When Captain Marvel lands in cinemas tonight in Australia and around the world, it will be the first time a woman has been front and centre in a Marvel Cinematic Universe movie.
It will mean so much to a lot of people to see a woman carry a Marvel movie on her own, after 20 films fronted by men (or mixed-gender teams where the women are consistently treated as second-tier).
It’s also the first Marvel movie directed by a woman – Anna Boden is credited equally with her co-director and creative partner Ryan Fleck. (Cate Shortland’s Black Widow will be the first one helmed by a woman, solo.)
There are twenty other films in the MCU. Eight of them are the first movie about their sole lead character. Six of those are introductory or origin stories bringing a new character into the already-established franchise.
So of course people are treating Captain Marvel like a direct challenge to the success of 2017’s Wonder Woman.
Step aside, Wonder Woman. https://t.co/RX9Im5iwGj
— HuffPost Ent (@HuffPostEnt) December 4, 2018
Will #CaptainMarvel have a better box office debut than #WonderWoman? https://t.co/cm5OtFTc1V pic.twitter.com/iqWsgNKlqm
— Hollywood Reporter (@THR) March 5, 2019
‘Captain Marvel’ Tracking Ahead Of ‘Wonder Woman’ In IMAX Ticket Presales https://t.co/fEoVLICflA pic.twitter.com/6zykP6iVr3
— Heroic Hollywood (@heroichollywood) March 2, 2019
When you compare Captain Marvel to Wonder Woman, you’re diminishing both films, and both characters.
It doesn’t matter whether you’re saying “Eh, it wasn’t good as Wonder Woman” or “At least it was better than Wonder Woman!”
When you put Carol Danvers and Diana in their own little box, you’re pitting them against each other.
Given the misogynist vitriol aimed at #CaptainMarvel lately, let me state the following.
I WANT to watch the movie BECAUSE I wish to see how well the female perspective is handled, especially given my literary interests.
Will it top 2017’s Wonder Woman? That remains to be seen. pic.twitter.com/fweVqRPb1P
— Michel Sabbagh (@Watfen64) March 3, 2019
That attitude says “women are a category”. It’s like when people keep asking who’s “better” out of Cardi B and Nicki Minaj, when there are dozens of male rappers out there doing their own thing without being compared. It creates a culture where women are constantly framed as in competition with one another, while men are allowed to exist on their own terms.
Captain Marvel trailers have been underwhelming for me but the one shot I thought was awesome is when Carol goes full Binary mode and starts flying in space and blowing up the entire Skrull fleet. I think that moment will be as epic as the No Mans Land scene in Wonder Woman. pic.twitter.com/uWONZr5Brx
— Dork Vader (@_lukeskyyvodka_) March 5, 2019
Hate to say it, but the main goal of #CaptainMarvel is to beat #WonderWoman ? pic.twitter.com/Yal16ItmdJ
— ?️eagle: ? + ? = ? (@FlyLikeAB_Eagle) February 27, 2019
It’s totally relevant to look at how audiences respond to female-led blockbusters – to note how they perform better, how people talk about them, even why trolls throw tantrums about them.
But it’s also important to hold Captain Marvel to the same standards as the dudes in the MCU.
Calling it now @captainmarvel will NEVER have a scene as good as this. #WonderWoman #GalGadot #NoMansLand #PattyJenkins pic.twitter.com/veYdPpl9M1
— The Nemo (@Nemo19089) March 5, 2019
Don’t ask “Is it better than Wonder Woman?” Ask “Is it as fun as Ant-Man? As powerful and groundbreaking as Black Panther? Does it make more sense than Doctor Strange?” Hell, ask yourself if it introduces a relatively unknown hero to non-comic-reading audiences with the same success and charismatic lead as Aquaman did.
If you have to think about it in the same terms as Wonder Woman, talk about the things they actually do have in common.
Talk about how their success proves people are hungry for stories led by women. How they make little girls and grown women and passionate fans of all genders feel.
How criminally overdue they both were in their own franchises, following movie after movie of grim, ripped dudes.
To all the men who complain about Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel, it isn't for you. Hell, as much as I love them and cry, they aren't for me either. They're for the little girls and boys who get to look up and see these heroes and know they can do it too. pic.twitter.com/SccfBjVIAX
— rachel leishman (@RachelLeishman) February 28, 2019
But don’t make it a race between two women, with all the men in a separate category where they don’t have to work as hard to prove themselves.
As we’re about to learn in Endgame, they’re all in it together.