Or we can just find out that Dr. Who has secretly been a Death-Eater. /oops, wrong story>
Not so fast. In one of the earlier seasons, with David Tennant, toward the end of the episode the doctor and his companion saved the day by using the spell "expelliarmus". Crossover does happen, and not only in fanfic.
You've put your finger on it...where are the female leads (intended to be the protagonist, in a fun, rollicking movie) who have personal flaws?
Other than their angst at their own dazzling perfection?
There are some, though their numbers will be fewer since female protagonists are still fewer in number. The girl with the dragon tattoo strikes me as one. I have seen more in literature, but perhaps I just read more than watch.
What if being a racist, xenophobic, misogynist is a good thing?
Do you still think it is good when you get the short end of the stick as a result? Oh, but you are a white male living in an area that (I presume) is ethnically similar to your own background, so I suppose you don't know what that experience is like.
I wouldn't dream of telling you what you should think, but I do place certain expectations on how you, I, and other members of a civil society are to behave.
how about a character that isn't submissive.
A character, male or female, who is not submissive in nature will have a true partnership with another lead character. Or might defer to the other due to difference in age, expertise, or ability, as a student to his teacher or a teenager to her grandfather.
Do you ever stop to question whether change is always good?
If a large corporation brought up all the land around your town and decided to build large, stinking factories, ruining your view and polluting the countryside, I am sure that you would be pretty pissed off. But hey, hope and change! Sounds great, even if it kills people.
I always question whether change is good. I see anything that increases opportunities for individuals and broadens their horizons as good, especially when it comes at minimal cost. I suspect if the theater-going public are unhappy with the slate of characters in the latest Star Wars, they will vote with their dollars, and the company will get the message.
To sum up: Female leads in action movies are fine if the franchise started with a female lead. (Personally, I really enjoyed the Resident Evil series as a guilty pleasure.) But taking a traditionally male-led franchise and injecting female leads ruins continuity. It also smacks of bending to a feminist Hollywood agenda, for those who want to push the political aspect. But personally I think it's just a question of continuity for most people.
I agree, to a point. When a franchise spans generations as Star Wars now does, I think it is fair game to deviate from the original assortment of characters in different parts of the timeline. Star Trek has also done this. If they had switched gears in the original series between the second and third years to replace Capt Kirk with a woman captain, that wouldn't have made sense. Having Capt Janeway years later, though, is just fine.
The vast majority of TV and film still has primarily male leads. Anyone who prefers this balance of characters should have no shortage of viewing material. There is now, however, a growing body of material with more diverse casts, so people who prefer that can find it also. As long as people pay money to watch it and to buy associated merchandise, the studios will continue to make it.