DCEU’s possibilities to compete with Black Panther

Credit: DC Comics

3. Vixen

Now I will say Vixen does come from some a-typical African storytelling stock. Her story includes the continent, the tribe, poachers and getting out of Africa because… well Africa is not a nice place. This plays a bit counter to what is making Black Panther a success. Vixen leaves Africa for America to become a model. Nonetheless, it is enticing that the totem that grants her powers is a family heirloom and she is the first woman to obtain it. Already it is playing against type.

There are certainly some positives to play up. She does not cater to the usual inner-city, poverty-stricken figure of old. She instead is rather wealthy. Imagine a movie where they give her a Bruce Wayne mentality where she is charitable to others, especially African-Americans falling on hard times. There is the addition of power to imitate animals, which is not something anyone has seen in comic book movies yet. The animal dynamic I argue can be of great use in regards to race in the film. People like to compare others they are prejudice to as animals instead of human. Vixen would embody this to a proposed racist with the addition of her powers. Yet, in the end can show she truly has plenty of humanity and the racist villain is the true animal.

Vixen already has her own limited animated series. Therefore, DC does believe in the character it would appear. There is the CW problem though, as noted with Firestorm. If they give her a movie, she may disappear from the series. At the same time, this will mean the first female African-American comic book movie. Sure, there is that other one but… we are all in agreement that it does not really exist. Many of our black superheroes are already male as you can see. Wonder Woman was a hit and now Black Panther. Vixen can be the best of both worlds maybe.