Source: YouTube

Ok, I know I’m super late on this, but it’s a issue I feel strongly about so I’ll say it anyway. While superheroes Captain America, The Hulk, Iron Man and Thor have individual franchises and sequels preceding the Avengers collective, fellow team member and Shield Agent Black Widow is nowhere to be seen until some sex appeal and token female representation is needed in Marvel universe.

Thank goodness SNL, along with the Black Widow herself Scarlett Johansson, are speaking out about the blatant sexism presented within the Marvel franchise with the following skit:

I guess this why I’ve always been a D.C. Comics fan over Marvel. While characters like Wonder Woman and Cat Woman fight off their crime fighting skills in individual films of their own, Black Widow is only given the spotlight through her collaboration (and love entanglement) with the Avengers. I mean, really?

I guess the explanation comes from a leaked email from Marvel CEO Ike Perlmutter to Sony CEO Michael Lynton (posted on Wikileaks) where he lists evidence as to why “Female Movies” are a bad idea:

‘Michael,
As we discussed on the phone, below are just a few examples. There are more.

Thanks,

Ike

1. Electra (Marvel) – Very bad idea and the end result was very, very bad. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=elektra.htm

2. Catwoman (WB/DC) – Catwoman was one of the most important female character within the Batmanfranchise. This film
was a disaster. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=catwoman.htm

3. Supergirl – (DC) Supergirl was one of the most important female super hero in Superman franchise. This Movie
came out in 1984 and did $14 million total domestic with opening weekend of $5.5 million. Again, another disaster.’

Though it is true that these movies weren’t major blockbuster hits, Jessica Goldstein at Thinkprogress.org does her research and points out the male-based superhero films that were also cinema train wrecks such as ‘Superman Returns’, ‘The Green Hornet’ and ‘The Green Lantern’. So, maybe the issue isn’t that these films star a strong female lead but rather its the production behind-the-scenes that fails to execute and promote these films to a higher standard of quality.

Hopefully the upcoming ‘Wonder Woman‘ film, set to release in 2017, does this with its director Patty Jenkins who directed ‘Monster’ but I worry about the screenplay left at the hands of Jason Fuchs whose past work includes ‘Ice Age: Continental Drift’ and the upcoming ‘Pan’ film set to release on October 9. ‘Ice Age’ is what worries me, but maybe ‘Pan‘ – a prequel to the classic novel by J.M. Barrie – will prove otherwise and set my suspicions at ease.

In a time where a superhero blockbuster is released (and pretty much expected) every summer, it would be nice to see that a woman can kick just as much butt as a man and not be labeled a slut while doing so.