The Dreaded Arm-Cling: Why Marvel Needs More Heroes and Less Damsels
Thor 2: The Dark World
If you were awake during San Diego Comic Con the last few summers, you would know that Marvel is kind of on a winning streak. With Thor 2: The Dark World coming out this November, the buzz mill thoroughly stirred with news coming out of the set of Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier, and ABC about to premiere Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. this fall, pretty much everybody and their dog is talking about the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Following up on Iron Man 3‘s record-smashing opening earlier this spring, the success of this franchise doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon. As a Marvel fan, both of the comics and the films, I can’t say I’m particularly upset about the recent surge of cool stuff coming out of the House of Ideas (/House of Mouse.)
But, I do have to tell you, after looking at the new poster for Thor 2, I was a little disappointed with Marvel.
Pepper Potts: Damsel?
Look familiar? Yes, that’s right: The dreaded damsel-in-distress arm cling. Having graced the covers of books and comics for decades, it is a staple of movie posters across time and space, depicting masculine heroes protecting their buxom love interests from danger and mystery. And Marvel movies are all about that on their posters this year. Okay, so, I get it. It’s a genre convention. It’s familiar. It automatically screams “Hey, you should watch this. This guy is our hero and he has a hot girlfriend.” I got that. But – guess what? – it’s cheap and gross. It’s 2013, and we don’t need this crap anymore.
Do I need to see Pepper Potts cling to Tony Stark to know that he’s a hero? No. Do I need to see Jane Foster demurely hold onto Thor’s muscular torso to know that he’s a powerful god? Definitely not. You know why? Because these women are strong and capable on their own merit, both on the page and in film. They’re not cheap throwaway romantic interests, no matter how badly the writers try to assure us of this. They’re interesting. They’re well-rounded. They do stuff. And, yes, they even do cool stuff. If this is news to you, you should be reading more comic books.
Did you even see Iron Man 3? No, seriously. Did you notice that Pepper was kind of a badass? And if you read the comics at any point in the last few years, you’d know she’s been cruising around the Marvel Universe in her own suit as Rescue. Kind of like how she wore the suit in Iron Man 3, as short as that scene was. She is her own damn hero, saved Tony twice in the movie, and has saved him countless times in the comics. So why the hell is Iron Man not clinging on to Pepper?
Oh, that’s right. Because this is a movie about cool dudes doing cool things, with pretty women on the side. In short, you lose this round, Marvel. You can make it up to me by putting this on the poster of Avengers 2. (Because, hey, that’s canon, right? And you guys are all about canon!)
Cap and Iron Man: As close as you can get with a PG13 rating
