Marvel Casting Director Confirms Studio Will Continue To Embrace Their Representation and Diversity Agenda
Sarah Finn, Marvel Studios’ casting director, has confirmed that the production company will continue to embrace and support the representation agenda that has seen the Marvel Cinematic Universe go into decline in Phase 4. A phase that was unceremoniously terminated by Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige.
Paul Rudd as Scott Lang/Ant-Man and Jonathan Majors as Kang the Conqueror in Marvel Studios’ ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA. Jay Maidment. © 2022 MARVEL.
TheWrap: Talk to UsFinn was lying about the diversity-representation agenda not being a “proclamation.”
It was her opinion. “wasn’t, from my experience, a proclamation.”
Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams in Marvel Studios’ BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER. Photo by Eli Adé. © 2022 MARVEL.
The Walt Disney Company, which is also the parent company to Marvel Studios, has made it clear that they have quotas. They have also made many proclamations about pushing diversity and representation.
Their website is Reimagine Tomorrow websiteThe first thing that you see is a message. “At Disney, inclusion is for everyone. Reimagine Tomorrow is our way of amplifying underrepresented voices and untold stories as well as championing the importance of accurate representation in media and entertainment. Because we are all greater than a single story and we all deserve to feel seen, heard and understood.”
The Walt Disney Company’s Reimagine Tomorrow Website
Website also stated that they had previously stated that 50% of the characters appearing in Disney General Entertainment scripted material would be from underrepresented groups.
The Walt Disney Company’s Reimagine Tomorrow Website
It has been updated and is now available. “We are committed to inspiring a more inclusive world by reimagining the way we tell stories and who tells them. Our intention is to broaden access and diversity in our industry by adopting inclusion standards across Disney General Entertainment and live-action Studio productions by the end of 2022, with the goal of advancing representation in front of and behind the camera, in marketing and more.”
The Walt Disney Company’s Reimagine Tomorrow Website
However, it also includes ABC Entertainment’s Inclusion Standards, which calls for 50% or more of regular and recurring written characters come from Underrepresented Groups. In order to be considered a character, actors have to also come from Underrepresented group.
These standards include quotas to producers, writers, directors and ironically, casting directors.
ABC Entertainment Inclusion Standard
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To me, it looks very much like a proclamation. On top of this, CEO Bob Iger also declared that one of the company’s core values is inclusion when addressing Disney employees back in November.
He stated that “This company has been telling stories for a hundred years, and those stories have had a meaningful, positive impact on the world. And one of the reasons that they’ve had a meaningful, positive impact is one of our core values is inclusion, acceptance, and tolerance. And we can’t lose that. We just can’t lose that.”
As a response to the “so-called “Don’t Say Gay” Iger suggested that Disney would still promote legislation “inclusion,” But suggested that the company strike a “delicate balance” “listen to [its] audience” “have respect for the people that [it’s] serving.” This is a retreat. pic.twitter.com/bZBnQdm616
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) November 29, 2022
Kevin Feige also stated that Eternals was moved to the top on their release schedule because of the race- and gender swaps, which are part of the overall representations and inclusion agenda.
Variety reported that he said so. “Well, the notion of switching up the genders, sexualities and ethnicities of the characters from the comics, was baked in initially — that was part of what Nate Moore was really advocating for in moving Eternals to the top of the list for us to start working on.”
Feige would actually note that they had set out to change characters before they got to casting. “When it came to casting, that also did affect it. There were some characters that we change from male to female, there were some characters that we knew how we were altering them from the books. But then also it came down to casting.”
(L-R): Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani), Karun (Harish Patel), Ikaris (Richard Madden), Sprite (Lia McHugh), and Sersi (Gemma Chan) in Marvel Studios’ ETERNALS. Photo by Sophie Mutevelian. © 2021 Marvel Studios. All Rights Reserved.
Given The Walt Disney Company, CEO Bob Iger, and Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige have made it very clear the goals they are committed to, it came as no surprise that Finn echoed what the rest of them have been saying albeit trying to claim it’s not being mandated.
She told TheWrap “I will say that after ‘Avengers: Endgame,’ it was one of the things that really fueled me. You know, there’s that moment of ‘Wait, where do we go from here?’ After ‘Endgame,’ it felt so final. And then of course, that impulse is we go with more representation, more diversity, we go younger, there’s a whole fresh wave to explore here.”
“And for me personally, that’s really given me tremendous energy to kind of move forward,” She added.
Hailee Steinfeld as Kate Bishop and Vincent D’Onofrio as Wilson Fisk/Kingpin in Marvel Studios’ HAWKEYE. Chuck Zlotnick. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved.
Despite the quotas that The Walt Disney Company is clearly embracing, Finn tried to downplay them by claiming the company’s top priority when casting is talent.
She said, “Look, talent is number one, right? Does this person have talent? Do they have talent not only to play what’s in front of them, but potentially go the long distance? Because we’ve seen so many of these characters evolve and change over time. So I certainly think talent is a starting point.”
Tessa Thompson as King Valkyrie in Marvel Studios’ THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER. Jasin Boland. ©Marvel Studios 2022. All Rights Reserved.
Finn then went on to describe other factors she considers in casting. “Charisma is really important. Are we drawn in? Do we want to watch them? For me, heart. You know, is the audience going to connect?”
Then she noted that she was also looking for lame humor, which the Marvel Cinematic Universe is not well-known for. “And I think there is a connective tissue in the MCU in terms of humor, you know, there is a sense of humor, there is a wink in the eye.”
“Maturity is an important, I wouldn’t say quality, but an important aspect, an important factor that I take in when we’re casting it,” Finn also spoke out. “Because what they’re thrust into — the sort of worldwide attention, the social media attention, everything — for someone as young as Xochitl, as young as Iman, I want to know that they’re gonna be OK. And it’s hard. It’s a lot, you know? But both of them are handling themselves so beautifully.”
Jonathan Majors as Kang The Conqueror in Marvel Studios’ ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA. Marvel Studios. Photo by courtesy. © 2023 MARVEL.
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