Do women have superpowers? Gugu Mbatha-Raw says yes

But two years later, “Fast Color” has found itself in theaters at the same time as “Avengers: Endgame” — and heralded as the antidote to men destroying the world to save it.

“It’s quite an interesting journey that it’s being compared and contrasted to a huge Marvel juggernaut, which was never our intention,” she said. “But I have to say I’m interested in the conversation. I haven’t always seen myself represented in those kinds of movies, as a lot of people haven’t.”

In “Fast Color,” Mbatha-Raw plays Ruth, a recovering addict whose seizures cause the Earth’s tectonic plates to quake as she wanders a parched wasteland, sending G-men hot on her trail.

Mbatha-Raw, 36, was fresh from the set of Apple TV+’s coming “The Morning Show” when she called from Los Angeles to discuss the creativity of women and the enduring appeal of Jim Henson.

Here are edited excerpts from the conversation.

Q: People are calling “Fast Color” the anti-“Avengers.” What’s your take?

A: I’m not anti-anything. I’m for inclusivity, and I’m for representation, and I’m for films celebrating women. People have been asking, Why haven’t we seen as many female superheroes as we’d like and as many superheroes of color? Of course that’s changing with “Captain Marvel” and “Wonder Woman” and “Black Panther,” an absolute game-changer, a huge movie. But our movie was never intending to be that type of film.

Q: Julia Hart, the film’s director, said, “Most superhero movies are about white men destroying things in order to save the world, which seems backwards.” Do you agree?

A: It’s a very valid point. For me, this film is about creation. It’s not about destruction. And I think that’s something we haven’t necessarily always seen in the superhero genre. It’s about the creativity of women, the unique creativity of motherhood that could also be considered the ultimate superpower.

Q: Do you think women can save the world?

A: Of course I do! The thing I love about the film is it really leaves the door wide open for connecting with other women — as we’ve seen in the sense of community around Time’s Up, around the women’s movement, around people not really being afraid now to connect and talk. And that sense of unity really is something that could shift the power balance in the world.

Q: Is collaborating with women ultimately important?

A: I think it’s incredibly important. Listen, I’ve worked with Joe Swanberg [on “Easy”], I’ve worked with Edward Norton [on “Motherless Brooklyn”], I’m not discriminating against male directors. But for me it’s about exploring and representing a certain point of view, and the many female directors that I’ve worked with inherently contribute something from how they see the world.

Q: You recently shot “Misbehaviour,” directed by Philippa Lowthorpe. You play Miss World, right?

A: It’s a little early to go into too much detail, but that script was such a delight. It’s about the Miss World competition in 1970, which was the year the women’s liberation movement stormed the ceremony and famously threw flour on Bob Hope on live television. But it was also the same year that the first woman of color, Miss Grenada, who I play, won. So I guess you could call it intersectional.

Q: Were you ever in a pageant?

A: God no! [Laughs] The judgment in my tone — I really should take that out. It’s just that that was so far from my upbringing. I grew up in a small town in Oxfordshire, and I have to say that it was not remotely on my radar.

Q: You’re voicing a character in “The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance,” the coming prequel to the 1982 Jim Henson-Frank Oz film.

A: [Laughs] Unlike beauty pageants, Jim Henson was what I was watching in my childhood — from the Muppets, obviously, to “Fraggle Rock” and “The Storyteller.” So that held a very nostalgic, warm place in my heart. The whole world of the Jim Henson puppets is just such a specific kind of almost retro cool that is so far away from a lot of the films that are being made now.

Q: And this fall we’ll see you in “The Morning Show.” Who’s your character?

A: Hannah Shoenfeld, who is head booker on the show. She’s the one behind the scenes responsible for getting the guests on the show and potentially finding out what guests are on their rival show — and maybe poaching a guest or two from them.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.