the girls, everyone thought she was just white. Dont think they would have cared, but no one was acting like she was pushing representation forward.

cjsdowg posted...

I talk about racism all the time. However I do not think she is a correct here. Marvel has more diversity then so many other brands. And women is big roles. So much so Alt-righters hate her.

Marvel has definitely done a great job.

Jesus fucking christ. Actors should be hired based on their ability to best portray the character they are playing. No one should care if they are White, Black, Asian or anything else. It's not fucking important.

"Antiracism" just tears things apart and eats itself. See: Philadelphia's domestic violence NGO

Smashingpmkns posted...

She's not wrong.

tony stark replaced by Riri Williams
captain America replaced by the guy that was falcon
hulk replaced by she hulk
thor basically replaced by Valkyrie
war machine was never white
black widow is dead
now we have an entire black franchise (black panther)
redhead MJ replaced by zendaya MJ
white jock flash Thompson replaced by indian rich guy flash Thompson.
new POC characters are appearing (like America Chvez ) while a new white male character right now would be taboo.

where is this overwhelming whiteness again? The only white main characters left in the movie theatre franchises are dr strange, Wanda, star-lord, Bucky and peter Parker.

the black panther movie by itself has more non-white characters than then entire MCU has white characters left.

I do not feel this is a bad thing, at all. I am not complaining about it, I dont care. All I am saying is Alba is lying. What does she want, to replace Wanda? To have a Persian dr strange?

MrAndersonWb posted...

All I am saying is Alba is lying. What does she want

relevance. it's what washed actors do

Raikuro posted...

Is she pretending the F4 movies didn't try to make her look white as hell

latinx come in all shapes and colors. Did you really expect all Latinx actresses to have braided hair and look like the encanto characters?

Ahh yes. Jessica "im not latina" alba. Weird take from her.

I wish I knew anything about Marvel movies so I could chime in on this one.

Heavy_D_Forever posted...

Jesus fucking christ. Actors should be hired based on their ability to best portray the character they are playing. No one should care if they are White, Black, Asian or anything else. It's not fucking important.

Youre not wrong. But i take it you dont remember the outcry when they gave kingpin to mcd.

She's right

But I think the issue is more China than the US. That's their 2nd biggest market and they do not like non White/Chinese MCs.

Hence why the TV shows are much more diverse than the movie.

The simple fact is if Iron Man was black and Thor was Hispanic and Captain America was a Jewish woman from Isreal. The movies would have made a fraction in revenue. And the guys who make it aren't going to do that.

To their credit they are giving different races/sexes supporting roles and more representation in the TV shows. Heck they cast Peter Dinklage in a role that had nothing to do with being a midget. I can't think of another Hollywood blockbuster movie that ever did that.

I mean to put it into perspective, Ant-Man and The Wasp is considered a flop by MCU standards.... That did better than Black Panther in China and came out around the same time.

SauI_Goodman posted...

Ahh yes. Jessica "im not latina" alba. Weird take from her.

did she actually say that?

Guns_of_Verdun posted...

She's right

But I think the issue is more China than the US. That's their 2nd biggest market and they do not like non White/Chinese MCs.

Hence why the TV shows are much more diverse than the movie.

The simple fact is if Iron Man was black and Thor was Hispanic and Captain America was a Jewish woman from Isreal. The movies would have made a fraction in revenue. And the guys who make it aren't going to do that.

To their credit they are giving different races/sexes supporting roles and more representation in the TV shows. Heck they cast Peter Dinklage in a role that had nothing to do with being a midget. I can't think of another Hollywood blockbuster movie that ever did that.

I mean to put it into perspective, Ant-Man and The Wasp is considered a flop by MCU standards.... That did better than Black Panther in China and came out around the same time.

how is she right? Did you read post 12? Lets go through the breakdown together

MrAndersonWb posted...

latinx come in all shapes and colors. Did you really expect all Latinx actresses to have braided hair and look like the encanto characters?

Are you willfully ignoring the hair dye, contact lenses, and makeup plastered on her for those movies. She looked like she stepped off the set of White Chicks.

Cool. Why doesn't she take what's left of her own money and create her own films that she can choose who is in them?

MrAndersonWb posted...

how is she right? Did you read post 12? Lets go through the breakdown together

User Since: May 2022 Karma: 29 Active Posts: 142

Let's not

When I watch Tom Holland's Spiderman just feels like they gave him so much from Miles Morales origin. Instead of just having a black Spiderman

Raikuro posted...

Are you willfully ignoring the hair dye, contact lenses, and makeup plastered on her for those movies. She looked like she stepped off the set of White Chicks.

but some Latinas can look like that naturally.

Don't blame the movie makers, blame the comic creators.

She's wrong.

Is this supposed to be a joke? Marvel is the last IP that I would expect to be accused of being too white. You can literally find characters of every color under the rainbow. What version of these movies are people watching?

Idk I think they have been doing good job with diversity

Black Panther
Ms Marvel
Shang Chi
Luke Cage
Wandavision

Its not all white men. Its still mostly white men but the we can see that Marvel has been slowly putting out more diverse films

VideoboysaysCube posted...

Is this supposed to be a joke? Marvel is the last IP that I would expect to be accused of being too white. You can literally find characters of every color under the rainbow. What version of these movies are people watching?

There was a black Locksmith in an episode of Friends once and Ross fucked a black girl.

It's less about character's existing and more about who the characters are.

The MCU movie brand will always be symbolized by this:

https://c.tenor.com/atuEM9DqpxkAAAAC/the-avengers-team.gif

Don't pretend you can't see it. Flash Thompson and Mary Jane might not be caucasian but Spiderman was never going to be Miles in the MCU. It was always going to be Peter Parker, literally 3 times.

The doctor in Age of Ultron was Asian but then she fell off the face of the Earth.

Hell Dr Strange traveled the world to find ancient Eastern magical powers and ended up in China where he.... found it in a caucasian chick...

I feel like you can't claim not to see this. Marvel flat out went out of it's way to make their TV shows more diverse to counteract this.

SSJPurple posted...

Idk I think they have been doing good job with diversity

Black Panther
Ms Marvel
Shang Chi
Luke Cage
Wandavision

Its not all white men. Its still mostly white men but the we can see that Marvel has been slowly putting out more diverse films

mostly white men? Cap is gone, Ironman is gone, Thor is getting phased out by Valkyrie, who is left? Spider-Man, Hawkeye and dr strange? Thats it?

Namor is Mexican.

gmanthebest posted...

Cool. Why doesn't she take what's left of her own money and create her own films that she can choose who is in them?

I think she actually does have a lot of money from her company/brand. Probably made a lot more from it than her acting career.

.

MrAndersonWb posted...

mostly white men? Cap is gone, Ironman is gone, Thor is getting phased out by Valkyrie, who is left? Spider-Man, Hawkeye and dr strange? Thats it?

Idk I havent actually watched a Marvel movie since Infinity War but I imagine if we tallied up the numbers my statement probably isnt false.

But it sells....

Guns_of_Verdun posted...

There was a black Locksmith in an episode of Friends once and Ross fucked a black girl.

It's less about character's existing and more about who the characters are.

The MCU movie brand will always be symbolized by this:

https://c.tenor.com/atuEM9DqpxkAAAAC/the-avengers-team.gif

Don't pretend you can't see it. Flash Thompson and Mary Jane might not be caucasian but Spiderman was never going to be Miles in the MCU. It was always going to be Peter Parker, literally 3 times.

The doctor in Age of Ultron was Asian but then she fell off the face of the Earth.

Hell Dr Strange traveled the world to find ancient Eastern magical powers and ended up in China where he.... found it in a caucasian chick...

I feel like you can't claim not to see this. Marvel flat out went out of it's way to make their TV shows more diverse to counteract this.

so if a franchise starts white and then purged out all white characters it will still be white and a target of criticism? What?

look at the gif you used as example. Cap, Ironman and black widow are gone. 2 of them were replaced by black characters. 2 are not dead but are being phased out by a replacement that is not a white man (hulk, Thor). That leaves us with Hawkeye

coolcono posted...

Don't blame the movie makers, blame the comic creators.

Yea too many black superheroes have black in their name like Black Panther and Black Adam. It should have never been a thing.

hulk replaced by she hulk
thor basically replaced by Valkyrie

Um what?

Phase 1 and a little of Phase 2 MCU she would be right, but Phase 3 and 4 are currently the most diverse we have with some of the Phase 1 and 2 are getting replaced with less represented minorities. I think she was probably only referencing Phase 1 and 2 when asked that question, because I think the casual audience would think of Ironman, Captain America, and Hulk when you say Marvel.

VideoboysaysCube posted...

Is this supposed to be a joke? Marvel is the last IP that I would expect to be accused of being too white. You can literally find characters of every color under the rainbow. What version of these movies are people watching?

People like that wont be happy until there is no white people in anything. On second thought they will never be happy.

She's right in a way. But most of their biggest characters were made 50-80 years ago so it's not exactly surprising. They have been doing better lately. And they have played around with secondary characters, like Heimdall, since the start.

Heavy_D_Forever posted...

Jesus fucking christ. Actors should be hired based on their ability to best portray the character they are playing. No one should care if they are White, Black, Asian or anything else. It's not fucking important.

1) Wouldn't the people best able portray/act be those who have had benefits of acting classes etc, which come from resources that were generally associated more with being white (at least in the US)?
2) Are you saying that the countless African American children who were excited to see a superhero that looked like them when BP came out were wrong for "caring that the character was black"?

I mean a lot of the characters are white and we see other changes to race for characters as well.

I feel it's a pretty vague statement.

She's not wrong.
They deserve props for having decent diversity in their leads and especially in phase 3 and 4, plus the tv shows are more diverse. However, they get whiter when you look at the supporting cast and villains. No repeats -

IM1: Tony, Pepper, Happy, Stane, Rhodey, Coulson = 4 white men, 1 white woman, 1 black man
TIH: Banner, Ross, Betty, Blonsky = 3 white men, 1 woman
IM2: Nicky Fury, Black Widow, Whiplash, Hammer = 1 black man, 1 white woman, 2 white men
CA1: Steve, Peggy, Red Skull, Bucky = 3 white men, 1 white woman
Thor 1: Thor, Jane, Loki, Odin, Sif, Heimdall, Warriors 3, Darcy, Selvig (including these two because they show up in a lot of other movies) = 6 white men, 3 white women, 1 black man, 1 asian man
Avengers: Hawkeye = 1 white man
IM3: Mandarin, Killian = 1 half indian man, 1 white man
Thor 2: Malekith = 1 white man
Cap 2: Falcon, Sharon, Crossbones, Pierce = 1 black man, 1 white woman, 2 white men
GotG: Star-Lord, Gamora, Groot, Drax, Nebula, Rocket, Ronin, Collector = 3 white men, 1 latina/black woman, 1 Filipino man, 1 mixed man, 1 hispanic man
AoU: Wanda, Pietro, Ultron, Vision: 1 white woman, 3 white men
Ant-Man: Scott, Hope, Hank, Cross, Luis = 3 white men, 1 white woman, 1 hispanic man
Civil War: Spidey, T'Challa, Zemo = 2 white men, 1 black man
Dr Strange: Strange, Wong, Mordo, Ancient One, Kaecillius = 2 white men, 1 asian man, 1 black man, 1 white woman
GotG 2: Yondu, Ego, Mantis = 2 white men, 1 asian woman
Homecoming: MJ, Vulture, May, Ned = 1 black woman, 1 white man, 1 white woman, 1 asian man
Thor 3: Hela, Valkyrie, Korg, Grandmaster, Executioner = 1 white woman, 1 black woman, 1 pacific islander man, 2 white men
BP: Kilmonger, Shuri, W'Kabi, M'Baku, Nakia, Okoye, Ross, Klaue = 3 black men, 3 black women, 1 white man
Infinity War: Thanos, Eitri = 2 white men
Ant Man and Wasp: Ava, Janet = 1 black woman, 1 white woman
Captain Marvel: Carol, Yon-Rogg, Korath, Maria, Talos = 1 white woman, 2 white men, 1 black man, 1 black woman
Spidey 2: Mysterio = 1 white man
BW: Yelena, Melina, Antonia, Red Guardian = 3 white women, 1 white man
Shang-Chi: Will, Katy, Nan, Wenwu = 2 asian men, 2 asian women
Eternals: Thena, Black Knight, Sersi, Gilgamesh, Ikaris, Ajak, Druig, Kingo, Sprite, Makkari, Phastos = 2 white women, 3 white men, 1 asian woman, 2 asian men, 1 hispanic woman, 1 black woman, 1 black man
NWH: Spidey 2, Spidey 3, Osborn, Ock, Sandman, Lizard, Electro = 6 white men, 1 black man
DS2: America Chavez = 1 native woman
Thor 4: Gorr = 1 white man

You can't just say "oh yeah there's a ton of diversity when you look at the leads" when all the villains and side characters also tend to be white (and male)

BlueTigerLion posted...

Yea too many black superheroes have black in their name like Black Panther and Black Adam. It should have never been a thing.

I feel like Marvel kind of acknowledges that to a certain extent. They made a few "Black Falcon" jokes in Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Sam Wilson was having none of that lol.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJBTc2AjBMc

KobiusBrandle_F posted...

non-white guy here

lmao

gmanthebest posted...

Cool. Why doesn't she take what's left of her own money and create her own films that she can choose who is in them?

People would complain about that too, that wouldnt really change anything.

Guns_of_Verdun posted...

Hell Dr Strange traveled the world to find ancient Eastern magical powers and ended up in China where he.... found it in a caucasian chick...

I found this choice kind of weird myself. Were they worried about the old foreign wise man trope? In the comics Dr Strange definitely found wisdom from a local.

"Fewer white people please."