The day after Taylor Swift premiered her much-anticipated music video for "Bad Blood" at the Billboard Music Awards, beloved Star Trek actor George Takei tweeted this:
Taylor Swift released her much anticipated video Bad Blood starring girl celebs as action stars. Come on Marvel, T. Swift is showing you up.
Dude's got a point. "Bad Blood" is but one of hundreds of examples proving that people will show the fuck up to see women kick ass.
This is a video produced by a woman, completely centered around that woman and a whole cadre of other women who surround her.
They loved one another, they fought one another, and they anchored their own stories.
And it was full to the brim with just as much spectacle as any Marvel property — or at least the music video equivalent.
It isn't perfect, and it's hardly radical thinking — but its existence in all its glory should be one of those reminders that Marvel execs keep in mind when plotting what's next.
Clearly they're on the right track: Taylor/Catastrophe took a man down with her legs in a way that felt like an homage to Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow.
I mean.
But Marvel's first female-led film property won't premiere until 2018 — after a full decade of dude-led properties.
And it'll be even longer before we get a woman of color headlining a Marvel movie.
You snooze you lose in the Hollywood game.
