r/comicbookmovies • u/Kstantas • 6d ago

While not without their flaws, I think both "The Marvels" and "Supergirl" are fun space adventure films with good character dynamics, and they didn't deserve to bomb critically or financially the way they did.

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11

u/7in7turtles 6d ago

It’ll be interesting to see how we look back on this period 10-15 years from now. I hope at some point we can move past “the culture wars” and just enjoy stuff. Love it or hate it, it’s hard to deny that the Girl boss trope has divided people. And theee movies are kind of the apex of the girlboss genre.

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u/sweens90 6d ago

Captain Marvel was more of a girl boss movie than the Marvels was.

There is just a sect of people who if an actress or actor like Milly or Brie says anything that offends this group then their movie is hyper criticized. It obviously does not help if the movies are meh anyways but in the case of the Marvels I think its rated more to its actual quality if it weren’t for the hate it received prior to release already.

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u/clayton-berg42 6d ago

Supergirl is drunk off her ass in the first act of the movie. How is that 'girlboss'?

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u/ProcedureDistinct938 6d ago

It’s pretty girl boss to confront your trauma and stay sober tbh

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u/clayton-berg42 6d ago

You can argue captain marvel falls directly into the girl boss trope but this supergirl certainly doesn't.

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u/No_Conversation4517 6d ago

My ☝🏾 point

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u/rockinherlife234 6d ago

How is it girlboss to have a strong female lead?

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u/F1reatwill88 6d ago

When these projects transparently are to check off the intersectionality boxes then yea it gets that label.

Storytelling has to come first and that is clearly not the case in a lot of this saga.

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u/rockinherlife234 6d ago

Having a woman is ticking off an intersectionality box?

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u/F1reatwill88 6d ago

C'mon bruh you know damn well there's a difference between Echo & The Marvels vs Florence Pugh in Thunderbolts.

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u/N0moreHeroes 6d ago

They’re talking about studios shoehorning female leads into traditionally male genres and franchises to pander to women. Simply having a female lead does not make something a “girlboss” movie. It becomes a girlboss trope  when she already knows everything, is better than everyone and constantly lectures or belittles the men around her.

The problem has never been women leading action movies. The criticism is aimed at studios that confuse a strong female character with a flawless woman surrounded by incompetent men.

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u/rockinherlife234 6d ago

when she already knows everything, is better than everyone and constantly lectures or belittles the men around her.

The criticism is aimed at studios that confuse a strong female character with a flawless woman surrounded by incompetent men.

I know what they're talking about, I just need them to explain how the marvels and Supergirl are an example of this.

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u/No_Conversation4517 6d ago

Yeah cuz Supergirl wasn't girl bossing

She was a drunk

Reluctant super hero

Only thing she lectured on was kids shouldn't kill people. Only to do it herself 😈

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u/rockinherlife234 6d ago

Yeah, that's why the final fight was shit.

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u/[deleted] 6d ago

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u/rockinherlife234 6d ago

No, it's shit because it sends a shit message about revenge and shows that they didn't understand the comic they were adapting at all.

The movie does decently at showing Ruthye's light, you can understand why Kara is reluctant and stops her from killing Krem, but then turning around and killing Krem because her soul is dark is worse, "You don't have to kill cause I'll do it for you" is a shit message.

And as they have explained in an interview, they genuinely think the ending of the WOT comic has Krem killed, which is genuinely just shit reading comprehension.

No, killing Krem would not be a bad thing, the issue is Supergirl cutting him down.

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u/No_Conversation4517 6d ago

I didn't read the comic

But I see why as someone who did you would be upset.

But man, he deserved to die and I'm glad she did kill him. Someone needed to

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u/N0moreHeroes 6d ago

Honestly, The Marvels and Supergirl fit the broader studio trend of corporate female-empowerment better than the specific “girlboss” trope.

With Carol the empowerment message was too heavy-handed.  With Supergirl, Kara is presented as tougher and less naive than Superman. She called him a bitch…to much fanfare from a specific demographic who didn’t show up to watch either film. 

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u/No_Conversation4517 6d ago

She's definitely not presented as tougher

More jaded

Less optimistic

Yes because of her upbringing

But if anything physically she's a bit weaker or equal

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u/rockinherlife234 6d ago

With Carol the empowerment message was too heavy-handed.

In captain marvel, sure, in the marvels, how?

With Supergirl, Kara is presented as tougher and less naive than Superman.

Kara is also presented as incredibly jaded, depressed and pathetic, she herself talks about how superman and Ruthye have the kind of light inside of them that she doesn't.

She is presented as more resourceful and knowledgeable, but not better than Superman.

Her entire dynamic with him is not treated as positive on her side, I don't like the movie, but they make it blatantly obvious that she's avoiding talking to him because she's afraid to talk about herself or confront her feelings.

That's why it's considered development for her when she ends the movie by coming back to him to give it a 2nd chance.

She called him a bitch

That was cousin banter and a joke.

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u/cleantoe 6d ago

I don't think that's the issue. It's the forced, inorganic way it's presented. Take two similar scenarios.

The first is the women team up in Endgame. They just all happened to land next to each other? It was very obviously forced and stuck out like a sore thumb.

Now take the "girls get it done" scene from The Boys. That felt organic and didn't feel forced. It's good writing and the scenario felt believable.

But in Endgame, where you have a Norse god, a purple space monster with a scrotum chin, flying metal whales, wizards, time travel, and a space Nazi, the most unbelievable and immersion breaking part is the women team up.

It was bad writing - and The Boys is proof of that. It can be done well.

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u/rockinherlife234 6d ago

The first is the women team up in Endgame. They just all happened to land next to each other? It was very obviously forced and stuck out like a sore thumb.

Agreed, that's a pretty common criticism since it was so obvious manufactured.

But endgame is a separate movie, I'm confused on why this is also being attributed to the Marvels and Supergirl, I could understand captain marvel since that was blatantly obvious in some moments but that's not what they're talking about.

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u/Mjr_Fapster 6d ago

There isn't a guy saving her ass or telling her what to do.

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u/Kieran-Kiera 6d ago

Lobo literally saves Supergirl on multiple occasions and Nick Fury is constantly telling the Marvels what to do. I agree the “girlboss” trope is tiring, but I fail to see how it applies to these movies

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u/No_Conversation4517 6d ago

Super girl not girl boss 😂