Marvel Hiring Ava DuVernay Would Open Some Doors

Gone are the days of press releases and a few friendly photo-ops to change public perception. Information is out there, and now companies have no choice but to actively respond or they will be forced to climb an uphill (and expensive) PR battle. Marvel is the latest media giant to go under fire for its blatantly white-washed hiring and casting, and they've had to answer for it with such upcoming films as Captain Marvel and Black Panther. But now diversity is increasiing even further behind the scenes as well: Marvel might hire Selma director Ava DuVernay to direct a film in the future.

After those grim Sony e-mails that detailed why execs thought female superhero movies would be a waste of money, and Age of Ultron implying that Black Widow is a monster for being unable to bear children, the public has been less than happy with the company's treatment of women and minorities. It's high time that the blockbuster giant finally steps up its diversity game. Marvel has, in fact, signed on two women to co-write the upcoming Captain Marvel — Nicole Perlman (Guardians of the Galaxy) and Meg LeFauve (Inside Out) — and it's likely that DuVernay would join either join that project as the director or join Black Panther instead. Bustle reached out to Marvel for comment, but have yet to hear back from them.

DuVernay is still in the negotiations process and no deal has been struck... yet. If DuVernay were to sign on, she would be the first woman and the first African-American to direct a film for Marvel. It's as exciting as it is depressing. The Wrap pointed out that these talks with DuVernay happened right when the American Civil Liberties Union started an investigation on the film industry's lack of female directors. While these two events are likely not directly related, the timing shines a light on the fact that studios can no longer get away with such vast gender-based and racial imbalances.

Nevertheless, Marvel and Hollywood desperately need to hire more women and minorities, and start undoing the years of deeply embedded prejudices in the system. The change has to happen both on and off screen. If women and minorities aren't being hired to tell stories, it's not very likely that their stories will ever be told equally or completely. If DuVernay does sign on, she'd be joining the ranks of directors who lead Hollywood's current biggest box office draws, many of which are woefully white-washed and bad for women. She'd help make the change from the inside. Besides, with the likelihood that her project would turn into gold through the combination of being a DuVernay project as well as a Marvel project, DuVernay would oven the door for more people of color and more women to talk the helm in the future.

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