Marvel - Is this really your message to kids?

An open letter to Marvel Comics and Marvel Studios;

Hey Marvel,

Anyone who knows me will understand that I am a huge fan of Marvel.
I loved the Comics; I got a pile of Marvel comics when I was young and I was hooked. Secret Wars is a particularly strong memory (wow, Spidey got a super cool black suit!), and I have been going back and building a collection of character based collections and classic story runs like Civil War in recent times, the reasons being I want to enjoy reminiscing and also introduce my kids to the fun of comics/graphic novels. It's great seeing how excited they get when something unexpected happens or how they light up when a new story begins.
I used to watch the cartoons (uh-huh the terrible vintage stuff like Spider-Man from the 60's and 70's that was shown on "Glen Michael's Cartoon Cavalcade" - if you don't know who he is read this article ), and again my kids have watched some of the cartoon movies but also watch the stuff like Avengers Assemble and Agents of SMASH on TV.

And finally, the movies. Particularly the movies.

When Marvel announced Iron Man they surprised almost everyone. When we saw what they had done we were excited; it was a proper spectacle, funny and a great watch. Perfect casting with Robert Downey Jr, not too dark and grim, and importantly, it wasn't completely and slavishly tied to it's source material.  It used the basis of the comic stories to create a new world that was recognisable, relevant and believable.

Comics, Cartoons and Movies don't have a gender bias - anyone can read or watch them.

Since then things have went mental for Marvel. Each successive movie has upped the ante, 'difficult' characters have transitioned from page to screen with ease. Captain America, who can be perceived as a bit boring on the page, was turned into a great period set piece, with great turns from Chris Evans, Hayley Atwell and Hugo Weaving. It was again a fun ride with great action and a good streak of both humour and drama. I worried about Thor, but shouldn't have; great casting all round, a good realising of the realm of Asgard and the origin of the characters.

And we had the big one - The Avengers (forget the stupid Avengers Assemble name in the UK - no-one would get mixed up between Tony Stark and John Steed!) made by the great Joss Whedon. Just a great fun ride, a good script, set pieces and the actors inhabiting their characters perfectly. Whedon writes great parts for women, and puts them in positions of importance in his work, just look at his work history.

Since Avengers was released the Marvel Cinematic Universe is now established as a favourite destination from a blockbuster studio. Guardians Of The Galaxy was another massive movie for Marvel and a big hit with fans regardless of their gender. Age of Ultron (introducing new characters Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch and Ultron!) and Ant Man (difficult character again, but Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Corey Stoll and Evangeline Lily? Hell yeah!) will probably be big hits as well.

But there are some problems. Female characters. Specifically heroes. Some of the coolest, most kick ass women in movies... Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow in Iron Man 2, Avengers and The Winter Soldier; kicking ass, with acrobatic, ruthless efficiency, and Zoe Saldana as Gamora; an athletic assassin, but also the heart and soul of Guardians of the Galaxy. The characters aren't the problem... It's their place in the world of Marvel movie merchandise... Or more accurately, the lack of their presence on merchandise.

My kids love the MCU but even at the ages of 6 & 8 they have a problem with what they see as a lack of female heroes on and in the merchandise. all you have to do is visit the Marvel part of the Disney Store and you'll see just what products have the female characters present, and worse still, the lack of products for girls... Well I'll hand over to my daughter Anya (Thor is her favourite) she puts it better using her own voice...

"My name is Anya, I am 8 years old and I love the Marvel Superheroes. But I have a problem with some of the stuff that you (Marvel) make.

I have to buy boys clothes if I want anybody like Thor on them. I have a Thor T-shirt and Avengers & Guardians of the Galaxy pyjamas. They are all made for boys. I have Marvel bed sheets and there is only one of the girl characters on them(Phoenix). My Avengers pyjamas don't have Black Widow, my Guardians of the Galaxy pyjamas don't have Gamora.

Anya in her Thor T-Shirt (c) Spikes Kid

Avengers Pyjamas - Where's Black Widow?

Spot the female character

This is silly. They are part of their teams;

Black Widow is really important in the Avengers. She helped the team by getting Bruce Banner to help them, and by tricking Loki into telling her his plan on the heli-carrier. She was the one who closed the portal to stop the Chitauri and let Iron Man send the bomb through. If she didn't the bomb would have blown up New York and the baddies would have won and taken over the world.
Gamora is really important to the Guardians. If she wasn't part of the team they wouldn't have escaped from the Kyln prison. She made sure that they tried to give the Nova Corp the Infinty Stone and said that they should try to stop Ronan. She helped by holding onto Star Lord when he got the Stone from Ronan.

The girls are really important to their teams so why are they not on the clothes and bed sheets? They are in the posters and trailers for the movies so why are you leaving them off of the clothes and other stuff?

I hope that you won't miss out Scarlet Witch and Black Widow on the stuff you make when the new Avengers film comes out. They are both in the trailer.

  

Anya as Thor! (c) Lesley McLaren

Derren as Iron Man (c) Spikes Kid

My brother Derren has some things to say."

"I am Derren and I am 6. I have Avengers bed sheets & pyjamas and Black Widow is not on them - this is stupid because she is a part of the team and they wouldn't be as good without her and they wouldn't have won without her. Black Widow helped all the Avenger by shutting the portal and she helped to destroy the baddies. Without Black Widow the Avengers wouldn't be the same. My Guardians of the Galaxy jammies and T-shirt don't have Gamora on them - she is a Guardian of the Galaxy so it's silly that she is not on them. She is really good and is really good at fighting and is really cool. She should be on my stuff. Make sure that you don't miss any of the characters that I really like from the bed sheets and clothes that you make."


Anya and Derren made some good points when we talked about this. Anya didn't know why these characters were missing from everything but the posters. Derren surprised me. As a six year old boy I thought he wouldn't have cared about the missing female characters, but on the contrary he is quite annoyed; particularly about Gamora being missing from Guardians merchandise - When we asked who his favourite of the Guardians was he said he couldn't choose - he liked them all the same and they were all part of the team. I think that Marvel should recognise that if kids this young know that something isn't right, then it's no defence to simply use the same old tropes that get wheeled out every time, for example;

Avengers: Age of Ultron (c) Marvel Studios

"We license the use of the characters images for use by our partners."
In the UK this means that when ASDA, Tesco or anyone else sells a product, Marvel claim that they don't decide what the products will look like. But surely Marvel have to approve the line of products and supply the images used? If this is the case why not just supply full team images? Or as an outside bet maybe a female only character for sale in the girls section.

"Boys are the main audience."
I do believe that while that might have held true in the past, the apparent 44% female audience figures for Guardians of the Galaxy prove that this is not the case any longer. The addition of Scarlet Witch to Avengers and the strong female characters of Skye, Simmons and May in Agents of Shield show that female characters are important. 

We have the A.K.A. Jessica Jones coming to Netflix and Marvel have also announced that Captain Marvel will be the first female led movie in the MCU and if you know the character she is not exactly lacking in powers... A female Thor, and an all female X-Men... And before I'd even finished drafting this blog Marvel have announced  A-Force an all female Avengers... so even they believe that change is coming, and to be fair Marvel are making that change.
I say it's here already, just not being properly acted upon or maybe even being understood by the company marketeers - it's you that are letting everyone down. girls DO play with action figures (Anya and Derren play with their Star Wars toys and Superhero figures). 

If the following story is true then there is barely any gender gap in the fans of comics.

Black Widow, Gamora, Scarlet Witch & Captain Marvel (c) Marvel Studios/Marvel Comics

There are plenty of female fans out there, just go to any comic convention or event and you'll see for yourself. Stall owners, cosplayers, attendees... There are loads of women who love this stuff, so come on Marvel, don't try and deny or ignore the fact that they exist. I hate to say it but Wonder Woman sells plenty of T-Shirts. Almost every time I see a women's Tee it's Wonder Woman. Why not Black Widow, Gamora, Scarlet Witch, Captain Marvel, Rogue, Mystique, Storm or any of the numerous female heroes under the Marvel banner? Maybe with a bit more dedicated merchandise targeted at these customers you might find that you can benefit even more from this enthusiastic fan base.

Awaiting your response,

Spikes Kid


P.S. If you agree or disagree, please let me know YOUR thoughts on this.