Between Patty Jenkin’s record-breaking release of “Wonder Woman” and 2018′s highly-anticipated “Black Panther” film, the DC Comics and Marvel superhero universes on the big screen are more inclusive than ever.
Still, Gina Rodriguez knows there’s something crucial missing: Latino superheroes. On Sunday, the “Jane the Virgin” star celebrated the two studios’ recent push for diversity on Twitter and asked the two companies “where are the Latinos?! Asking for a friend...”
A few fans responded to the actress and pointed out that Tessa Thompson (who is of Panamanian and Mexican descent) is Valkyrie in this year’s “Thor: Ragnarok.” Rodriguez responded with a shoutout.
Some fans also mentioned Zoe Saldana as the green-skinned Gamora in “Guardians of the Galaxy” and Oscar Issac as the blue-skinned Egyptian mega villain Apocalypse in the last X-Men installment. Others may remember Jay H Hernandez as Diablo in “Suicide Squad” or Dania Ramirez as Callisto in “X-Men: The Last Stand,” but all of the aforementioned Latinos portrayed either reformed-criminals or outright villains in their respective films.
Thus, Rodriguez’s comment regarding a lack of Latino superheroes front-and-center in DC Comics and Marvel film still stands. It’s an issue that The Wrap unpacked last summer in an article, “Where Are The Latino Superheroes in Avengers Films,” that points out Latino superheroes in Marvel comic books that could get the Hollywood treatment.
Rodriguez herself has often been tapped by fans to portray some Latina heroines, like DC Comic’s Green Lantern Jessica Cruz and Marvel’s new queer heroine America Chavez.
A Latino superhero film could be a smart move for studios looking at their bottomline. Latinos made up of 21 percent of movie tickets sold in 2016, according Motion Picture Association of America’s Theatrical Market Statistics, despite being less than 18 percent of the U.S. population.
