Recently, friend of Team Hellions, Grace Randolph, posted a video comparing the use of Black Widow in the Avengers movie and her recent comic book appearance in Avengers Prelude Black Widow Strikes. While in the movie Scarlett Johansen is constantly strong, smart and because of it sexy as well she is a fraction of all that in the pages of the comic. The two portrayals are as far apart as WWE marketing their Divas as “strong smart and sexy” while their matches are anything but.
Black Widow spends the majority of time in this comic in her underwear. Not a super hero suit, which can also be drawn skin tight and maybe unzipped enough for cheesecake factor. No, that wasn’t enough. So instead she rolls around in her bra and panties. All you need to do is meet a secret service agent fresh from a Columbia mission to know that government agents sometimes strip down to their skivvies, it shouldn’t be the point here. Marvel sends a mixed message when they put more clothes on their version of Wonder Woman and rename her Captain Marvel. Then at the same time the most recognizable female character in the company – more so than Storm, Rogue or She-Hulk, gets literally stripped down for the page.
Scarlett Johansson, along with her co stars, sat down with Entertainment Weekly for an interview and the topic of female super heroes came up. Maria Hill is mentioned, and nothing against Colbie Smulders but if you were to take an exit poll of Avengers movie goers, very few of them would know the character’s name. Yes she’s in the movie, but not with any impact. Potential characters in the EW article include the Wasp and Scarlet Witch. Both names would look visually stunning on film and could lead to numerous potential stories either in the Avengers or their own spin off movies. But then the article takes a dive, and its a far one. From Scarlet Witch to other female Avengers like… Hellcat, Moondragon and Mantis?! Mantis?! This one disagrees very much. While all three characters have had some interesting tales, they lack fan bases within serious comic book readers much less the general public.
(Although, Mantis has unofficially crossed over into DC, Eclipse and Image comics and this gray area of copyrighted character would be fun to explore through Marvel Studios and Warner Brothers. )
While some female Avengers fall into similar categories of limited fan bases (Firebird) or potentially confusing movie goers (Spider-Woman) there are still plenty of candidates. Mockingbird would be a great addition to introduce in a Hawkeye solo film, or her rumored TV show. Photon would light up the non comic book fan movie crowd. You think having Scarlett as a strong female character got the women in to see the movie. Try doing that with a black woman. Count your money.
You can still use Firestar, Echo, and numerous other women in the Marvel Universe. Hell, its comics. Take non Avengers or villains or create new characters and then write tales in which they join the team. The possibilities are limitless.
And then Sam Jackson brings up The Pro. To quote:
Jackson:The Pro’shilarious. [To the group] You ever see or hear of it?
Johansson: No, what’s The Pro?
Jackson: It’s [a comic book] about a hooker who gets super powers!
Johansson: [Pauses] That is exactly the problem right there.
Now while the Pro was a good comic, and an interesting story, it is far from my go-to pick. If I’m going to take someone who just fell in love with the Avengers movie and get them into comics, The Pro is not on my short list of great female characters. Since the Pro is not a Marvel book we can open up that list to all comics. And many would be much much better suited for attracting female fans with strong female characters. Birds of Prey, Bone, The Sword, Strangers in Paradise, and many more. But not the Pro.
Would Scarlett Johansson even want to play such a character? Again, to quote:
Yeah, I think they’re always fighting in a bra, so while it might be exciting for a still photo, it’s ridiculous.
But that’s what Black Widow is doing in….I think we have a problem here Marvel.
Original article:
Grace Randolph video:
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