5 blockbuster movies will be directed by women in 2020 and we can’t wait

Five of the biggest titles coming to theaters near you in 2020 will be helmed by women in the director’s chair, and it’s about darn time.

Times they are a changing. After far too long, multiple big screen action blockbusters directed by women are coming to local multiplexes near all of us throughout 2020.

Four of them – no, that’s not a typo – are superhero properties, a massively big deal following a decade in which many of these genre films were hard pressed to acknowledge that women existed, whether onscreen, in the audience or behind the scenes.

It’s a comfort to know that, as we head into a new year and a new decade, the future is starting to look not only a little more female, but just a little more balanced in terms of gender parity.

Furthermore, most of these films are almost guaranteed to be financial successes to some significant degree. (They’re sequels, based on known properties, members of the Marvel Cinematic Universe or films made by Disney. These are as close as you can get to sure things.) As a result, their rising tides should lift all boats – successful films helmed by women tend to beget more successful films helmed by women after all.

So, while this is all good news, let’s remember, it’s just a start. Here are the five blockbusters directed by women you can expect to see in 2020.

Birds of Prey

This sort-of follow-up to Suicide Squad is the DC Extended Universe’s first all-female team-up movie, and is all about the girl power, both in front of and behind the camera.

Technically titled Birds Of Prey & The Fantabulous Emancipation Of One Harley Quinn, this film will use Margot Robbie’s popular take on the Joker’s ex to introduce cinema audiences to Black Canary, The Huntress and Renee Montoya for the first time.

Directed by Cathy Yan and written by Christina Hodson, Birds of Prey will hit theaters on February 7, 2020.

Mulan

Disney’s latest live-action adaptation of one of the cartoons you loved so much as a kid takes a more adult approach than some of its predecessors. The film won’t feature any singing, Eddie Murphy’s infamous talking dragon Mushu is absent, and there’s a lot more action.

(Though, if the emotional inclusion of “Reflection” in this trailer is any indication, we’ll still be okay on the music front anyway.)

This Mulan is directed by Nikki Caro, and the script adapting Disney’s classic was also penned by a team made up primarily of women – specifically, Amanda Silver, Lauren Hynek, Elizabeth Martin, and Rick Jaffa.

Black Widow

Sure, we should have gotten a Black Widow movie five years ago. As the MCU’s first – and still most visible – female hero, we’ve deserved the chance to see her story pretty much since the first Avengers team-up movie happened.

We’re finally getting it – and even though the character’s death in Avengers: Endgame makes this all sort of feel too little too late, it’s still an exciting moment for both Scarlett Johansson, Natasha Romanov and the MCU at large.

Director Cate Shortland is also breaking new ground in the MCU. With Black Widow, she’s the first woman to helm a film alone in the franchise’s history. (Captain Marvel had a female co-director, Anna Boden, who worked alongside Ryan Fleck.) Black Widow arrives in theaters on May 1, 2020.

Wonder Woman: 1984

The sequel to 2017’s Wonder Woman is maybe the most anticipated superhero movie of 2020, and with good reason. (I mean, just look at the trailer. Look at it!)

We still have no idea what’s happening, or how in the world Steve Trevor isn’t dead anymore, but we’re all on board to find out.

Wonder Woman: 1984 is once again helmed by Patty Jenkins, who also had a hand in writing the script along with Geoff Johns and David Callaham. It hits theaters on June 5, 2020.

The Eternals

We don’t know a ton about this Marvel Phase 4 film just yet, other than the fact that it has a ridiculously stacked – and good looking! – cast which features such big names as Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden, Salma Hayek, Kit Harrington and lots more.

We do know, however, that The Eternals will give Marvel its second female director in a single year, as Chloé Zhao will direct this second 2020 installment in the MCU. (Unfortunately, no women appear to be part of the film’s writing staff, but I guess we can only make progress on one issue at a time in this universe.)

On the plus side, The Eternals is Marvel’s first crack at letting a woman direct a superhero movie that isn’t exclusively about a female character. It will be released on November 6, 2020.

Are you looking forward to these female-powered blockbusters in 2020? Let’s discuss.