It took 11 years for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), the world’s most successful film franchise of all times, to have a woman superhero’s solo film – despite the presence of a woman superhero in the original team of Avengers that built the franchise.
DC Universe, Marvel’s rival in the superhero genre, was much quicker to feature a woman superhero in lead with Wonder Woman. The television division of DC has had an even earlier run with women superheroes, beginning with Supergirl in 2015 and now going ahead with Batwoman.
Here are women superheroes whose films and shows have taken the genre forward and have left a mark in the portrayal of women.
Black Widow (2021)
Natasha Romanoff brought together the superhero team of Avengers with her former boss Nick Fury. She brought in Tony Stark (Iron Man), Bruce Banner (Hulk), and was at the forefront of battling alien and human villains alike. Yet it took more than a decade for her to get a solo film while her fellow male superheroes kept getting films.
However, the 2021 film Black Widow was a milestone for many reasons. For one, the film did away with the practice of making women superheroes fight in heels. Scarlett Johansson, the actor who played the role, herself commented on this. She said, “I do think superheroine movies are normally really corny and bad. They’re always like, fighting in four-inch heels with your [hefts chest] like a two-gun salute.”
The film was also remarkable in the way it touched the issue of a woman’s agency over her body and the societal perception of women through crucial plot elements.
Moreover, after one point, the film becomes a women-led ensemble with three women characters across generations taking to the field against a villain that represents the worst of patriarchy. For a film that was released a decade after the character's introduction, Black Widow served as a great closure for the character and an even greater introduction for a newer set of women characters, opening a whole new avenue for Marvel and its women characters.
Black Widow, and the character of Natasha Romanoff, is also remarkable in a way that there are no superpowers here – Natasha can’t fly, can’t shoot lasers, or punch through a building. It’s just a reminder that your deeds make you a superhero, not necessarily some superpowers.
Captain Marvel (2018)
Carol Danvers was an air force pilot before she became Captain Marvel. That way, she was into heroic deeds much before she got her superpowers.
The film was a break from the serious films from the superhero genre. Danvers laughed, made jokes, and had a smile as powerful as her punches that brought down spaceships – perhaps a reminder that superheroes don’t always need to be dead serious.
Despite this, the film was criticised by some for being too fast-paced and giving little time for the lead character’s emotional development. A review noted, “It might have been worth it for the film to take the time to allow the audience to catch up on who Carol Danvers is as a character, no less a US female superhero.”
Even with this bit of criticism, Captain Marvel is a great watch – more so since the genre has just started to emerge. Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel is among the characters who are believed to headline MCU’s next phase. We hope upcoming projects with her would do better with the character development.
Wonder Woman (2017)
Critics have often hailed Wonder Woman for being great in gaps that Captain Marvel left, such as character development. A critic noted, “Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman is a fully realised character. She's emotional, confident, yet also insecure. She has hope and she has fear. She can love and lust and she can feel sadness and joy.”
The film was also praised for its relatability to women, unlike earlier female superheroes that were criticised for being made for the male gaze and were needlessly sexualised.
“The same connection a boy has to Batman or Superman is the same connection girls and women have seen in a character like Wonder Woman,” noted a review.
Supergirl (2015-2021)
The benefit of a television series is that there is more time for character development and the audience can feel much more connected to the character as well as the story. Supergirl uses both of these benefits to the hilt.
Kara Danvers – Supergirl – is a cousin of Superman but her identity is not rooted in Superman’s. She is her own star in this show – a full-fledged character with her own personality.
The show also avoids a cliche that’s often seen in films and shows that portray sisters or cousins of famous male characters. Superman is not “nerfed” – reduced in stature – to give prominence to Supergirl. Both Superman and Supergirl exist and flourish in the same universe and both of them are heroes in their own right.
Supergirl’s brilliance also lies in the fact that the show deals with several real-world themes such as sexism, anti-immigrant sentiment, racism, and keeps powering the story with Kara’s belief in the goodness in the world.
Hawkeye (2021)
This otherwise great show was overshadowed by Spider-Man: No Way Home as their release dates clashed. But this doesn’t take the spotlight away from the show and its characters that grow with every episode.
From the young and righteous Kate Bishop to Yelena seeking revenge for her sister’s death that she blames on Clint Barton, the show features a range of women characters in several shades of grey.
A natural successor to Black Widow, this show serves as a great watch to understand how a commoner with no links to a secret organisation and with no superhuman strength can become a hero, just with the willpower to do the right thing and a commitment bordering on obsession for your icon.
Indian Women Superheroes
Priya’s Mask – Indian superhero in a pandemic
The women superhero genre has reached India as well, with Priya, India's first woman comic hero making her entry a few years ago. Created by Indian-American Ram Devineni in 2014, Priya is an Indian girl who rides a tigress. She is a rape-survivor whose earlier stories have featured rape, acid attacks, and human trafficking.
In her latest story Priya’s Mask, she deals with misinformation around COVID-19 and spreads compassion. She also teams up with Jiya, the heroine of Pakistan's "Burka Avenger" cartoon, to help the villain when he catches COVID-19.
This underlines the need for compassion and humanity in such times, according to scriptwriter Shubhra Prakash.
The comic book is available for free download along with a two-minute animated film that features the voices of Indian actors Vidya Balan and Mrunal Thakur.
