The Marvel Cinematic Universe has a wide range of female representation throughout the films. Here’s how we ranked them.
Check here if you missed the first segment of this ranking.
12. ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’
It is really disappointing to have to put Spider-Man: Homecoming this far down on the list. Spider-Man: Homecoming has a plethora of significant female characters: Aunt May (Marisa Tomei), Liz (Laura Harrier), Michelle (Zendaya), briefly featured Betty (Angourie Rice), Pepper Potts, and I guess, also the Spider-Man suit AI, Karen (Jennifer Connelly).
While Spider-Man: Homecoming has many female characters, who are all relevant to the Spider-Man legacy, they make no impact in the film.
In this movie’s defense, this is a coming-of-age story and it is difficult to develop side characters when it is so crucial that the central character becomes fully developed. Thankfully, Spider-Man: Homecoming has the strongest character arc in the MCU through Peter Parker; but, that came at the expense of any side female characters.
This should allow future films in this series to further explore the female characters. It is really annoying, though, that this movie does not even pass the Bechdel test — not that many of the MCU films do — because during the one scene in which two females talk to each other (Liz and Betty), they are playing FMK about the Avengers.
11. ‘Ant-Man’
Ant-Man’s female representation is a little complicated. The most significant female character would be Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly). Judy Greer’s Maggie Lang and Abby Ryder Fortson’s Cassie Lang have key roles, even though they are not active participants in the story, as Scott’s ex-wife and daughter respectively. Also, Hayley Atwell makes an always welcome comeback as Peggy Carter briefly.
Even though Hope is not the greatest character, Ant-Man did briefly introduce the Wasp. Hope will have a more significant role in Ant-Man and the Wasp, where she will be the first female superhero featured in an MCU film’s title.
However, this is judging Ant-Man, not the potential of future movies. Hope’s arc in this film is mostly about how her father will not let her become the Wasp. Because of this, she is relegated to training Scott, despite being more capable than Scott at both combat and controlling the ants.
She does become a love interest by the end, but at least that does not negatively affect her arc. While Hope barely gets a chance to shine in Ant-Man, at least she is an interesting character, with a promising future in the MCU.
10. ‘Thor: The Dark World’
Thor: The Dark World is problematic in a lot of aspects, and unsurprisingly, one of those is the female representation. While this movie brings back the fantastic characters of Jane (Natalie Portman), Darcy (Kat Dennings), and Lady Sif (Jaimie Alexander) from Thor, Thor: The Dark World does not really know what to do with them.
The greatest offence is that Jane is turned into a damsel in distress. While Jane is an integral part of the story, this is only because she is used as a device, as the vessel for the Aether. Thor: The Dark World, is much more about Thor and Loki’s relationship than it is about Thor and Jane’s. Because of this, she is not given any significance in the film.
While Darcy is a character unlike any in the MCU, she becomes almost a caricature of herself in Thor: The Dark World. Basically, her only purpose in the story is as a running joke, about how she has an intern, despite being Jane’s intern.
Similarly, while Lady Sif is an awesome character, her only scenes that stand out in Thor: The Dark World use her to create a love triangle between her, Thor, and Jane.
9. ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’
Avengers: Age of Ultron is now infamous for its mistreatment of Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson). The amazing Black Widow sits on the sideline for most of the movie, and her arc is just an incredibly forced romance with Bruce Banner.
At least we get some insight into Black Widow’s backstory in Avengers: Age of Ultron, but it is definitely not as much as she deserves. Surprisingly though, despite this transgression, this does not actually have terrible female representation.
Although it is a pretty low bar to pass, Avengers: Age of Ultron has a fair number of female characters present. Cobie Smulders’s Maria Hill and Hayley Atwell’s Peggy Carter make a brief comeback. Linda Cardellini’s Laura Barton and Claudia Kim’s Dr. Helen Cho have somewhat relevant roles. But most importantly, Avengers: Age of Ultron introduces Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff.
While none of these characters have roles anywhere as significant as any of the male characters, they all have some purpose in the story. Albeit they have very little purpose, and most of their storylines are only to support male characters’ storylines.
Scarlet Witch’s introduction is much welcome. It is really great to see a female superhero with powers stronger than most, if not all, of the Avengers. We do not get to see much of Scarlet Witch in Avengers: Age of Ultron, but she is an incredibly intriguing character.