Just How Diverse Is The Marvel Cinematic Universe Really?
What are the most diverse MCU movies?
Marvel Studios is currently and unquestionably the leader of our film culture. Their Cinematic Universe dominates the box office, our water-cooler conversations, and even the opinions of stuffy film critics. The films portray heroes to aspire to, to look up to, to emulate. Thus, it is of the utmost importance that these films deliver us heroes who, frankly, look like all of the people who see these films. This is for the ongoing purposes of inclusion and positive representation in a historically regressive industry. Have even the most diverse MCU movies succeeded at this task? In an effort to get close to a conclusion on this complicated question, we’ve analyzed each MCU entry based on its representation of people of color both in front of and behind the camera.Iron Man
Cast: Terrence Howard is second-billed as James “Rhodey” Rhodes, Tony Stark’s best friend. It’s hinted one day he’ll become War Machine. Iranian-American actor Shaun Toub plays Yinsen, who helps Tony build the first Iron Man suit.
Pakistani-American actor Faran Tahir plays minor villian Raza, and spoke of trying to make him different than stereotypical terrorists he’s played. Samuel L. Jackson memorably crashes the credits as Nick Fury.
Crew: Cinematographer Matthew Libatique is Filipino-American. Co-writer Hawk Otsby is Indian-Norwegian. Composer Ramin Djawadi is Iranian-German.
The Incredible Hulk
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Cast: Michael K. Williams makes a brief appearance as “Harlem Bystander”, a role created for him by Edward Norton.
Ghanaian-British actor Peter Mensah plays General Joe Greller, friend of villain General Ross. Brazilian martial artist Rickson Gracie cameos as Bruce Banner’s martial arts instructor. Black actor P.J.
Kerr makes a cameo as Jim Wilson, a character from the comics.
Crew: None of the main creative crew are people of color.
Iron Man 2
Cast: Terrence Howard is replaced by Don Cheadle as Rhodes, for interpersonal and financial reasons that seem to have cooled.
Rhodes becomes War Machine in this film. Samuel L. Jackson has a larger role as Nick Fury. Olivia Munn has a cameo appearance as a reporter. British-Iranian journalist Christiane Amanpour appears as herself.
Crew: Matthew Libatique returns as cinematographer.
Thor
Cast: Idris Elba plays Heimdell, the all-seeing guard of Asgard. His casting prompted outrage among, um, racists.
Japanese actor Tadanobu Asano plays Hogun, a brooding member of the Warriors Three. Samuel L. Jackson cameos as Nick Fury. Mexican actor Adriana Barraza plays diner owner Isabella Álvarez. Maximiliano Hernández plays S.H.I.E.L.D.
agent Jasper Sitwell, and spoke of the importance of Latinx representation in superhero cinema.
Crew: Cypriot cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos shot the film.