Fundraisers Are Already Popping Up to Send Girls to See ‘Captain Marvel’

DC Comics may have beat Marvel to the punch by releasing smash hit, feminist film Wonder Woman in 2017. But there’s no shortage of excitement for Marvel’s first female-lead movie, Captain Marvel, premiering on International Women’s Day, March 8. Non-profit organizations have already started raising money to send girls to screenings. Girls Inc. of Greater Los Angeles—an organization that serves girls in Title I schools in South Los Angeles, Watts and Compton—made over $5,000 in one day after creating a #CaptainMarvelChallenge fundraiser on GoFundMe. The fundraiser is run by the nonprofit grant and marketing agency We Have Stories and aims to raise $10,000 total.

As anticipation builds, there will likely be more fundraisers and events popping up. This has started to become regular phenomenon surrounding diverse films breaking new ground. Black Panther recently set a high bar when hundreds of community organizations, churches, individuals, and non-profits raised money for screenings in their communities. And now some of those fundraising titans who helped start the $950,000 #BlackPantherChallenge, like non-profit leader Frederick Joseph, have their eyes on Captain Marvel as the next big push.

Captain Marvel will be chock full of empowering feminist images. The eponymous superhero (Brie Larson) has superhuman strength and she can fly a plane like a boss or speed through the clouds flying on her own. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has said she’s the most powerful hero in their cinematic universe. "[Captain Marvel's] story doesn’t rely on romance and other typical woman character arcs," the GoFundMe notes, "There are multiple female characters in the film that enforce diversity of women in race, careers, and talents. [And] the film is co-directed and scored by women."

Marvel seems more committed than ever to pulling out all the stops for their new diverse leads, perhaps making up for lost time. Black Panther was certainly one of those moments. And in their latest venture Spider Man: Into the Spider-Verse they went as far using the quantum physics theory of parallel universes to make room for new spider people that aren’t just white men.

From the way Feige is talking about Captain Marvel's powers, it's likely the studio will find some back-bending, over the top way to make Captain Marvel one of their best films yet.

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