'Black Panter' Actor Danai Gurira Just Responded To The All-Female 'Avengers' Rumors

With the Avengers: Infinity War film due to hit theaters on April 27, fans have become increasingly curious about Marvel Cinematic Universe and its characters. While its been revealed that some of the Black Panther heroes will become a huge part of the new film's storyline, questions remain about future spinoffs franchise from the studio. During an April 25 interview with The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Black Panther star Danai Gurira discussed rumors about an all-female Avengers film being on the horizon.

In light of the fact that Infinity War has seemingly shaped up to be one the most secretive movies in Marvel history, Ellen DeGeneres did her best to pry some information out of Gurira in reference to the new film and its subsequent follow-ups. Following a warning in which Gurira implied that she could tell DeGeneres “absolutely nothing” about the forthcoming Marvel film, the actor, who plays the head of the Dora Milaje, Okoye, shared her thoughts on the hearsay surrounding the possibility of an all-female Avengers flick.

“I think it is a rumor, but the cool thing is that it’s showing there’s this hunger for that type of thing,” Gurira explained to DeGeneres. “I know that the awesome Brie Larson is filming Captain Marvel as we speak, so these things are starting to happen, and I think it’s really exciting because it shows that yeah, of course, it’s time we start seeing the perspective of the story come exclusively from women.”

Chatters of a female-led Marvel film first gained traction back in November 2017 when Guardians of the Galaxy actor Karen Gillan shared an Instagram pic from Marvel Studios’ 10-year anniversary photo shoot. The snapshot, which brought together all women members of Marvel's Universe including; Tessa Thompson, Zoe Saldana, Pom Klementieff, Scarlett Johansson, Evangeline Lilly, Larson, and Gurira, was hugely exciting to fans who hoped that the photo was a sign that an female-fueled Marvel flick was in the works.

Tessa Thompson, who played Valkryie inThor: Ragnarok, also seemed to back the idea in a February 2018 interview with IGN, hinting that a Marvel's all-female superhero movie could possibly be a thing. In the chat Thompson suggested that there was an interest in bringing the woman together for their very own film. "I'm not Marvel so I can't make it happen, but I can tell you that Marvel is hugely collaborative," she explained in the interview.

Revealing that Marvel President Kevin Feige is "really excited by the idea," Thompson went on to say, "if you look at what's happened already in Phase 4 with me and Valkyrie and our story, and then in Black Panther the women rule supreme." Thompson continued,

"There’s an interest, they’re doing Captain Marvel, they’re doing a Black Widow, there’s an interest in having women at the forefront of this phase. I feel like it’s hopeful, who knows?"

IndieWire also indicates that in November 2017, Thompson, Johansson, Larson, Gillan, Klementieff, and Saldana pitched the idea of an all-female blockbuster to Feige which would feature Marvel's prominent female roles including Gamora, Scarlet Witch, Black Widow, Mantis, Captain Marvel, and Nebula. Gillan additionally spoke with Indiewire about how she and the other women in the group came up with the idea during the Marvel anniversary soirée where the now-infamous photo of the group was taken. She explained:

“Brie Larson was like, ‘We should go up to Kevin Feige and tell him to make an all-female Marvel movie,’ so we marched up there in a group, a whole herd of us, and said that to him. He was like, ‘Yeah, that would be amazing!’ He didn’t really commit to it, but he thought it would be a great idea.”

Hello Giggles indicates that Captain Marvel, starring Larson, will become Marvel's first woman-led superhero film when it is released in March 2019.

While Gurira's comments on The Ellen DeGeneres Show don't confirm that a female-centric film is in the works, they do suggest that Marvel is seemingly open to the idea. With the success of DC Comic's Wonder Woman film last year, its safe to say that Marvel, at the very least, won't be too far behind in bringing more female-led stories to the forefront.