Marvel’s New Debuts in Review

Over the course of this summer, several exciting installments were added to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), two of which being the new female-led superhero comedies “Ms. Marvel,” released on June 8, and “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law” on Aug. 18. Both premiered on the streaming service Disney+, with episodes releasing weekly. Actress Iman Vellani portrays the titular character in “Ms. Marvel” which follows 16-year-old Pakistani American Kamala Khan, an Avengers fan who gains the ability to manipulate cosmic energy, or hard light constructs, from her great-grandmother’s bangle. During this series, Khan clashes with the Department of Damage Control and other forces as she grapples with her new abilities. On the other hand, “She-Hulk” follows Jennifer Walters, a lawyer played by Tatiana Maslani. After a car accident where her blood is contaminated, Walters becomes a Hulk, which brings her immense strength and a tall, green appearance. After getting hired at the law firm Goodman, Lieberman, Kurtzberg & Holliway as head of the superhuman law division, she must deal with the mental and physical conflicts that ensue. As both “Ms. Marvel” and “She-Hulk” represent women in the MCU, they have attracted controversy and criticism. There is a question to be asked about whether this criticism is deserved, or merely an excuse to tear down female inclusion. Junior Dario Acosta enjoyed the way the actresses brought the characters and themes to life, regardless of the controversies.

“I think that both [shows] are very likable,” Acosta said. “The acting is [well done] from Iman Vellani and Tatiana Maslany. [For She-Hulk], I really enjoyed Jennifer Walters as a character because she shows the audience how powerful you can be. It is refreshing how she still stays a lawyer once she gets her powers. I [also] loved the message of Ms. Marvel, [that] you have to find yourself and be who you are. I am so excited to see where these stories lead.” 

Beyond these two shows, recent Marvel productions have been slowly including more representation of women, as seen by the release of “Captain Marvel,” the first female-led MCU film, and the hiring of female directors such as Chloé Zhao for “Eternals.” The release of these productions are typically met with an onslaught of hate and critique, particularly from part of the male fanbase or those with reservations towards the representation of minorities. “Ms. Marvel” and “She-Hulk” were not exempt from this phenomenon, as they were subject to large amounts of review bombing, a practice where masses of people intentionally leave bad reviews on review aggregators. This hate can most likely be attributed to how “Ms. Marvel” includes groundbreaking representation by telling the story of a Pakistani and Muslim superhero, while also illustrating how her cultural identity inspires her (New Musical Express). “She-Hulk” also communicates themes of struggling to exist as a woman in society, including being belittled, disrespected and not taken seriously. Taking into account the magnitude of people vocally expressing their disdain for this new wave of representation, there is no question that the hate these productions receive is a recurring pattern. Freshman Jordyn Headley, who watched “Ms. Marvel”, believes aversion to change is the reason for review bombing.

“I really enjoyed Ms. Marvel because of the representation that she brings to the table,” Headley said. “I think with previous Marvel shows there has been representation, but [this show is] something new. Some people, especially in the Marvel community, review bomb these types of shows because it is different to them. The [fans are] very [particular] on what they want [Marvel to represent] because [there is] such a strong fan base. [But] I really hope I see more shows like [Ms. Marvel] and my hope is that I also see more representation in big movies.” 

A debate online between Marvel fans is whether the MCU’s portrayal of female representation is effective, or merely an attempt to pander to those who criticize Marvel’s portrayal of women. During the beginning phases of the MCU, female characters were overtly sexualized. They were also molded to fit the roles of caretakers and objects of desire for the male characters, who ultimately held more weight in the plot. In more recent productions, this issue was addressed by putting more female characters into the spotlight, although this did not always have the intended effect. An infamous example is a scene in “Avengers: Endgame” which features the MCU’s female superhero lineup taking down aliens after being overshadowed by the male cast for much of the movie. This scene is classified by many as an example of tokenism, where only a symbolic effort is made to fulfill a quota for representation (Merriam Webster). The tokenism is emphasized by how this scene had no meaningful contribution to the main plot. While these efforts were well received by some and not so much by others, many feel that after years of female characters being pushed aside, the effect often comes off as patronizing and ingenuine (Journal of Student Research). Even so, MCU productions which make an effort to empower women tend to be subject to increased scrutiny. Junior Lucián Delgado addresses this discrepancy that is found in the disproportionate amount of critique these shows receive. 

“I believe that when it comes to female leads, people nitpick and point out the flaws more,” Delgado said. “For example, in ‘WandaVision’, people thought Wanda went crazy and [was] delusional when she was just reacting to her situation. Compared to male-dominated productions, [this occurrence is] due to misogyny and people not [listening to women’s struggles]. [I think] this [nitpicking] should end.” 

Although female representation in the MCU sometimes only scratches the surface of true, strong representation, it is still a step in the right direction after years of blatant sexualizaton and poor treatment of female characters. Despite both shows receiving negative reviews from parts of the audience, both are highly rated by critics on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, with “She-Hulk ” having a critic rating of 87% and “Ms. Marvel” sitting at 97%. These statistics show that with the overall success of “She-Hulk” and “Ms. Marvel,” things will move in the right direction as the MCU continues to evolve.