Nia DaCosta Opens Up About Dealing With Racist Marvel Fans, And Rising Above The Haters

"I try to live my life for myself, my community, and my family and that's who I think about making movies for"

It feels like a lifetime has passed since we had another Marvel film but The Marvels is finally here to scratch that long-awaited itch. The sequel to Captain Marvel will bring together a historic female-led cast featuring Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, and Iman Vellani as their powers are joined together like sisters.

Marvel Studios

We had the amazing opportunity to sit down with the film's director, the game-changing Nia DaCosta, to speak about the upcoming film and what it's like being a director as a Black woman.

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Nia, I'm going to take a little bit of time to compliment you, so if you get uncomfortable with compliments, I'm so sorry. But you are the youngest person to ever direct a Marvel film, you are a badass Black woman and this is literally your third feature. Did you ever think you'd be where you are right now?

No, not at all. I was confident that I would have a career of some sort, and I knew I wanted to do a Marvel movie but I didn't think it would be now. It's pretty crazy.

Do you pinch yourself sometimes?

There are a lot of firsts on a Marvel film. The first time I walked into like a giant stage, the first time I saw the stunt team show me a big flying apparatus. The first time I'm looking at AR footage so I can see what's gonna be put in the FX later. I was like 'This is really fun, really cool and really awesome'

Having a lot of "firsts" on a Marvel film can be overwhelming. Did you ever have a shake of confidence and if so what steps did you take to make sure you pushed through?

I think I learned on my first three projects before I came and did Marvel was that your collaborators are there for a reason, reach out and be honest. Honesty is so important, and also clear communication as a director. 

I talked to a lot of the other directors. Destin Cretton was someone I talked to a lot during prep and it was so great because he's like, "Oh, you're at that stage where this is happening, you don't have to be stressed about that part" or like, "oh that thing, that should be something you look into" he was really great at just breaking it down and it was almost a mirror of exactly what he'd been feeling at the same time when he was doing Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. 

My executive producer Mary Livano is also just an amazing collaborator and then sometimes I would just text abuse to Kevin Feige haha.

Corey Nickols / Getty Images for IMDb

Everything I previously listed, being so young, being not just Black but a Black woman, unfortunately, brings doubters. When you hear the negative things people are saying, as we know the Marvel fanbase is male-dominated, how do you push through the negativity and acknowledge you're here for a reason?

Well, I have very strict settings on my Instagram haha. For me the best course of action is preventative, as many things in life, I try not to engage. If something actually upsets me I call a friend, it's very straightforward stuff. It's going to happen and I knew this going into it. I remember when I still had a Twitter account years ago, I think it was announced that I was doing the film and there was this bot that was sending me racist abuse. It was kind of funny because it was so obviously a bot, but it also still hurt your feelings to understand that you live in this world like this. But then I was like...block haha. So much of that has nothing to do with me, and nothing to do with the movie. People will like it, people will love it, they'll hate it, they'll not care about it, they won't see it, and I kind of just have to live in my own life and move forward.

Unfortunately as a person of colour, especially a woman colour we just expect...

...Abuse, yeah I know it's true.

Yes, and we can't let it play in our minds 24/7!

It's like that Toni Morrison quote that I think a lot of people trot out which is the trigger of racism, is just wasting your time because you're like let me prove to you that I'm actually smart because they said you're not smart, let me prove to you that I'm actually good to what I can do because they say I'm not, and it's like no. You do what you need to do and I'll do what I need to do and I think that's the best way to go.

You don't need to prove anything, you're already exactly where you're supposed to be, you were hired for a reason.

I think so yeah, they should ask Kevin if they have issues.

Corey Nickols / Getty Images for IMDb

I know you're from Brooklyn and Brooklynites have a lot of pride, how did you make sure that a piece of yourself was in the film?

You know, it's so funny. I just really take for granted that it will happen because that's kind of ego, isn't it? I need to make sure I'm imprinting on this film and I try to take ego out of it. Especially in such a collaborative space that this is and it has to be because the movie is bigger than me, you can't bring that into it. However, there's some stuff in the movie that I'm really proud we got in there, especially with Teyonah we have some stuff I'm really happy about. 

I like that you mentioned the movie is bigger than you. Young Black girls and grown Black women will be looking at you proud of what you've accomplished, do you feel any pressure of the impact?

I try to be responsible for in that respect, what is being projected, but also I'm always thinking about what freedom actually looks like and freedom is also freedom from that pressure. And sometimes you can't be free of it. I actively think about a lot, what does it look like to be free as an artist, as a human being, as a Black woman and what do we have to carry? 

This is sort of how I approach this sort of thing and it started with Candyman where it's just such a triggering film but it's also a horror movie. I think a lot about how to be responsible with who we are, but that's kind of from an ethical point of view and that will exist in anything that I do no matter if it's a Marvel film or a tiny little short.

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So what does that mean to you, and how do you see freedom as a Black woman?

I'm still sorting it out.  I think there's a lot that we're brought up to think about. I remember when my mum was first telling me about shopping while Black and I was like, "What the, I do think about that now too; what the hell is going on?". When you're learning what it means to be a Black woman in the world and your family trying to protect you and say "Hey, this is a reality". I think sometimes we can try to live in opposition to expectations or live in opposition to this or try to judge ourselves or each other based on the criteria that we weren't involved in creating. I think freedom from that is a constant journey in figuring out where that is and what that looks like. I'm always sort of thinking about that. 

It's a constant journey but I try to live my life for myself, my community, and my family and that's who I think about making movies for, as opposed to "how do I make sure I never put a foot out of line so that I can make sure that I represent and so I can make sure I do this" No, it should be "how can I stay true to myself and honour the people I care about?"

The Marvels is in cinema November 10th!