Nia DaCosta, director of The Marvels, is hoping she doesn’t have to promote the upcoming MCU movie by herself in light of the ongoing Writers Guild of America (WGA) and Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) strikes.
Speaking with The Abbotsford News, DaCosta spoke on the current situation surrounding the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.
“I’m hoping I’m not promoting the movie by myself,” DaCosta said. “No one’s there to see me, either. They’re going to be like, ‘Where’s Brie Larson?’”
The WGA went on strike on May 2, 2023, while SAG-AFTRA joined them on July 14, 2023. The strikes see actors and writers lobby for better pay, protection against artificial intelligence, and more. As part of SAG-AFTRA’s rules, actors cannot take part in promotional work for upcoming movies or television series, which includes press junkets and film premieres.
“I think we’re now in a new world,” DaCosta said. “Everything that’s happening is an existential search that our industry is doing. It won’t be solved in one round of negotiations. But I’m hoping that the studios can end the strike soon and get us all back to work — to work for them.”
The Marvels arrives in November 2023
Serving as both a sequel to 2019’s Captain Marvel and 2022’s Ms. Marvel, The Marvels stars Larson, Iman Vellani, Teyonah Parris, Zawe Ashton, and Samuel L. Jackson. The script comes from DaCosta, Megan McDonnell, and Elissa Karasik.
“Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel has reclaimed her identity from the tyrannical Kree and taken revenge on the Supreme Intelligence,” the official synopsis reads. “But unintended consequences see Carol shouldering the burden of a destabilized universe. When her duties send her to an anomalous wormhole linked to a Kree revolutionary, her powers become entangled with that of Jersey City super-fan, Kamala Khan aka Ms. Marvel, and Carol’s estranged niece, now S.A.B.E.R. astronaut Captain Monica Rambeau. Together, this unlikely trio must team-up and learn to work in concert to save the universe as The Marvels.”
The Marvels releases theatrically in the United States on November 10, 2023.
