Oscar-winner Chloé Zhou will be the first to direct an MCU movie…
Women are finally getting a chance to direct Marvel Cinematic Universe films, but Chloé Zhou will be the first director in the franchise to be an Oscar winner. The director behind Nomadland also directed the upcoming Eternals, starring Angelina Jolie, Kit Harington, Richard Madden, and Gemma Chan, which will drop in November 2021.
Zhou is also the first Asian woman to direct an MCU movie and is the second woman to direct solo in the franchise. Cate Shortland, who directed Black Widow, will be the first upon the film’s eventual release. Anna Boden co-directed Captain Marvel with her friend Ryan Fleck. What makes Chloé’s Oscar win so special is that this shows the range of genres she can work with.
Women have been short-changed when it has come to Marvel projects until now. We’ve had Jac Schaeffer be a writer for Captain Marvel and be the head writer WandaVision. At the same time, Kari Skogland was the sole director on the recently finished series, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier.
Coming up in the MCU, Bisha K. Ali will serve as a writer on the upcoming series Loki. She will also serve as the showrunner on the forthcoming Disney+ series, Ms Marvel. Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy will be a director on the Kamala Khan show, as will Meera Menon. Also, directing duo Bert and Bertie will be directing the Jeremy Renner/Hailee Steinfeld-led Hawkeye. Finally, Kate Herron will be the sole director of the Loki show.
An Oscar Is The Next Step
With the MCU constantly growing, any female creative is capable of winning an Oscar. It takes a lot of grit and determination. For years, the Best Director award has mostly gone to white men. Also, Greta Gerwig was robbed of the award last year when she directed an adaptation of Little Women starring Black Widow star Florence Pugh. Kathryn Bigelow (ex-wife of James Cameron) broke the drought in 2010 when she won for The Hurt Locker, which featured future MCU actors Jeremy Renner, Evangeline Lilly, Anthony Mackie, and Guy Pearce.
Chloé’s win gives women creatives in the film industry hope. Finally, they can achieve great things, and their dreams can come true.
