Marvel’s recent announcement has drawn ire from certain fans, with the divisive reveal flooded with angry responses online. But when it comes to Marvel, and by extension, The Walt Disney Company, what’s new?
The Walt Disney Company is currently facing a continued political, social, and cultural battle. In the last few years, the House of Mouse has faced criticism relating to its projects across film and television. The word woke has been batted around near consistently, with any attempt by Disney to include diversity in its projects being deemed an attempt to instill a certain ideology in the minds of its audiences.
From Lightyear (2022) to Strange World (2022), both of which featured homosexual characters, to She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, Ms. Marvel, and The Marvels, all starring female leads, Disney and its studios are continually under fire from some of the more conservative voices in its fandom.
Credit: Marvel Studios
The so-called wokeness of the Mouse House has seen the company land the number one spot in a recent analysis of the most woke companies in the United States. The turbulent nature of Disney does not seem to be settling anytime soon, and as fans continue to lean into the ideology of “go woke, go broke,” anything the company announces is savagely analyzed and deconstructed.
Marvel’s new reveal has ignited a polarizing response, and at this point, it’s not surprising.
Announced earlier this year, Marvel Comics’ “Women of Marvel” anthology one-shot pulls together a series of stories from some of the most iconic female superheroes in the Marvel canon. Featuring the likes of Scarlet Witch, Storm, Ms. Marvel, Squirrel Girl, Black Widow, and Madame Webb, the one-shot comic is written by a slew of popular authors and is released on February 28, 2024.
However, on February 27, Marvel Entertainment dropped the trailer for the “Women of Marvel” comic book and incited an online riot. While a lot of the comments celebrated the return of the popular Scarlet Witch–who is also getting her own brand-new series coming in June from Steve Orlando–many decried the decision to put out female-centric content. One comment summed up the overall response: “Insecure threatened fanboys’ comments are funny.”
A reply to the video said, “This just in: The female gender has not been arbitrarily praised and pandered to enough in the last decade. Marvel releases [a] new video. Story at 11,” with another writing, “Stop focusing on gender politics and ideology focus on telling good stories! [Women] have always been [a part] of Marvel and Star Wars; most of your audience is male, but we like well-written characters [women] or men!”
Credit: Marvel Studios
Another comment referenced Marvel Studios’ recent MCU box-office bomb, The Marvels (2023)–“Oh plz after The Marvels flop wow.” Nia DaCosta’s sequel to the billion-dollar Captain Marvel (2019) became the worst-performing Marvel movie in the history of the franchise.
A large sum of the comments, though, came in response to why there was a Women of Marvel event and not a Men of Marvel…
“Wait… huh???! Are there also men of Marvel?” one comment reads. Another user wrote, “Men of Marvel?? Disney: Well, we don’t care about them anymore. Gotta spread The Wokeness.” Echoing the latter, a more recent comment says, “Yay.. more wokeness.. really digging your grave here, huh?”
Watch the trailer here:
Contrary to popular belief–at least the belief of those commenting on the trailer–“Women of Marvel” has been an annual event for over a decade.
“For over 10 years, WOMEN OF MARVEL has highlighted iconic women characters and storytellers from throughout Marvel Comics history!” states Marvel.com. “Fans won’t want to miss celebrating the spirit and mission of this fantastic program with these phenomenal tales starring some of Marvel’s greatest heroes!”
Written by Gail Simone, Celeste Bronfman, Erica Schultz, Sarah Rees Brennan, and Nao Fuji, with art by Lydia Rasero, Leila Leiz, Giada Belviso, Arielle Jovellanos, and Nao Fuji, Marvel’s “Women of Marvel” hits stands on February 28, 2024.
