A belief system that women were uninterested in superheroes because of the patriarchy, not innate proclivities for the sexes to enjoy different genres, is killing the MCU.
For almost a decade now, a certain contingent of true believers have been working to make superhero movies something that women will want just as much as men. That’s also the case with science fiction movies, although they’ve nearly given up since both Star Wars and Star Trek are theatrically dead franchises. Talk about a change, eh? But they haven’t given up on superhero films which are themselves more aptly called simply “action films.” But this subset of actions films — superhero flicks — is something that a group of Hollywood elites and commentators have bought into as only being popular among males because the scripts are male-centric, male-dominated. In their minds, superhero stuff isn’t popular among males because it features explosions, fights, and tons of CGI; rather, it is because of the patriarchy.
Check out this quote from MTV working on this premise seven years ago:
You see the same thing when you look at the opening weekend exit polls of superhero movies over the past few years, although the gender dynamic shifts a little bit — it tends to level out at 60/40 much more dramatically, with “Big Hero 6” being exactly at gender parity with a 50/50 split, and comic book adaptation “Dredd” on the farthest end with 75% male, 25% female.
And the trend is continuing: while 70% of the record-breaking pre-sale tickets for “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” were reportedly bought by men, the actual gender breakdown continued to even out until the very end of the weekend, when it ended at 58% men, 42% women — pretty close to that overall 60/40 split. And as was the case with “Mad Max: Fury Road,” more word of mouth about the film’s powerful and complex female hero might encourage more women to see it for themselves.
— Victoria McNally, Women Don’t Like Superheroes Is a Totally Bogus Myth, and We’ve Got Numbers to Back It Up, MTV
So there’s been this push for a long time to try to “fix” the golden goose that is the MCU. The desire has been to make the movies and the shows equally popular to men and women and thus increase their ceiling potentials for viewership and money. There’s just one problem. It’s all wrong, and so intrinsically wrong that attempting it is destroying the MCU’s popularity among most fans.
To start, superhero films and action films aren’t popular because of the patriarchy. They’re popular because the cater to people who like to see imaginary fights, CGI and explosions. It’s a slightly more refined and tech-heavy delivery of WWE fighting. They’re people in tights with decent dialogue fighting like action figures on computer-generated worlds. And the larger portion of men, related to their sex-specific psychological proclivities, are driven to like that sort of thing. Meanwhile, women are more likely to enjoy socially-driven and romantically-driven plots in regards to a percentage of their individuals due to psychological proclivities. That doesn’t mean that all men like Marvel and it doesn’t mean that all women like The Notebook. We’re just talking about proclivities. People who believe men and women have no psychological tendencies for sexual differentiation are the ones who think they can alter a successful genre that has been aimed at one sex or another for millennia. They’re wrong.
As a side note, I can just imagine tales around the campfire for nomadic tribes and women getting up to go talk about relationships while they roll their eyes at another mammoth-take-down story.
Even as Marvel attempted to hard-shift into female-centric and female empowerment stories, they have yet to break the trend. Black Widow was aimed at women about as hard as a movie can be… yet significantly more men went to see it than women. The only difference that really happened was that the movie tanked at the box office — less of every demographic went to see it. That happened during a time of the pandemic when people thought the virus had become a non-factor… remember the president declaring victory over it? And yet Black Widow was a theatrical flop, even if you factor in Disney+ streaming revenue to try to help it.
That trend has yet to shift in the positive direction. Despite the MCU trying to “fix” the “flaws” of its first phases of movies, much of which are more due to Jon Favreau’s planning than Kevin Feige, all that seems to be happening is that they’re losing audience. They’ve now had many theatrical flops which have lost money, and their latest, Thor 4, is also on its way to losing money just as Thor lost his clothes in an attempt to get women to come see Chris Hemsworth’ bare butt. It didn’t work.
That’s why I can’t figure out what Kevin Feige is up to with She-Hulk Attorney at Law other than just trying to burn the brand even more. Is he daring Bob Chapek to take a stand? After Feige’s latest Marvel attempt, Ms. Marvel, failed to make it into the top ten for original streaming shows, what else is Chapek left to do? She-Hulk actually looks far worse in about every way. That’s not an artistic or quality statement about the show — it has yet to be released — but rather I’m talking about the demographic that this is likely to appeal to. Who exactly is getting excited about a female attorney empowerment comedy show in which your lead character is dismissing superheroes your brand is based on while wearing a “Support Trans Futures” t-shirt?
I can tell you that there are people who are loving this sort of thing. I can also tell you that they’re a very small demographic in terms of which ones will actually tune in.
All I can figure out is that we’re in an ideological tailspin at Marvel now until Chapek and the Board are ready to force the studio to get out of this mess. Talk about burning money. If you’re Chapek and the Board, you have to think that they’re looking at three major studios right now that can’t seem to find success. Marvel, Pixar and Lucasfilm are all shadows of their former selves. Your overall Disney brand is also taking significant damage. So perhaps there will be a change sooner rather than later.
Whatever happens, I can’t decipher any marketing strategy for She-Hulk beyond three options: narcissism, masochism or incompetency. Maybe I’m wrong but I can’t imagine an audience tuning in for this at a level that will justify its budget.
For all the latest news that should be fun, keep reading That Park Place. As always, drop a comment down below and let me know your thoughts.
So glad I checked out of Marvel after Endgame. Feel bad for anyone who still cares.
No one is gonna miss u.
Not going to lie. The video actually made me want to watch it even though it’s not your typical Marvel fare. It’s kind of weird almost like shonda rhimes does Marvel.
But that’s what TV shows should be. Chances for them to take chances and be experimental.
However, what I am learning is that with all the new Marvel stuff coming out there is one overall goal – engaging this missandrist thoughts that all men need to be shit on and shown as incompetent buffoons who only care about themselves until they’re better female counterparts save them or replace them.
It literally is the whole fighting the patriarchy thing on film. And when you get to the core message, how many times can you tell the same story over and over and over again?
I’m not upset like some people that Sam Wilson is the new Captain America. I’m upset that they took a really cool character like the falcon and turned him into a political jackass.
I’m not upset that Thor has a sense of humor. I’m upset that they made him an absolute goofball who’s only there to be shown up by his more serious female counterparts.
I’m not upset that Scarlet witch had a major role in the multiverse of madness. I’m upset that in order to make the film work, they had to undo all of her character progression from Wandavision and had to make Doctor strange a complete moron as if he were ash from the evil Dead.
It’s the same thing told with different characters over and over and over again. Utterly uncreative and just someone’s wet dream of getting to destroy things that a lot of men loved and found entertainment in.
That’s the real story in all of this. I think they know they are destroying Marvel just like they knew they destroyed Star Wars and they knew they destroyed star trek. That’s the entire point. If you know people who have worked in Hollywood, there are plenty of people who are in Hollywood who do things just to set out and have the perverse pleasure of ruining someone else’s career. Not just acting but it could be photography or working for a trade or anything related to the Hollywood scene. Hollywood is filled with people who just love to hurt and harm people and now they just can’t believe that they get to do it on this massive a scale with major franchises for maximum impact.
These are some ugly soulless people and it’s about time we take the creative controls away from them.
Im sorry how was sam wilson a political jackass ??. Strange is never a moron in MoM, and i font recall valkryie or thor showing him up because they were also kinda goofy.
Confession: I just sat through that trailer because I really thought I was going to get to see a character wearing a “support trans futures t-shirt”??? (But I see your point and you’re right on the money)
This looks like a pretty accurate and faithful adaptation of the SHE-HULK character and her story thats been around in the comics since at least the 1980’s. Shes the super-hero lawyer who also happens to be Bruce Banners cousin. These comics were fairly popular and the show looks fun. Whats the problem?
Destroying what men like to see because inclusion and wanting to destroy the patriarchy is just ignoring the truth. I don’t mind seeking alternative entertainment because they stopped producing the superhero shows I rather see. Women are unconvincing as superheroes. They can’t throw a punch. It’s all CGI anyways. When women are the main characters, Wakanda Forever gets a water birthing scene.
We got a misogynist thinking women dont make good super heroes.
You don’t need to be a misogynist to know women don’t make good superheroes. Even women aren’t convinced. Women are the majority of the population yet even they consume superheroes movies at a smaller percentage than men. Do women hate women as superheroes? The numbers prove it. “pretty close to that overall 60/40 split”
there plenty of female superheroes people love wonder woman, Storm, Black Widow, She-Hulk etc.
They loved them in an ensemble movies and before they became Woke fiascos. Most female lead superheroes movies are money losers especially the last Wonder Woman movie. Awful. She-Hulk hasn’t arrived yet, but you already declared it “loved”. LOL.
My favorite part of the trailer was Daredevil lol. That’s the draw for me.
I understand She-Hulk had some good runs in the comic and goes way back, same as Black Panther. And at least this She-Hulk looks like that one starting out: beautiful. I didn’t enjoy Hulk just being a sad clown outdone by her in every way.
How convienent u ignore captain marvel making a billion dollars to fit your narrative huh. Also black widow being on disney+ affected its theatrical revenue. Also while favreau deserves credit where is your evidence he was more responsible for the early phases than feige im waiting or do u just continue lieing like this site also. Also love and thunde makinh 600 million by its 3rd weekend doesnt sound like a movie losing money but hey why be honest than just lie.
This has been explained in other posts. This “success” isn’t as successful as you think.
oh its not a success because it isnt a billion dollar movie is that it ?
With their astronomical budgets and marketing, THEY LOST MONEY!! Huge losses.
It cost 250 million and is gonna make around 700 million and it didnt have a huge marketing budget.