DEATH PROOF
When the story of 2020 in film is written it will be dominated by a virus that shuttered cinemas, brought the world to its knees and inspired the most awkward celebrity sing-a-long since Mamma Mia! But it should have been a very different story. This was the year that comic-book blockbusters finally afforded female filmmakers the same opportunities as their male counterparts, with Cathy Yan (Birds Of Prey), Cate Shortland (Black Widow), Chloé Zhao (The Eternals) and Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman 1984) at the helm of the year’s biggest superpowered hitters.
Hope remains that, in most cases, their work will still make it to cinemas this year. But there’s one film that isn’t budging for the coronavirus: . Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood (, ), the adaptation of Greg Rucka’s Image Comics series, about a team of immortal mercenaries, is standing firm for the simple reason that it’s being released by Netflix – currently the only show in town for action tentpoles.
