Summary
Marvel Studios recently hooked audiences to a five-hour livestream of chairs that announced the official cast forAvengers: Doomsday. Marvel Cinematic Universe fans were excited to finally learn who will be battling Doctor Doom and confirm that the movie is now in production.
As was expected,Avengers: Doomsdaywill feature a plethora of incredible stars as the likes of Chris Hemsworth and Paul Rudd reprise their roles of Thor and Ant-Man, respectively. While there were surprise additions in the form of many original X-Men actors like Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler or James Marsden’s Cyclops. However, the announcement wasn’t without its faults, as it did reveal arguably the biggest flaw that the MCU currently faces.
Avengers: Doomsday Has A Female Problem
Avengers: Doomsdaywill feature some brilliant characters, but only five of them were female. There was a concerning lack of representation for women within the movie, and it’s something that audiences instantly picked up on. Considering the size of the cast, it is a genuine issue that there are only a handful of women set to be involved in prominent roles. Florence Pugh, Vanessa Kirby, Letitia Wright, Rebecca Romijn, and Hannah John-Kamen were the only women confirmed, and while they’re all brilliant, it simply isn’t enough. Of course, some characters might be getting left out for genuine storyline reasons, while certain actresses might be unavailable to be involved inAvengers: Doomsday,but there’s no way that Marvel couldn’t pull together more options than this.
There are some massive MCU characters not involved here, such as Scarlett Witch, Captain Marvel, and Monica Rambeau. Even in the decision tobring back former X-Men stars, only one female was involved. A huge opportunity was dropped to include Storm and Jean Grey, who are two of the most powerful and popular mutants available. It isn’t because there’s a lack of characters that Marvel has made this decision, and it’s disappointing to see that a franchise as big as this one isn’t able to fit more female characters in after so many years of storyline progression and character progression both at the television and a movie level.
Previous Hard Work Has Been Reversed
The idea that Marvel Studios has a female problem isn’t a new phenomenon, as this is something that has followed the franchise around from its inception. The fact that the original Avengers lineuponly featured Black Widowas a female has highlighted that this issue has always existed. Female characters within the MCU have far too often been reduced to love interests or supporting characters without being put in prominent superhero positions to lead franchises and be seen as comparable to their male counterparts. Granted, the likes of Captain America and Spider-Man are the most well-known Marvel characters, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have many amazing female characters capable of being used.
In recent years, it felt like Marvel was working hard to change its perception in regards to this problem.Captain Marvel, Black Widow, The Marvels,andWandaVisionall prominently featured female characters and made them the stars. Meanwhile, other characters such as Kate Bishop and Yelena were starting to grow in prominence and showcased real potential to be bigger names in the MCU. Progress was being made, and audiences were pleased to see the situation at least attempting to be addressed. But that’s what makestheAvengers: Doomsdaycast announcementeven more disheartening as
Marvel Needs To Address The Avengers: Doomsday Cast Issue
There is speculation thatMarvel is nowhere near donein regards to the cast announcements, and a lot more names could be coming around the corner, and that’s something that needs to happen. Before Marvel Studios risks alienating a chunk of its audience, work should be done to try and get more female characters into this movie, and if that’s not possible, then at least aim for an increase inAvengers: Secret Wars.It’s a mistake that the franchise can ill-afford to continue making, not only because actresses should be afforded the opportunity to be in these huge blockbusters but because it improves the quality of the film.
After all, there are only so many times fans can see the same male characters joking around or fighting against each other before it starts to become tiresome. Marvel has started to run into that problem withinterest down across the board for the MCU. Throwing in female characters doesn’t guarantee that the issue will be fixed; it will provide writers with the chance to tell slightly different stories and provide fresh perspectives. At the very least, it’s a different fight scene and a new visual to ensure that the movie feels unique.Avengers: Doomsdaymight have had a lot of hype behind it because of this announcement, but Marvel has unknowingly just opened itself up to criticism and revealed the chin in its armor.
