'Sexist' Avengers toys cut Black Widow out of her best scene
Marvel has replaced Black Widow with Captain America in toys representing her key Quinjet scene, renewing concern over its attitude to women
As if Marvel hadn't had enough criticism about their approach to Black Widow merchandise, or the lack of it, their official Avengers toys have now replaced one of her key scenes with Captain America.
The Quinjet chase scene saw Hawkeye, played by Jeremy Renner, flying the team’s jet, out of which drops Black Widow (Scarlet Johansson) riding a motorbike.
However, in the Cycle Quinjet toy set, her coolest moment – so cool that it made the trailer – sees her replaced by Captain America, who she is en route to rescue in the film.
The Lego version puts her in Hawkeye's seat in the plane, but Marvel’s official set wipes her from the story altogether: she does not even feature on the box, let alone on the bike, where Captain America once more takes her place.
This follows fans' bafflement over the lack of Black Widow merchandise available in support of the film, or of the new female hero, Scarlet Witch.
Unbidden, Mark Ruffalo, who plays the Incredible Hulk, tweeted a plea for relevant merchandise for his daughter to play with.
Black Widow's questionable positioning in the Avengers toys is the latest in a run of bad press for Marvel’s attitude to its female characters, and fanbase.
Forty per cent of the audience of Guardians of the Galaxy was female, as are half the attendees of Comic Con, the prestigious comics convention.
However, Marvel will have made 19 films with a male lead before a promised film based on the superheroine Captain Marvel is released in 2018. There is no such plan for a standalone Black Widow film, despite the popularity of Johansson's character, and her appearance in four Marvel films. There has also been criticism over the Black Widow's personality and motivation being written differently each time.
Perhaps the biggest concern comes from the top of Marvel. Last week, an email from the Sony leak emerged in which Marvel Entertainment CEO Ike Perlmutter sent a list of failed movies with superheroine leads to Sony executive Michael Lynton.
Fans criticised the email on Twitter, listing in turn failed films with superhero leads such as Green Lantern and Daredevil, and blockbuster female-led action films like The Hunger Games.
