The Avengers: American Nationalism, with a Just a Pinch of PoC

Coming in at number 2 on the list of the top-10 highest grossing movies since President Obama took office is "The Avengers," the 2012 superhero movie from Marvel and Disney.  The Avengers took in an impressive $1.519 billion, though only a comparatively modest 59% of which came from international sales (boxofficemojo.com).  The lack of international sales could be explained by The Avengers' strong American theme.  In addition to the mostly American Avengers superheroes, the major battle scene is set in New York City.  The only non-Americans are either extraterrestrials or a handful of minor and stereotypically portrayed characters.

The Avengers is an ensemble film, featuring characters introduced in movies that featured them as solo stars.  In addition to Marvel's most popular character Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.),  the Avengers brings together Captain America (Chris Evans), the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner).  This film is all about star-power.  Even when Marvel/Disney lost the original Hulk actor (Edward Norton), they went with Ruffalo to avoid any fall-off in star-power.

As has been discussed in this blog previously, Disney's other top-10 films have been largely, if not exclusively, white.  While there aren't many People of Color in this film, the good news is the most senior officer in the film, Nick Fury, is played by an African American (Samuel L. Jackson).  Jackson plays Nick Fury as a smart, no non-sense head of SHIELD, who holds the respect of each of the Avenger superheros.  The bad news is there won't be a Nick Fury - superhero movie, effectively shutting-out PoC from starring follow-up roles.

Hollywood is making fewer films, with a higher percentage coming from non-original material.  With Disney and other studios taking very conservative approaches to casting, PoC may continue to struggle to gain heroic roles in blockbuster movies.  As such, PoC may have to turn to television if they want to see prominently featured characters that look like themselves.