Tag Archives: Marvel

Marvel Straight-Washes Queer Women in ‘Black Panther’ Film

Superheroes have gotten queerer than ever.

Power Rangers announced that the yellow ranger would be queer. DC comics recently confirmed that Wonder Woman, Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy are queer. And let’s not forget Marvel’s America Chavez, a fiery queer Latina superhero that Gina Rodriguez has her eye on.

Unfortunately, when it comes to queer superheroes, it’s two step forwards and one step back. Marvel recently announced that two queer main characters from Black Panther will be straight in the films.

Black Panther is a hit comic book series about T’Challa, the king and protector of the (fictional) African country of Wakanda. The series is notable not just for its strong racial diversity, but also for having powerful queer women of color at the forefront.

Black Panther: World of Wakanda delves into the relationship of two female Wakandan protectors, Ayo and Aneka. Ayo and Aneka are recruited into an elite task force, but find their relationship taking center stage instead.

As the official website says,

What happens when your nation needs your hearts and minds, but you already gave them to each other?”

Yeah. That’s pretty gay.

The Black Panther movie is set to be released in February 2018. Movie footage recently dropped that appeared to continue the relationship of Ayo and Aneka.

In a certain scene of the trailer, Ayo (Florence Kasumba – Captain America: Civil War) and Okoye (Danai Gurira – Walking Dead) are dancing.

After looking Ayo up and down flirtatiously, practically drooling, Okoye says, “You look good.”

“You look better,” Ayo.

Okyo looks smug as she says, “I know.”

Yeah. That’s pretty gay.

Unfortunately, Marvel doesn’t seem to think so. In response to a Vanity Fair article about the footage, a Marvel representative interceded to say that, despite all of the flirtatious lesbianness of that scene, Ayo and Okoye would be totally straight in the film.

According to the representative, that particular storyline didn’t make the cut. Even though the women are flirting in the released footage. Are we supposed to believe that they’re flirting platonically?

Sadly, this is an example of Hollywood straight-washing queer characters in order to make the film more attractive to wider audiences. With the film already centered on characters of color, the representative didn’t want to push any more boundaries.

If you’d like to read the actual queer love story, pick up the comics here.

Gina Rodriguez Eager to Play America Chavez in Marvel Movie

America Chavez is Marvel’s newest, most badass superheroine – and one of the most badass queer women in Hollywood wants to play her in a movie.

America Chavez is a queer Latina superheroine that doesn’t bow to anyone’s notions of femininity or sexuality. She’ll kick butt and kiss whomever she wants, thank you very much.

Her title as Marvel’s Miss America is a slap in the face to anyone who thinks that Americans have to be straight, white men. America Chavez proves that there’s nothing more American – and more radical – than being yourself and battling evil face-to-face.

Actress Gina Rodriguez has recently expressed interest in playing the role if Marvel ever takes America Chavez to the big screen – which, given the intense popularity of diverse upcoming Marvel films like Black Panther, could be sooner than we think.

Gina plays the titular character from the hit show Jane the Virgin, a satiric telenovela that follows the mishaps of a young Latina woman who becomes accidentally artificially inseminated with a rich, handsome bachelor’s baby while she’s engaged to another man. Oh yeah, and in the show, her estranged dad is a superstar. And an evil villain named Sin Rostro is killing people. And everyone has an evil twin. And the narrator is sassy. (Somehow it all makes sense within the show, okay? I did say it was like a telenovela.)

Rodriguez opened up about her sexuality recently. When a fan asked her, “Are you straight?” she replied with, “I don’t need anyone to define their sexuality to me. Nor do I feel the need to either. I love hearts. Period.”

Her response confirms what queer women have long been speculating, seeing as Gina rocks a fierce queer undercut. Fingers crossed that Jane in Jane the Virgin will eventually get a queer love interest.

Learn more about America Chavez here.

Meet America Chavez, Marvel’s Queer Latina Superhero

Marvel’s hottest new superheroine is a lesbian Latina named America Chavez. She attends college by day and saves the universe by night.

America was born and raised by two mothers in an all-female society. After her mothers sacrificed themselves to save the multiverse, America took the responsibility upon her shoulders.

She appeared in a run of Young Avengers in 2013 and, after finding an unexpected following, she returned to titles such as Ultimates and A-Force. She is finally getting her own series.

Her inclusion is the latest in a string of rebooted, diverse Marvel Characters. RiRi Williams is the new fifteen-year-old black, female Iron Man. A Muslim teenager named Kamala Khan became Ms. Marvel. Marvel has introduced a black Captain America, an Afrolatino Spiderman and a female Thor.

Marvel tapped queer puertorriqueña author Gabby Rivera to write the comics. Although Rivera is new to comics, she made waves with her Young Adult novel Juliet Takes a Breath, which centered around a queer Puerto Rican girl.

When asked about America’s powers, Rivera said,

America doesn’t know how powerful she is, but she’s gonna find out.”

As an alt-reality version of Ms. America, America Chavez possesses a wide range of powers, from teleportation to flight to interdimensional travel. She can kick someone so hard that they leave earth’s atmosphere; when she stomps, earthquakes erupt; and bullets bounce off her skin. She also has super speed.

Rivera mused about what it means to be American, queer and Latina after the 2016 election. She said, “I am still learning how to navigate [America Chavez’s] world, but to not include elements and emotions of what is going on would be a huge missed opportunity on my part — on our part. But it’s also a balance between connecting with people and alienating people. ‘Cause Latinos voted for Trump too. My family voted for Trump.”

You won’t find America Chavez in a skimpy skintight costume, unlike many of Marvel’s superheroines; the cover features her in a sweatshirt and gym shorts. She’s as practical as she is badass. And she’s here to show that there’s more than one way to be an American.

Pick up the first America Chavez comic in 2017.

Doctor Strange’s Tilda Swinton Is Holding Out For A Queer Superhero

Tilda Swinton is soon to appear as The Eternal in the new Marvel film, Doctor Strange, has said she is hoping that Marvel will soon give us a gay superhero.

During an interview with Out Magazine, Swinton discusses some of the criticism Doctor Strange has received, especially around the fact that her character was changed from an Asian comic book character.

Swinton said her message to these critics is simple:

Anyone speaking up for a greater accuracy in the representation of the diversity of the world we live in has me right beside them. As someone who has worked from the beginning as an artist within a queer aesthetic, the urgency of that voice is always going to be welcome.”

Swinton goes on to talk about Marvels own commitment to diversity.

I believe in Marvel’s wholehearted commitment to creating a diverse and vibrant universe, avoiding stereotype and cliché wherever possible in a determination to keep things fresh and lively. We are also still looking forward to our first gay Marvel superhero, naturally. Let’s hope that’s only a matter of time.”

During the interview in Swinton also discusses ‘the nature of queerness’ and expresses this view:

I have lived for my entire adult life closely integrated into a queer aesthetic, occasionally in situations where I may have been—for months at a time – either the only cis woman present or the only person in a heterosexual relationship, without particularly questioning why it might be strange for me to be included. The issue of sexuality is a secondary one to the issue of spirit. My analysis is, as my grandmother would say, ‘Horses for courses,’ meaning, each to their own.”

She also has strong opinions on attitudes to queerness and how these attitudes can unite.

Queerness is an attitude that, when acknowledged as shared, can bring more people together than could ever be divided by it being used as a term of rejection.”

Tilda is very open and proud about her own attitude to queerness and continued by saying:

I think this attitude is what I carry above my head, without any effort or influence. I think it is a form of semaphore that my colleagues recognize as a homing beacon—and I am proud to say I think it was probably blinking away even in my cradle.”

Swinton is a very positive voice for the queer community and it’s an honour to have her speak up for us in such a vocal way.

Let’s hope she gets her wish and Marvel will indeed give us our first ever gay Marvel Superhero.

Marvel To Debut New Comic With Queer Woman Of Colour Taking Centre Stage

So this just happened – Marvel announced (at New York Comic-Con) that Ms. America – a.k.a. America Chavez (a character who debuted in Young Avengers and A-Force (Marvel’s all-female Avengers initiative) – is going solo in 2017 with an ongoing Marvel title.

The series will be called America, and will also be Marvel’s first solo-run about a lesbian superhero.

Coming soon: "America" #1 💪🏽 🇺🇸 #MarvelNOW #MarvelComics pic.twitter.com/YaCmynlBAg

— Marvel Entertainment (@Marvel) October 7, 2016

America – who was born on the planet Utopia (another dimension to ours) to her two mothers – has a set of badass superpowers; include flight, bulletproof skin, super strength, and inter-dimensional travel.

And because her first name is America, she chose Ms. America as a crime-fighting identity.

What is great about America, is she is more confident, and outspoken than other Marvel heroes her age.

America Chavez has already developed relationships with many of Marvel’s more well-known characters, including Hellcat, Squirrel Girl, and Loki.

Jessica Jones’ Carrie-Anne Moss On What It’s Like Playing The Show’s Lesbian Lawyer

When Jessica Jones debuted on Netflix towards the tail-end of last year, it was (rightfully) praised by just about everyone.

While some were eager for more episodes of the show (the Marvel series is just 13 episodes long), its first season featured a heart-warming female friendship, it centred on abuse victims getting justice for the crimes committed against them and it also gave us lesbian lawyer Jeri Hogarth.

Jeri Hogarth’s inclusion in Jessica Jones was monumental and not just because she’s the first lesbian in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Hogarth is also noteworthy because she’s not perfect and in fact, for most of the series, her actions make her largely unlikeable.

But after the show’s villain (Kilgrave) mind-controls Hogarth’s ex-wife Wendy into giving her a thousand cuts, you might just feel sorry for her. Or, she’ll give you something to debate at least.

During the TCA press tour, AfterEllen asked Carrie-Anne Moss, who plays Jeri Hogarth, whether it was Hogarth’s “morally ambiguous” character that drew her to the role:

Yeah, I was just excited about playing an interesting woman, right? An interesting character. And I loved that there was no cliché. I hate characters that are a clichéd or an idea. And ultimately that’s my job to not play it that way but the writing–it can be written that way. So that was very clearly put to me, it’s a human story and not any cliché.”

Moss also revealed her surprise when she read the script and found out that Wendy would be killed:

That was kind of like “Oh!” Because I kept kind of thinking maybe they’ll get back together, you know? That Jeri was leading with sex and maybe she’s gonna find–”Oh my god, what did I do? Take me back!” I kept thinking that in my mind.”

While Moss also calls her character “honest”, “fierce” and says that that “she’s not bullshitting anybody”, the actor wouldn’t reveal her wishlist for Jessica Jones season two, explaining that she “wouldn’t want to limit myself by my thinking”.

Unfortunately, we have no idea when the second season of the show will be released or even filmed, as another Marvel/Netflix show, The Defenders, is also in the works. Watch this space.

Marvel Introduces Its First Queer Leading Character

The first episode of Jessica Jones doesn’t go public until November 20th — and though we avoid major spoilers, you should turn back now if you want to go into the series knowing nothing.

So, a few days ago Marvel and Netflix dropped a bomb on New York Comic Con on Sunday when they offered up a surprise screening of the entire first episode of the highly anticipated Jessica Jones series.

It was also confirmed that the new show gives the Marvel Cinematic Universe its first lesbian character – attorney Jeri Hogarth played by Carrie-Anne Moss.

Moss, who probably remains best known for her work in The Matrix films, is playing a gender-swapped version of the male character Jeryn Hogarth from the Marvel comic books.

Hogarth is a high-powered lawyer who hires the titular Jessica (a super-humanly strong private eye) to serve a subpoena to a heavily guarded club owner.

While the women discuss the job during a late-night phone-call, a young woman slinks up behind the glamorous Jeri and begins nuzzling and nibbling her neck.

Just a few scenes later, we find out that this encounter is an affair, and that Jeri’s cheating on her female partner.

It has also be reported that eponymous hero Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter) is bisexual or sexually fluid, with hints of a previous relationship with best friend Trish ‘Patsy’ Walker (Rachael Taylor).

Later in the episode, Jessica is in need of cash and, after dark, drops in to see Trish. Neither character says it outright, but the brief interaction heavily implies that they used to be a romantic item.

There’s talk of how Jessica used to discuss her most closely guarded emotional struggles until she pushed Trish away, there’s a palpable and melancholy attraction in their gazes, and there’s a sweet surrender to financial kindness on Trish’s part that is usually reserved for concerned former lovers.

This is seen as a big deal, considering that every Marvel movie thus far has featured a white straight male lead.

To date, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has never shown us openly gay women. Indeed, the only depictions of non-straight characters in Marvel’s shared universe have been a recent episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. that reveals a bit player to be gay and a regrettable, Blu-Ray-only short feature that shows Sam Rockwell’s Iron Man 2 villain alluding to having sex in prison.

Unlike those minor beats, Jessica Jones‘s queer relationship scenes are clearly integral to the internal lives of major characters, and are not played for laughs or for shock value. They’re sad, sweet, and subtle.

A Netflix series, of course, is a far leap away from a blockbuster film, but still, progress.

The new show is also raising eyebrows over its frank portrayal of sex in general, especially noting that Marvel TV and movies are generally pretty sexless.

Jessica Jones hits Netflix on Nov. 20.

Would There Ever be a Queer Superhero in a Marvel Film? Studios President Says Maybe

Compared to DC Comics, Marvel are a little behind when it comes to represent queer characters in their comics.

However, speaking at an Ant-Man press day, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige gave a vague promise to when a LGBTI character will appear in a superhero film.

He said he ‘would think’ a LGBTI character will appear ‘in the next decade or sooner’.

Well in the drawing board going up to 2019 it remains to be seen. The comics always make the path that we get to have the fun of saying, ” Yeah let’s choose this way or let’s choose this way’, and I think there are a lot of cool things happening in the comics now that – it’s usually a five to 10-year cycle between when something happens in the comics and when we can do it in the movie, sometimes a little less, but Civil War is certainly about the ten-year mark. Winter Soldier, I think, was around that time.

So we always look at stuff that’s happening in the comics and go, “Where could we do that?” Sometimes it’s sooner, but there’s no reason why that couldn’t happen in the next decade or sooner.”

While the X-Men films are largely seen as a parable to the LGBTI community, this was dropped when Bryan Singer stopped directing them. Marvel has yet to screen a blockbuster led by a female superhero.

Also read: Gay Women In Comics, and There are Plenty

However, for inspiration, they could look at Mystique – a bisexual X-Men villain, or the recent outing of Iceman in the comics.

The Young Avengers’ Wiccan and Hulkling are also a popular same-sex couple with the fans.

Tilda Swinton is in Talks to Join Benedict Cumberbatch in Marvel’s ‘Doctor Strange’ (Fingers Crossed)

Tilda Swinton is in talks to join Benedict Cumberbatch in Marvel’s Doctor Strange, which Scott Derrickson is directing and Kevin Feige is producing.

The actress is up for the role of the Ancient One, a Tibetan mystic guide who mentors Dr. Strange (Cumberbatch), a former surgeon who is unable to continue his work after a bad car accident, in the art of magic. The character was originally male in the comic books.

Doctor Strange is expected to start shooting in the U.K. in November, with a scheduled released date to be November 2016.

Marvel’s Miss America Comes Out as Gay

A-Force is easily one of the most significant marvel comics to come at in recent years. The series seems a direct response to criticisms that the Marvel Universe still isn’t diverse enough and that there aren’t enough female-centric superhero comics.

So now we have a book that’s almost entirely female-driven. The cast is comprised of the biggest and brightest of Marvel’s heroines, while the script is a joint effort between Angela: Asgard’s Assassin writer Marguerite Bennett and Ms. Marvel writer G. Willow Wilson.

In the new issue of A-Force Miss America (akaAmerica Chavez) will outs herself as being bi or lesbian….

A-Force raised some eyebrows when it was announced because of its all-female cast and its supposed “feminist agenda” (because surely any comic that focuses on female characters must have ill intent).

The comic doesn’t make a point of actively excluding male characters in favour of females. Nor does it play on the old trope that a society ruled by women is inherently superior to a man’s world.

The comic makes it clear that Arcadia is a paradise because all of its inhabitants – male and female, young and old – worked together to make it happen. It just so happens that most of the costumed super-people in this realm are women.

Original X-Men Member Comes Out

A leaked comic has confirmed that one of the original five X-Men, will come out as gay.

Due to be released this week, All-New X-Men #40, confirms that Bobby Drake, aka Iceman, is gay

The comic series centres around the five young original X-Men (Angel, Beast, Cyclops, Iceman and Jean Grey) who time travel to the present day and fight alongside new members of the team.

In the new issue, Iceman makes a comment about their female professor’s “incredible hotness”, and gets pulled aside by psychic Jean Grey.

She questions why he says things like that – and reveals the she knows he is gay.

They discuss the fact that they have met Iceman’s older self, who is not gay, and Bobby suggests:

Maybe he couldn’t handle being a mutant and gay in a society that had issues with both? And one is easier to ‘put away’ than the other?”

He points out that his older self dated character Kitty Pryde, who was played by Ellen Page in two of the live-action X-Men films, and Jean reminds him:

And now she no longer lives on planet Earth.”

The X-Men franchise has often dealt with issues of discrimination and oppression, with many similarities to LGBT rights struggles.

Anna Paquin Would Return as X-Men’s Rogue on One Condition

Rogue has long been my favourite character in the X-Men series, but the truth is that the mutant heroine hasn’t really had the opportunity to do very much on the big screen.

Played by bisexual actress Anna Paquin in the original X-Men trilogy and a brief cameo in X-Men: Days of Future Past, she got plenty of chances to mope and be a disgruntled teen with unfortunate powers, but she didn’t really ever get into the action and fight the forces of evil.

Rogue had always had super strength and the ability to fly in the comics after permanently stealing Ms Marvel’s powers.

Evidently, Paquin herself has noticed this, and as a result her one requirement for ever getting back into the X-Men franchise is that she has to be allowed to fly and kick ass.

@AnnaPaquinFans if I get to fly, absolutely

— Anna Paquin (@AnnaPaquin) April 19, 2015

@AnnaPaquinFans no I'm saying that comic book rogue gets to fly and I never did. I want to be badass rogue not shy teen rogue

— Anna Paquin (@AnnaPaquin) April 19, 2015

X-Men: Apocalypse will be the next instalment of the series. It will arrive in 2016.

Is Marvel’s ‘A.K.A. Jessica Jones’ About to Bring us a New Lesbian Character?

A.K.A. Jessica Jones is a new Netflix miniseries collaboration with Marvel.

The show is based on Brian Michael Bendis’ critically-acclaimed comic series Alias, which introduced the character (including her previously-unseen super heroic backstory) in 2001.

Jessica Jones was a superhero called Jewel, with great strength and the ability to fly – but after a horrifying incident she hung up her cape for good. Now she works as a private investigator in New York, but struggles to leave the past behind as she becomes involved with super heroic cases.

Much like Agents of SHIELD or Agent Carter, A.K.A. Jessica Jones will take place in the same world as the Marvel movies – so if yet another super villain levels half of New York City in Avengers 3, expect Jessica to be dealing with the aftermath.

Continuing their trend for getting reasonably big sci-fi names, A.K.A Jessica Jones has cast Carrie-Anne Moss (best known as Trinity from The Matrix) in the mysterious role of “Harper”, an authoritative figure and potential ally to Jessica.

However, there could be a little more to Harper we need to know. Pictures are out of Carrie-Anne’s character sharing a passionate kiss with an attractive blonde co-star while shooting for the new show.

We don’t know too much more about the character other than she is a ‘no-nonsense woman who could prove a powerful ally to Jessica… if Jessica doesn’t completely alienate her first.’

Hmmmmm…

Carrie-Anne joins Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones, Mike Colter as Luke Cage, and David Tennant as Purple Man in the upcoming Marvel series.

The hotly anticipated series comes as part of a list of scheduled releases by Netflix, based on Marvel heroes The Defenders: Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist.

Daredevil will premiere on Netflix on April 1, with A.K.A. Jessica Jones expected to follow later on in 2015.

Marvel Announces The First All-Female Avengers Team

The Marvel Universe is looking to make some changes. The Avengers are coming to an end and in their place, another team will take its place; one that is entirely comprised of female heroes.

Marvel calls the team A-Force, and it’s made up of powerful and diverse women spanning the entirety of the Marvel Universe.

In a recent statement, co-writer G. Willow Wilson said

“She-Hulk, Dazzler, Medusa, Nico Minoru and other fan favorites, will take charge. We’ve purposefully assembled a team composed of different characters from disparate parts of the Marvel U, with very different power sets, identities and ideologies.”

G. Willow Wilson

It’s not Marvel’s first all-female team, or even the only one they have right now. X-Men, also written by G. Willow Wilson, with art by Roland Boschi, focuses on a core cast of women.

Marvel Reveal First Look at Lucy Lawless in Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 2

Give any media-loving feminist the time of day and they’ll talk your ear off about the representation of women as ass-kicking world savers.

As seen with recent movie release Lucy and Marvel’s oft-problematic portrayal of Black Widow (and the sexualisation of her curves – as presented by Scarlett Johansson) on the off chance that we do see a woman restore hope first and take names later, there’s a good chance that they’ll get it wrong. But in Xena: Warrior Princess there were no such missteps as not only were we given a badass lady to look up to, she was also bisexual and paved the way for same sex fan fiction and queer subtext.

Now, Xena actress Lucy Lawless is set to break ground again, joining Marvel TV show Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D in its upcoming season.

Sadly, it doesn’t seem as though Lawless will completely be nodding toward her heroic roots but her role in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D will be a pivotal one nonetheless. Lawless will play Agent Isabelle Hartley as she teams up with Director Coulson to help rebuild the S.H.I.E.L.D organisation after it was revealed at the end of the show’s first season that it had been infiltrated by Hydra, the criminal faction with a goal of global domination.

Dangerous stuff indeed which is why Lawless’ role as Hartley could be so important. Hartley is also said to be a veteran S.H.I.E.L.D agent which makes her inclusion in the upcoming season all the more important and it offers slim hope for those waiting for Marvel to turn their poor history on the representation of women around. Given that Lawless is also known for her roles on other female-fronted shows such as Parks and Recreation and has embraced the sci-fi genre in Battlestar Galactica too, that would certainly be a step in the right direction but as little is known about Hartley’s story line for now, we’ll have to wait until we know much more.

Agents of S.H.I.E.LD season two premieres Tuesday, Sept. 23 at 9/8c on ABC.

So What Does it Mean to Have a Gay Green Lantern? DC’s Iconic Character to Come Out in Upcoming Comic

Simply put, if you’re anything other than straight, white, male and cis-gendered, the representation of your identity across all forms of media is going to be pretty abysmal. Because of the changing readership of comics, though, thing are slowly becoming better in the superhero space.

Even so, the big two comics companies – DC and Marvel – could always do better as both are quite poor at presenting their female heroes in a non-objectifying light.

DC recently made headlines after the creative team of Batwoman jumped ship because higher ups wouldn’t let the character get married to her female partner. So, after Marvel Comics character Northstar (of Astonishing X-Men fame) proposed to his boyfriend, DC are following suit with Green Lantern set to get a boyfriend too.

The announcement comes as somewhat of a surprise to Green Lantern fans as the character has been around since before the Second World War, after which the character behind the Green Lantern persona changed in an effort to ramp up the character’s declining popularity.

It’s the original Green Lantern, Alan Scott, who is going to come out as gay in an upcoming issue and not the Hal Jordan version of Green Lantern who was played by Ryan Reynolds in the film. And that’s quite important too as with other characters like Batman and Superman, we only know these as one person (Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent, respectively) but with Green Lantern, the ‘gay version’ of Green Lantern is just another version of the character in a group of many others and so fans can overlook or avoid the superhero’s sexuality in favour of whichever straight Green Lantern that they like best.

While it would be wrong for us to completely turn our noses up a representation especially with a storyline so sweet as this (Green Lantern is set to come home to his boyfriend and give him a welcoming hug and kiss) in the back of my mind, the comics fan in me sees this as somewhat of a cop-out on DC’s part. As mentioned with the Batwoman debacle, they don’t exactly have a brilliant track record either. Nonetheless, it will be nice to see Green Lantern’s storyline and relationship with his boyfriend progress over the next few issues so we’ll keep you posted once we know more.

Why Scarlett Johansson’s ‘Lucy’ Is Not Worth Your Time or Money

It’s a sad, sad thing that although we are quite a few movies into the recent Marvel heroes movie surge we have yet to see Scarlett Johansson kick ass, take names and save the world as Black Widow the way her male Avengers counterparts (Thor, Captain America et. al) have in their own movie franchises.

While Johansson’s public support of people like Woody Allen and her sponsorship of oppressive companies have been abrasive at best, there’s no denying that people are hungry to see her play a badass female superhero. Directed by Luc Besson, ‘Lucy’ hoped to be Johansson’s turn to party with the boys.

It may not be within the Marvel universe but playing the titular character after she is forced against her will to transport a package of drugs within her body, before then accidentally absorbing those drugs and gaining advanced mental and physical powers, Lucy had the potential to be a superhero that all of us could support. So it’s a shame that the film turned out to be a racist amalgamation of stereotypes and tropes instead.

The first time the queasy feeling will settle in your stomach whilst watching Lucy is when the character (remember, she’s white) is placed into Taiwan and tasked with the unsavoury job of killing exclusively Asian male villains in the name of liberation and justice. Is there a feminist cause to be championed in there somewhere – that this female hero is getting her revenge by taking on men?

Yes. Is there also an overt racist trope of the ‘vulnerable’ white woman (remember, she’s already smarter and stronger than the majority of the people on the planet by this point) taking on the scary, brown man? Check marks all round for Lucy on this one. While I could entirely focus the remainder of these piece on asking why a film set in Taiwan has a white lead, since I can answer that succinctly with ‘Hollywood is racist’ and link you to this HuffPo article and this one from TIME to prove it, I’ll move onto my next point.

What may seem like a minor problem actually reflects ‘Lucy’ as a whole. Peep this screengrab of Chinese writing in the background of the film. It translates as ‘Keep Clean. Apple, scallop & ginger, orange, tomato, grape’. ‘Ha!’ I hear someone say in the distance ‘what a wonderful Easter egg for those who understand Chinese characters’, but they’re wrong, this isn’t an Easter egg at all.

Rather, it’s a further example of someone on this movie’s staff not doing their research or not caring enough to do the language spoken the inhabitants of the film’s Taiwan setting justice. They cared enough to make this sci-fi thriller (or crime thriller, no one is really sure) about the very real fact that humans only use about 10% of their brain power and stick it in a country full of people of colour that would make Lucy’s plight for revenge seem so much grittier, but not enough to Google Translate some scarier phrases than the contents of my fruit bowl.

But, I say, knowing full well that there are so many more column inches I could dedicate to this God awful movie, the very worst example of racism in Lucy is this scene (tw: violence at the link). A country predominantly made up of non-English speakers, Lucy goes up to a man and shoots him dead because he does not speak the language that she does.

Newsflash: Lucy, there are more people who don’t speak English in the world than those who do. Statistically, it’s moronic for her to expect that a person in a mostly non-English speaking country is going to share her dialect. but more than that, the film perpetuates the idea that it’s ok to murder people in cold blood if they speak with an accent or don’t speak the same language as you.

In short, maybe it’s action scenes are shocking, maybe the concept of a female superhero is a good one but this film is so vividly offensive, so undeniably racist that I implore you not to support it. I know we as feminists want women to be the leads of all media, especially those like superhero films in which men have typically reigned, but for crying out loud if this is the example of a ‘female lead’ that we’re willing to accept then maybe we don’t deserve it.

Marvel Reveals Thor will be Made a Woman in Upcoming Comic Book Series

Marvel Comic’s classic character Thor will be a woman in upcoming comic book editions. The company announced the surprise move during an episode of The View.

“The new Thor continues Marvel’s proud tradition of strong female characters like Captain Marvel, Storm, Black Widow and more. And this new Thor isn’t a temporary female substitute — she’s now the one and only Thor, and she is worthy!”

Wil Moss, Marvel editor

In the comic book timeline, the Norse God Thor was stripped of his powers by his father, Odin. After his son redeems himself, Odin puts Thor’s power in his hammer, Mjolnir.

The magic weapon is engraved with the words, “Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor.” Marvel has not said whether or not they will change the words on the hammer, but in previous editions the weapon has been picked up and wielded by female characters like Storm of the X-Men and Wonder Woman.

The move will create Marvel’s eighth female lead character. The company has said that Thor will remain a God and will not be called a Goddess.

Marvel has not revealed a release date for the upcoming series, which will be written by Aaron and illustrated by Russell Dauterman, other than to say it will hit shelves in October.

The change will likely not affect the movie franchise.