In 2019, the live-action remake of Disney’s Aladdin raked in $1 billion at the global box office. The film was praised for its representative casting, which included Egyptian-origin actor Mena Massoud as Aladdin, and Naomi Scott, who is of English and Indian descent, as Princess Jasmine. What the film lacked was representation behind-the-scenes. Aladdin was co-written and directed by Guy Ritchie, and while the film was extremely entertaining (some of us definitely love it) and should be lauded for casting non-white actors, it lacked a sense of cultural authenticity, which could be attributed to its lack of representation in key roles behind the camera. Sadly, this is the case for many of Disney’s productions.
Aladdin is part of a slew of financially lucrative live-action reboots by the entertainment giant, alongside Beauty and the Beast, Maleficent, The Lion King, and Mulan, to name a few. Not everyone is a fan of the live-action adaptations, and the quality of these updates has admittedly been hit-or-miss. But Disney is using these films as an opportunity to course-correct its previous casting decisions in the animated versions. They’ve gone a step further by race-bending Ariel (Halle Bailey) in the upcoming The Little Mermaid film, and to Mulan‘s credit its cast was made of up actors of Asian descent. But executives should also focus on increasing its pool of talent off-screen, and Disney doesn’t have to look far for inspiration. Marvel may be one arm of Disney, but it has superseded the conglomerate in terms of diversity both in front of and behind the scenes. Marvel Studios’ push to diversify the storytellers who are bringing its films and TV shows to life not only increases the quality of representation onscreen, it’s also responsible for some of the best and most exciting MCU stories to date.
The Falcon and The Winter Soldier served as Marvel’s second Disney+ series, and to tell the story of Falcon struggling with his decision to give up the Captain America mantle, Marvel turned to Black executive producer and showrunner Malcolm Spellman. Other Marvel series that have, or will, stream on Disney+ are equally promising when it comes to showrunners. WandaVision and She-Hulk both have female showrunners. Ms. Marvel has a team of Pakistani-origin creators and filmmakers bringing the show to life. And noted Egyptian creator Mohamed Diab is directing part of Moon Knight.
Even Marvel’s roster of film directors and writers has expanded from the all-white, all-male creators that were prevalent at the start of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (Guardians of the Galaxy co-writer Nicole Perlman being the rare exception). Black Panther was co-written and directed by Ryan Coogler, and the film went on to bag a Best Picture nomination at the Oscars. Taika Waititi took the reigns for Thor: Ragnarok and is helming the fourth installment of the Thor franchise as well. Anna Boden became the first woman to co-direct a Marvel film when she helmed Captain Marvel. And waiting in the wings is Cate Shortland’s Black Widow, Chloé Zhao’s Eternals, and Nia DaCosta’s The Marvels, which will also be written by a woman, Megan McDonnell.
This is all good news, but why do we want to diversify the people hired to tell these stories? Why can’t we just be happy with diverse casts? Because authenticity makes those stories better. Aladdin was in pre-production for nearly two years and courted plenty of controversy before and after the film’s release. The creators reportedly tried to cast white actors as the leads, and Disney admitted that some of the extras donned brownface to fit into the Agrabah setting. Conversely, Black Panther is specifically a story about what it means to be African-American, as told by African-American filmmakers.
It’s all fine to say that Disney is trying — and it is. A Lion King follow-up is being directed by Barry Jenkins with a decidedly African bent. And Mulan was directed by a woman, but Niki Caro isn’t of Chinese origin, and none of the film’s writers were either. Aside from the many controversies about the choice of filming location for Mulan, many Asian viewers were left underwhelmed by the film because Mulan’s story was one-note. Disney’s upcoming slate of director consists largely of established white male creators like Robert Zemeckis (Pinocchio), Craig Gillespie (Cruella), David Lowery (Peter Pan & Wendy), and Rob Marshall (The Little Mermaid). That’s not to say these filmmakers aren’t talented or won’t make good movies, but as Marvel Studios has proved, diversity only increases the quality of your storytelling.
On the flip side, Disney is diversifying its animated content. Many of the properties announced at the Disney Investor Day event featured characters of color in productions by creators of color. Raya and the Last Dragon had Asian voice actors and writers; Encanto will feature a young Latina lead with Lin-Manual Miranda writing the songs and Charise Castro Smith co-directing. Bao creator Domee Shi is also creating her own animated feature for Pixar, Turning Red. So Disney is willing to be inclusive, as long as the properties are animated. It almost seems like Disney is intent on hiding their POC creators behind animation.
Marvel, meanwhile, is offering viewers fresh points of view both on the big and small screens. Waititi directed a film about Asgardian gods, but his lived experience meant Thor: Ragnarok touched on topics like imperialism as well. Had Coogler and Joe Robert Cole not written Black Panther, we may have faced debates similar to those surrounding Pixar’s first animated film with a Black lead, Soul. Instead, Black Panther’s influence has cast a wide net and there are collective essays about how the film embraced Black lives and culture. Spellman wrote The Falcon and The Winter Soldier as the first MCU property to confront race issues in America head-on. We can only imagine what the other new showrunners, writers, and directors are going to bring to our screens when their properties are released.
Disney can take inspiration from other franchises that have moved towards diversity behind the camera. Patty Jenkins became the first woman to direct a DC movie with the blockbuster Wonder Woman. Warner Bros. has since had James Wan helm Aquaman, and Birds of Prey was written and directed by two women, Christina Hodson and Cathy Yan. But that’s another point that Disney need to be aware of. What’s encouraging about Marvel’s choices are that POC or female creators aren’t only saddled with properties that deal with racism, misogyny, etc. These properties can address these issues, but they can also just be fun—because the last thing anyone from a marginalized community wants is to be pigeon-holed into being the voice of their community.
Is this enough? Of course not. Marvel and Disney can’t sit back and pat themselves on the back. If you can count how many people from diverse communities you have, then you don’t have enough. There is still so much work to be done in terms of representation and inclusion. We haven’t even touched on the lack of queer content in these properties; or trans characters and creators; or plus size characters, and characters with disabilities. Marvel is on the right path, but progress is a process, and there’s still a ways to go. Disney, though, needs to pick up the pace, especially with their live-action properties. We’re beyond the point of trying to take baby steps to represent diversity. Now is the time for action.
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