{"id":47517,"date":"2024-03-08T20:00:28","date_gmt":"2024-03-08T19:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=2004668"},"modified":"2024-03-08T20:56:47","modified_gmt":"2024-03-08T19:56:47","slug":"marvel-needs-to-do-better-by-its-female-heroes","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/marvel-needs-to-do-better-by-its-female-heroes\/","title":{"rendered":"Marvel needs to do better by its female heroes"},"content":{"rendered":"

The women of the MCU deserve more. <\/p>

By Jess Bacon\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Friday, 08 March 2024 at 19:00 PM<\/p>

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The Marvel Cinematic Universe<\/a> is not short of female superheroes \u2013 but the studio\u2019s handling of the films and the reception from fans leave a lot to be desired.<\/p>\n

Jersey City\u2019s Kamala Khan<\/a> (Iman Vellani) is the new Nick Fury, as she sets out to form the Young Avengers with Hawkeye<\/a> successor Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld).<\/p>\n

Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) fronts an all-female superhero team, Xialing (Meng\u2019er Zhang) is the leader of the Ten Rings and Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) is King of New Asgard.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s undeniably a refreshing improvement on the all-boys club back in Phase One, where female characters mainly served as the damsel in distress for their superhero boyfriends to save (Pepper Potts, we\u2019re looking at you). Yet, this is only half of the story.<\/p>\n

Marvel has frequently mishandled these characters and their movies. Back in 2021, Scarlett Johansson famously sued Disney<\/a> for Black Widow\u2019s dual release in cinemas and on Disney Plus<\/a>, as her salary was partly calculated on box office earnings.<\/p>\n

If she hadn\u2019t filed the lawsuit, Johansson would have lost out on millions of dollars<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Scarlett\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff in Black Widow.<\/span><\/figcaption> Jay Maidment\/Marvel Studios<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

Equally, the long-awaited standalone film took so long to come to fruition that Natasha had already died in the main canon of the MCU, while most of her male co-stars had completed their own trilogies.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not to say there haven\u2019t been female characters in the MCU who have had nuanced portrayals. With the arrival of Disney Plus<\/a>, Marvel revisited some of the underdeveloped female characters in their existing canon and introduced more diverse, nuanced roles.<\/p>\n

WandaVision<\/a> was a unique cultural experience for MCU fans, who tuned in each week to see a new episode unravel more of Westview.<\/p>\n

\"Elizabeth\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Marvel Studios<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n

In many ways, the series was more a two-hander between Wanda and Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) than Wanda and Vision (who was an extension of her mind and chaos magic).<\/p>\n

Either way, it transformed the image of Wanda from a one-dimensional supporting character to a formidable, powerful presence in the MCU.<\/p>\n

So imagine the disappointment when she returned as an underdeveloped villain in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness<\/a>, and died by the end of the film. As Marvel moved back to the big screen, the cracks in the once cohesive universe began to show again.<\/p>\n

\"Angela\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Angela Bassett as Queen Ramonda in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.<\/span><\/figcaption> Marvel Studios<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

Wanda became another fatal mark in Marvel\u2019s twisted pattern of killing off powerful female heroes. In the epic two-part finale of the Infinity Saga, arguably the franchise\u2019s most prominent female characters, Gamora and Black Widow, both died as the sacrifice for the Soul Stone.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s not forget that Jane Foster was then brought back for one outing as the Mighty Thor in Thor: Love and Thunder, before she died.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, many fans are still recovering from the surprise return and shock death of Maria Hill in the first episode of Secret Invasion.<\/p>\n

Regular, non-superpowered, non-super spy women haven\u2019t fared much better, either. Aunt May is killed by the Green Goblin in Spider-Man: No Way Home and Queen Ramonda died in Wakanda in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.<\/p>\n

In many of these instances, this trope is used as a means to advance the male narrative. Their grief forces the male characters into a new future and to embrace the next version of themselves.<\/p>\n