No matter how much progress it makes, Hollywood seems loath to meet the demand for female action stars. It took the MCU nearly a decade to spotlight Black Widow, and Charlize Theron is still fighting the stigma that paints female-led action flicks as riskier than male-driven films.
It’s a tale that can be traced back to the action boom of the 1980s: while Arnold Schwarzenegger was getting swole to play Conan the Barbarian, the industry was still figuring out what to do with Red Sonja, Conan’s female counterpart and occasional love interest. A then-21-year-old Brigitte Nielsen brought Red Sonja to life in 1985, but her solo film failed to deliver the kind of introduction the character deserved. With her chain mail bikini and schlocky comic book origins, a nuanced take on Red Sonja seemed out of the question. Poor direction and a goofy script only sank the film further.
