It’s hard to believe, but it’s been about 10 years since Disney launched the Marvel Cinematic Universe with the first Iron Man movie. So many great films have followed, and still so many more to come. It’s not hard to see why the MCU has had such commercial and critical success, with good characters in their respective films and in the culmination of the Avengers series. Up until very recently, the MCU has dominated the superhero movie industry with little-to-no exception. That is, until the DCEU got its head out of it’s *ahem* butt, and made the masterpiece that is Wonder Woman. (For more specific thoughts on Wonder Woman, you can read my short review here, and check out the podcast I contributed to for more lengthy analysis here)
Now the DCEU has a leg up, in a big big way. Marvel, for all of their many successes, has completely underutilized females in their universe, and it’s coming back to bite them. It’ll be interesting to see how they navigate the waters after Wonder Woman’s success. If they take a hint and spearhead a female led MCU film, will it even compare to Wonder Woman, or feel like a cheap knock off? And if they decide to steer clear, then where does that leave female representation in the MCU? The answer is, exactly where it is now- which is awful.
Now you could be thinking (especially if you happen to be a dude. No offense, I’ve legit heard this), “Well there is Black Widow and Scarlet Witch... So there you go, that’s all you need. You’re lucky to have that, since most superhero fans are guys anyway...” To which my LONG reply is: technically yes, and no, and here’s why that doesn’t let Marvel off the hook. Firstly, SO MANY superhero fans these days are women. It is no longer a fair assessment to say that “most superhero fans are men”. It’s just not true any more. Logic tells us that there should be equal representation. So let’s take a rough count, shall we? Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, the Hulk, Vision (he counts as a man in this scenario because his image is in the shape/voice/form of a man), Hawkeye, Ant-Man and Spider-Man. (Not even to mention the villains, like Loki and Ultron.) Now let’s take a look at the female Avengers. Black Widow. Maybe the Wasp…? She’ll be in the sequel to Ant-Man, but how much can we weigh that for, considering it hasn’t come out yet and we don’t have a ton of info as of now? Even if she’s prominent, that only makes two. So eight vs…. two. One of which we have yet to see do anything superhero like. At all.
Now, again, I know what you might be thinking. “Well hey, it isn’t right to blame this all on Marvel… DC only has one female superhero in the Justice League movie (about to come out) with four male superheroes…” While this is true, there are several things that make this more acceptable. Number one (and it’s a BIG one), Diana Prince/Wonder Woman has her own movie. We know her story; where she came from, why she is the way she is, her strengths and weaknesses… We know her. And Diana is by no means the only strong female character in her movie. Number two, it’s a reasonable assumption from trailers and info on the Justice League movie that she will be WAY more prominent than her Marvel counterparts are. I’ve heard the comparison from multiple sources that Wonder Woman is like the Captain America of the DCEU. And Captain America has… oh yeah, three movies. Pretty sure we all saw those. Three: Diana is an integral member of the Justice League, while Black Widow (who isn’t even super, by the way; Cool, but not super) is awesome, but… who really is she? Backstory for her is touched on, but always briefly and brushed over. The Avengers would still be the Avengers without her.
Poo poo!
What’s more (frankly insulting) is the fact that it seems like Marvel was just too lazy to pull another female superhero from the comic books source material, or even just make one up, to develop and make things more even, (which btw, we KNOW they can do). Instead, they shamelessly reuse Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow as the love/sexual interest for all the male superhero “leads”. Ex: when we meet Natasha’s character in Iron Man 2, she is causing some weird tension between Tony Stark and his love interest Pepper Potts. In Captain America: Winter Soldier (2), there is romantic tension between her and Steve Rogers. They even kiss, but by Avengers: Age of Ultron (the next installment), zip, nada, now she’s romantically attached to the Incredible Hulk. Captain America: Civil War rolls around and… are we just going to pretend she and Steve DIDN’T kiss? Not only is she stuck in the land of eternal side character, doomed to no movie with her name in the title (even though she's been in the series a LONG time, nearly since the beginning), but her storyline is also romantically tied to whatever male superhero has the current lead? Can you say "sexist"?
On behalf of female superhero fans everywhere, can I just say… WTF?!
Scarlet Witch is alright, but also a more minor character, no title roll or her own movie, who could use some continued attention and character building. The fact is consistent, the scales remain drastically unbalanced.
On the flip side, Wonder Woman is hard core course correcting the DCEU for a multitude of reasons, and it’s straight up kicking butt. The female empowerment is ‘wonder’ful (ha, see what I did there) and inspiring and has done so much good for female representation in media in general already, and it’s only been out a few months. All you have to do is type in “Wonder Woman” to google and you’ve got stories and videos and articles talking about little boys and girls being in awe, even adults saying how much the movie and what it represents means to them. It’s changing minds and hearts and stereotypes everywhere. It means everything to me. It shows that women can be strong and beautiful and confident just the way they are, in their own uniqueness, without having to fit in a stereotype like “cheerleader” or a traditional “pretty girl”. It shows that kindness and compassion and love are also what make women strong. And though I do enjoy and appreciate the MCU movies, I just don’t get that from them, which saddens, maddens and hurts me, as I’m sure it does all female superhero fans. It should make ALL superhero fans, men and women, disappointed. Maybe then something will ACTUALLY BE DONE about it. Every kid deserves to have a superhero to look up to, who embodies what they want to be and represents them and gives them hope. Wonder Woman gave me that, despite the fact that I’m not a kid any more. I want to give the next generation of fans even more. That’s why I write these articles and do podcasts and have these conversations with people. That’s why I’m not going to give up on this. It's not an unreasonable request. We're not asking for the impossible. I'm not asking for the exact same number of female heroes as male. Just for a more balanced number, and fairer representation through those characters.
So, in closing, I say this…
YOUR MOVE, MARVEL. Your move. And please, make it count. You’re female fans need this. YOU need this if the success is going to go onward and upward.
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