It would not be unfair to say we’re living in the age of the superhero movie. Though we’ve had standalone franchises — like Christopher Reeve’s Superman and a few different iterations of Batman — the trend really swung back into the limelight, quite literally, with Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man in 2002. Since then, we’ve seen a Punisher film, Ben Affleck’s first shot at a superhero in the critically-panned Daredevil, and the spawning of the X-Men franchise, with Blade making a few low-key appearances and staying in the shadows.
But the stakes were raised when Marvel and DC got serious and began slugging it out with their ‘cinematic universes’ and interlinked narratives. Somewhere in the ever-expanding storylines, peppered with fights and character development, people started asking about the situation of the female superhero.
If you’re relatively new to the party, most of this is centred around the lack of female representation in Marvel’s movie roster. Scarlett Johansson, who has been faithfully playing the assassin Black Widow since 2010’s Iron Man 2, is still awaiting a standalone film, which is yet to materialise, despite the rumours. The only other major female superhero so far in the line-up is Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch (Gamora and Nebula from Guardians of the Galaxy are still way out in space and likely destined to remain part of the ensemble cast). While the character has some interesting story arcs in the comics, a combination of legal red tape (some aspects of her character are off-limits to Marvel due to Fox owning the rights to the X-Men franchise, which she has links to) and the state of existing storylines has kept her very much as the magic-using support character. 2018’s Ant-Man and the Wasp will see Evangeline Lilly portray the shrinking superhero, but not in a lead role. Marvel’s big play on the female superhero is still a couple of years down the line, with Captain Marvel, to be played by Brie Larson, set for release only in 2019.
DC, whose attempts at bringing their own universe to screen have been moving in fits and starts, with Man Of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice receiving tepid reviews and the inexplicable decision to bring the entire Suicide Squad together in one film going up in an exposition-fuelled mess. The one thing DC got right in all the mayhem was Wonder Woman, falling out of the sky and saving Batman (and metaphorically, DC’s film slate) with her shield. As her own movie hit screens, we finally have proof, that a film with a female superhero works.
It’s hard to fault studios for shying away for so long. The origins of many female superhero characters, and their initial personalities, aren’t the best source material to represent the strong, independent modern woman. Yet, attempts were made — with Supergirl in 1984, Catwoman in 2004 and Elektra in 2005, all of which share the commonality of having IMDB ratings below 5 (out of 10).
Despite these setbacks, the characters, and the actresses who played them, have had their own redemption. Halle Berry, as Catwoman, is still recognised better as Storm in the X-Men franchise, and Catwoman got a more faithful depiction in the hands of Christopher Nolan and Anne Hathaway in 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises. Elektra is back on screen, albeit the smaller one, in Netflix’s Daredevil, along with Jessica Jones, another strong yet layered female superhero who makes up a quarter of the Defenders. Sadly, these characters seem limited to Netflix shows for the time being. Supergirl too, has been somewhat redeemed by the CBS show that ties in with DC’s version of Marvel’s Netflix gang, joining the likes of Arrow, The Flash and the Legends Of Tomorrow. Johansson got to play a variation of the character in Ghost in the Shell, to much praise.
As Wonder Woman smiles and slices her way through perceptions, the portrayal of female characters in the superhero movie has slowly changed. While Kirsten Dunst’s Mary Jane made googly eyes at Spider-Man and had to be saved at least three times in three movies, Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster slapped her demigod boyfriend Thor in the face when he abandoned her without explanation. Foster, in the comics, has even taken up the hammer and title of Thor.
Even Wonder Woman herself didn’t have the easiest of roads to the silver screen. Casting Israeli actress Gal Gadot, whose svelte frame was a far cry from that of a jacked Amazonian warrior, was met with criticism. Those delivering the backlash clearly didn’t remember that the character stood for qualities like truth, virtue and love, which were exemplified by Lynda Carter in the 1975 Wonder Woman TV series.
Gadot eventually won hearts over with her impressive physicality and exemplary grace, bringing the true female superhero from the timeless mist-shrouded isle of Themyscira into the modern era. Muscle is not what the DC Extended Universe needed; it’s got plenty of that in Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck and Jason Momoa. What it needed was a strong standalone film that rested on the shoulders of its female superhero lead, and here, director Patty Jenkins and Gadot delivered.
Until Larson suits up and takes to space as Captain Marvel, the major brunt of keeping the flag flying for the female superhero rests on Wonder Woman. And much like Deadpool and Logan did for the R-rated superhero film, one hopes that Wonder Woman’s success leads to more such projects being greenlit. It is then, as she belligerently tells Steve Trevor before shedding her cloak and taking to the battlefield, “I will fight, for those who cannot fight for themselves.”
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