There are a lot of reasons why Meg LeFauve should be celebrating. Inside Out was an instant hit with critics and audiences when it was released last year, making everyone, especially me, well up with tears. And after being recognized and honored with numerous awards, the script, which she co-wrote with co-director Pete Docter, and storyboard supervisor Josh Cooley, has been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. So as some are awaiting the results of Hollywood’s biggest night, others are anxiously awaiting to hear more about Marvel Studio’s Captain Marvel.
We are still a good two-plus years away from the release of Captain Marvel. So far no one has been named director, and the studio has yet to find its lead to play the title role. Considering the film is in the very early stages of development we probably won’t be getting that kind of news anytime soon. But LeFauve did offer little nuggets of information in regards to the development of the script, and the pressures that come with writing a female superhero and proving female superheroes can carry the full weight of a movie on their own, and so much more. Check out what she had to say below.
LeFauve talked about working on the Captain Marvel script with KPCC 88.3. You can hear the full interview in which she talks about writing for Pixar, working on an Academy Award winning script, the research process, and more. But if you are interested in listening to what she had to say about Captain Marvel, then I suggest you jump to the 19:17 mark on their player.
Writing a script isn’t easy. But LeFauve is taking what she has learned from writing at Pixar and putting it into writing the Captain Marvel script. Plus she has Guardians of the Galaxy writer Nicole Perlman to help her:
“I learned so much from working at Pixar. I learned to not be afraid of that creative turn. To not be afraid of throwing things out. To know that a better idea will always be coming. You learn just inherent craft skills by thinking of a scene really works well on a page but when it goes up visually, you realize ‘No wait, that doesn’t work at all,’ and that’s just by osmosism, learning that, by watching and having it happen. I mean what an incredible privilege to have that as a writer. Nicole [Perlman] and I are in such the beginning stages of Captain Marvel, really just starting to put big blocks down, as again, kind of a creative turn of it could be this, it could be that. So I just think the bravery of letting that turn happen is what I have taken so much from Pixar.”
LeFauve also talks about how exciting it is to be writing a female superhero movie while also giving credit Perlman:
“It’s incredibly exciting, and I feel lucky, and I feel incredibly lucky to be working with Nicole, who is brilliant. There is a little bit of pressure. It’s like working at Pixar. There’s a little bit of pressure. They’ve won a lot of Academy Awards, you better have your top game. So there is a little bit of pressure with Captain Marvel. But really, Nicole and I just talked and realized that what we can control is that she and I can have a good time, and tell the best story that we know how to tell, that’s what we can control and we can contribute. The rest of it, we are really early stages. Honestly, who is she in this version? Who is her antagonist? Where is she? The giant questions are still what we are working through.”
Of course, in a male dominated genre, having a superhero film where your lead character be a female superhero is a lot of pressure, and in a lot of ways it can set the bar for other films. LeFauve recognizes this, but knows that she can rely on the support of her fellow co-writer to help ease some of the pressure:
“I think two ways. One is Nicole and I have each other, so we can help check each other of ‘Let’s just not get into that moment of paranoia that’s swirling. Let’s go back to the story, back to the story.’ I think any bit of writing that you do when you get lost in the fear, my guiding light is to always go back to the character, kind of fight for the character, and who she is, and what story she wants to tell, and she’ll be a specific character. There’s is no way she could stand in for every woman, that wouldn’t be a very good character. It’s about keeping her specific, and telling a great story.”
Captain Marvel hits theaters on July 16, 2018.
[Source: KPCC]
Reading these quotes is awful. Listening to the audio complete with up speak isn’t much better. Loved Inside Out though and have faith in Meg LeFauve meeting my high expectations for Captain Marvel!
One thing that bothers me though, is having the female superhero, Director and Writer(s) angle so heavily advertised. If this movie does well, that’s great! On the other hand, if it bombs, I fear we may never see another female superhero film from Marvel. Worse yet, we may never see another one that’s directed or written by women and that would be sad too. This project needs to rise or fall based on it’s own merit and not the gender of anyone involved.
Comment by PAUL — February 24, 2016 @ 11:40 am