By Nick Smith
In Marvel’s movies and TV shows, we’ve seen African American sidekicks like the Falcon (Anthony Mackie) take center stage. Wong, played by Chinese-British actor Benedict Wong, has earned the mantle of Sorcerer Supreme. Moon Knight features Jewish and Egyptian superheroes. All these characters have been developed in tactful and entertaining ways, playing to the strengths of the actors who portray them. We have yet to see a starring vehicle for a Latina character… until now.
The new blockbuster film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness marks the return of exemplary actor Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock, Star Trek Into Darkness) and cult director Sam Raimi (The Evil Dead).
Raimi brought us the original Spider-Man trilogy, which helped launch the current slew of superhero movies. While Doctor Strange contains Raimi’s familiar imprint, from high-flying heroics to slapstick humor, his latest offering also introduces a lead character called America Chavez who is new to filmgoers.
America has an unusual superpower – she punches star-shaped portals to alternate dimensions. She holds her own alongside Doctor Strange, and is the first Latina heroine in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. She’s played by Xochitl Gomez, a 16-year-old actress from Los Angeles with parents of Mexican descent.
There are one or two moments in the film where America is the maiden in distress, snagged by a tentacled monster or bound to a stone slab. But she also takes action and makes important decisions that affect the story. That, along with Gomez’s confident performance, make America much more than a token character.
In past Marvel films, Latino characters have taken a backseat to the big heroes – and the little ones. In Ant-Man, Luis (Michael Pena, whose parents are Mexican immigrants) is a criminal and former cellmate of the ‘anty-hero,’ Scott Lang.
In Guardians of the Galaxy, Benicio del Toro plays a powerful antagonist called Collector, who collects intelligent beings as well as objects. In The Eternals, Salma Hayek plays Ajak, an alien with god-like powers who isn’t as good as she first appears. Even Zoe Saldana’s Gamora, also from Guardians of the Galaxy, is a ruthless assassin when she’s not saving the universe.
While none of these characters could be described as token, it’s refreshing to see Gomez play a pure-of-heart hero in such a large role. Her character is not in control of her powers until she is forced to hone them. That sense of powerlessness can be all too familiar to an immigrant in a new country and America Chavez is the ultimate immigrant, shifting from her utopian homeworld to parallel lands that are so jarring because there are always new rules to learn wherever she goes.
As a young actress, Gomez is under a lot of scrutiny. Much is being made of her character’s two mothers Amalia and Elena Chavez. We see them briefly in the movie, when America accidentally creates a portal that whisks them away to an unknown universe. Since the comic-book version of the character has relationships with women, America is being touted by the press as, ‘Marvel’s first major Latin LGBTQ character.’
There are no romantic shenanigans for America this time around but anything that adds an extra dimension to a diverse character can be seen as a positive step. Her greatest power of all will be to inspire young moviegoers who can relate to her as they develop their own sense of morality. With the right role models, we can all be heroes.