Marvel Comics has been very infamous in the past 10 or so years for their ever-increasing identity politics in their comics. The company has pretty much been invaded by social justice activists, and this has been seen in their comics. Comic series after comic series has been ruined by injecting real-life identity politics into them, changing long-established iconic characters with more "diverse" ones, and so on. At the same time, the quality of writing (and often the quality of the artwork) has gone down. Unsurprisingly, sales have also come down like a lead balloon. (In fact, over the past couple of years over 50 comic book stores in the United States alone have closed completely because of decreased sales, and the fall in overall interest and sales of Marvel Comics products has been a very significant factor.)
This new "Marvel Comics" has been often named by the critics with the moniker "SJW Marvel".
Starting from around 2008 Marvel Comics forayed into the movie industry by creating the so-called "Marvel Cinematic Universe" (which is kind of an "alternate universe" that's very similar to the comics, with some minor differences, but depicted in the form of blockbuster movies rather than comic books.) It has turned out to be enormously and surprisingly successful. In fact, it quickly became the main source of revenue for Marvel Comics.
(Movies made from Marvel Comics characters have existed for a very long time, but none of them were produced/made by Marvel Comics themselves. It has always been some other production company that simply purchased the rights for a specific character from Marvel Comics. This is the first time that the company itself is creating these movies.)
One rather surprising thing about the MCU is that so far it has been pretty much completely free of any identity politics that has plagued the comics. Most characters in the movies are the classical ones from the comics, and even the ones that are quite different (such as Nick Fury) weren't obnoxiously or botheringly so. Most of the male superheros have classically been white heterosexual males, and this doesn't seem to have been a problem in their MCU depiction either. And the MCU has renewed interest in these characters, and produced some of the most iconic portrayals of them that have ever been put on film.
Perhaps most prominently this is the case with Robert Downey Jr's portrayal of Tony Stark / Iron Man. While not an unknown actor prior to this by any stretch, this role nevertheless launched him to absolute fame, and made him one of the best-paid actors in the entirety of Hollywood.
One could arguably say that Downey Jr and his portrayal of Tony Stark has been pretty much the "face" of the MCU. Some other characters are also quite high up there (such as Chris Evans' Captain America), but Downey Jr has always been the most relatable, sympathetic and "cool" of all the characters.
Well, after 10 years of the MCU having been quite "clean", with no identity politics, it appears that Marvel Comics has finally reached the limit where they can no longer contain themselves, and have decided to make the franchise into SJW MCU. (I'm honestly surprised it took them this long.)
You can already see hints of this in their 2017 movie Spider-Man: Homecoming, which has some identity politics inserted into it (such as Peter Parker's girlfriend being black, his best friend being Filipino, and several rather out-of-place real-life political comments about racism being made in the movie for no reason. None of this is from the original comics.) It's actually quite cringey.
But, of course, the pinnacle of making MCU into SJW MCU is the Captain Marvel movie, a movie starring a rather obscure unknown Marvel character, which was marketed as an overtly feminist movie, with the main protagonist pushed as some kind of empowering feminist icon. (My guess is that Marvel is trying to make this character into their equivalent of the DC Comics character Wonder Woman.)
The movie itself is very bland and mediocre (something that, quite surprisingly, even SJW movie critics seem to agree with), and it wouldn't be such a big deal (and could be quickly forgotten in the same way as the Spider-Man movie), if it weren't for the real-life politics surrounding the movie.
The actress portraying Captain Marvel, Brie Larson, is herself perhaps the most obnoxious part of the whole thing. She's a quite overt social justice warrior, having made many disparaging and denigrating comments about "old white men" several times, constantly attacking her critics, including other actors of the MCU, and with SJW journalists and corporations constantly whiteknighting whenever someone dares to criticize her. Her attitude clearly shows that her role in the movie, and the politics surrounding it, have gone to her head, and she thinks of herself as some kind of feminist icon, and someone very important.
This is not just some drama surrounding this one particular movie and its lead actress. This is a significant shift in tone for the entire MCU and its production. Kevin Feige, the president of Marvel Studios, has confirmed that their intent is to make Brie Larson the "face" of the entire MCU from this time forward. It's quite clear what the direction of the franchise will be in the future.
I don't think this will work very well for them. Robert Downey Jr became the de facto "face" of the MCU because of his charisma and his "cool" portrayal of Tony Stark. The studio didn't need to "push" him to be the face of the MCU in any way. It happened naturally. People liked him and his portrayal, and it became very popular.
Now Marvel Studios is trying to artificially and deliberately push him aside and try to forcefully make Brie Larson the new "face" of the franchise, even though pretty much nobody cares about her. If they are stubborn enough with this, they are just going to ruin the entire MCU. It will mean that they will try to forcefully make Captain Marvel be in the center role of more and more movies, pushing aside the other characters. It will probably also mean more artificially inserted identity politics.
Robert Downey Jr became the de facto "face" of the MCU because of his charisma and acting skills. Brie Larson is pretty much the exact opposite of this charisma. She is stiff and unlikeable (both as Captain Marvel and as herself in real life), and has no charisma at all. I don't think anybody cares about her.
If they keep stubborningly going this route, it's not going to end well. It's going to end the same way as the comics. And it's only going to ruin a relatively good franchise, which went strong for ten years.
This new "Marvel Comics" has been often named by the critics with the moniker "SJW Marvel".
Starting from around 2008 Marvel Comics forayed into the movie industry by creating the so-called "Marvel Cinematic Universe" (which is kind of an "alternate universe" that's very similar to the comics, with some minor differences, but depicted in the form of blockbuster movies rather than comic books.) It has turned out to be enormously and surprisingly successful. In fact, it quickly became the main source of revenue for Marvel Comics.
(Movies made from Marvel Comics characters have existed for a very long time, but none of them were produced/made by Marvel Comics themselves. It has always been some other production company that simply purchased the rights for a specific character from Marvel Comics. This is the first time that the company itself is creating these movies.)
One rather surprising thing about the MCU is that so far it has been pretty much completely free of any identity politics that has plagued the comics. Most characters in the movies are the classical ones from the comics, and even the ones that are quite different (such as Nick Fury) weren't obnoxiously or botheringly so. Most of the male superheros have classically been white heterosexual males, and this doesn't seem to have been a problem in their MCU depiction either. And the MCU has renewed interest in these characters, and produced some of the most iconic portrayals of them that have ever been put on film.
Perhaps most prominently this is the case with Robert Downey Jr's portrayal of Tony Stark / Iron Man. While not an unknown actor prior to this by any stretch, this role nevertheless launched him to absolute fame, and made him one of the best-paid actors in the entirety of Hollywood.
One could arguably say that Downey Jr and his portrayal of Tony Stark has been pretty much the "face" of the MCU. Some other characters are also quite high up there (such as Chris Evans' Captain America), but Downey Jr has always been the most relatable, sympathetic and "cool" of all the characters.
Well, after 10 years of the MCU having been quite "clean", with no identity politics, it appears that Marvel Comics has finally reached the limit where they can no longer contain themselves, and have decided to make the franchise into SJW MCU. (I'm honestly surprised it took them this long.)
You can already see hints of this in their 2017 movie Spider-Man: Homecoming, which has some identity politics inserted into it (such as Peter Parker's girlfriend being black, his best friend being Filipino, and several rather out-of-place real-life political comments about racism being made in the movie for no reason. None of this is from the original comics.) It's actually quite cringey.
But, of course, the pinnacle of making MCU into SJW MCU is the Captain Marvel movie, a movie starring a rather obscure unknown Marvel character, which was marketed as an overtly feminist movie, with the main protagonist pushed as some kind of empowering feminist icon. (My guess is that Marvel is trying to make this character into their equivalent of the DC Comics character Wonder Woman.)
The movie itself is very bland and mediocre (something that, quite surprisingly, even SJW movie critics seem to agree with), and it wouldn't be such a big deal (and could be quickly forgotten in the same way as the Spider-Man movie), if it weren't for the real-life politics surrounding the movie.
The actress portraying Captain Marvel, Brie Larson, is herself perhaps the most obnoxious part of the whole thing. She's a quite overt social justice warrior, having made many disparaging and denigrating comments about "old white men" several times, constantly attacking her critics, including other actors of the MCU, and with SJW journalists and corporations constantly whiteknighting whenever someone dares to criticize her. Her attitude clearly shows that her role in the movie, and the politics surrounding it, have gone to her head, and she thinks of herself as some kind of feminist icon, and someone very important.
This is not just some drama surrounding this one particular movie and its lead actress. This is a significant shift in tone for the entire MCU and its production. Kevin Feige, the president of Marvel Studios, has confirmed that their intent is to make Brie Larson the "face" of the entire MCU from this time forward. It's quite clear what the direction of the franchise will be in the future.
I don't think this will work very well for them. Robert Downey Jr became the de facto "face" of the MCU because of his charisma and his "cool" portrayal of Tony Stark. The studio didn't need to "push" him to be the face of the MCU in any way. It happened naturally. People liked him and his portrayal, and it became very popular.
Now Marvel Studios is trying to artificially and deliberately push him aside and try to forcefully make Brie Larson the new "face" of the franchise, even though pretty much nobody cares about her. If they are stubborn enough with this, they are just going to ruin the entire MCU. It will mean that they will try to forcefully make Captain Marvel be in the center role of more and more movies, pushing aside the other characters. It will probably also mean more artificially inserted identity politics.
Robert Downey Jr became the de facto "face" of the MCU because of his charisma and acting skills. Brie Larson is pretty much the exact opposite of this charisma. She is stiff and unlikeable (both as Captain Marvel and as herself in real life), and has no charisma at all. I don't think anybody cares about her.
If they keep stubborningly going this route, it's not going to end well. It's going to end the same way as the comics. And it's only going to ruin a relatively good franchise, which went strong for ten years.
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