When someone thinks of an action movie, what do they picture? They most likely envision high-speed chases, huge stunts, tense fight scenes, plenty of shootouts, and a daring, brave, and strong main character. In the earliest days of films, that main character would likely be a male lead, as in the early history of action movies, women were usually forced to take a backseat position. 

A traditional action hero is usually portrayed as tough, intelligent, and resourceful. They’re most likely trained fighters with experience dealing with dangerous situations. In older films, this role was not filled by a woman. Women’s roles were written to only fit that of a love interest, and their characters tended to be flat, unchanging, and stereotypical. Some common characteristics of female characters were vulnerability, seductiveness, deception, and fragility. Almost all of these descriptors are complete opposites of what describes an action hero, so it’s unsurprising that this archetypal caricature of a woman didn’t star in a main role in action movies. 

That is, until 1979 when Alien was released. The film follows a crew aboard the ship “Nostromo.” They start the movie in cryo-sleep but are woken up because of a distress signal, so they stop to investigate. The ship that sent the distress signal had a nest of alien eggs aboard. One of the creatures ends up attaching itself to a crew member, which initiates the chaos for the rest of the film. 

The lead of the movie, Ellen Ripley, was originally written as a male character—the character was going to be known as “Ripley” instead of Ellen. However, when Sigourney Weaver was cast in the film, the director Scott Ridley didn’t change much about the movie after the character was switched to a woman. Having Ellen Ripley as the lead in this action–sci-fi–thriller was a huge step in the film industry, as Sigourney Weaver is largely considered the first female lead of an action movie. 

Not only was it the first of its kind, but Alien is also widely known as a great movie, receiving box office success, a 93% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, and multiple awards, such as the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. The film became a franchise, with six movies, and a seventh on the way. The huge prosperity of this film proved that a woman-led action movie can be successful. 

Likely in part because of Alien, the occurrences of female-led action movies began to rise. The next notable film that followed this trend was Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, released in 2001 based on the popular video game. Angelina Jolie led that movie, playing a highly intelligent archeologist and skilled fighter. Later, in 2003, Kill Bill: Volume 1 came out, which was also extremely important in the evolution of women’s film roles. In both Kill Bill: Volume 1 and Kill Bill: Volume 2, Uma Thurman plays Beatrix Kiddo, also known as the “The Bride”. As an assassin, Kiddo spends the two movies avenging her fiance’s murder, killing anyone who was a part of the plot. A unique aspect of the film is that almost all of her opponents are female assassins, allowing the film to feature more complex and powerful women characters than action movies in the past.

Other significant female-led action movies are Hanna (2011), The Hunger Games (2012), Wonder Woman (2017), Captain Marvel (2019), The Old Guard (2020), and Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022), to name just a few. Now, female-led action films can almost be considered common—it is not abnormal. Female characters now have depth, with complex backstories, flaws, skills, and motivations. 

A recent example is the newly released Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. This film came to theaters on May 24th, 2024 as a prequel to the popular Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), and has already been received well, earning a 90% critic score and 89% audience score from Rotten Tomatoes. Furiosa is the lead of this movie, a figure first introduced in Mad Max: Fury Road, and originally played by Charlize Theron. Now, Anya Taylor Joy plays the part of the compassionate yet tough mechanic–warrior. The movie dives into Furiosa’s past and backstory, developing her more as a character, revealing all that she had to go through, and what brought her to the starting point of Mad Max: Fury Road. The depth, thoughtfulness, and care taken to round out Furiosa’s character in this film would not have been found in a movie from a hundred—or even fifty—years ago.

Overall, women have gradually integrated themselves into the action-film industry, becoming leads of countless movies. But it was a process that took work and change to get there.