The Marvel Cinematic Universe might still be a thriving and growing franchise despite wrapping up many storylines in Avengers: Endgame, but there are definitely some issues with these movies that fans and critics have pointed out.
Beyond things like plot holes and continuity errors, many people have more serious problems with the franchise. There are quite a few problematic things in these films especially a major lack of diversity.
Billionaires are presented as saviors in society
As the character who really started the MCU, Tony Stark is well-loved by fans. He’s one of the most recognizable and well-loved characters, but he’s also one of the most flawed and problematic.
Even outside of his troubling treatment of women and arrogance, he’s also a billionaire who is presented as a humanitarian and altruist after seeing the light about weapons manufacturing. The concept that billionaires will be the saviors of humanity definitely seems outdated at this point.
Serious subject matter is played off as a joke
One overall issue that many critics have of the MCU is that the tone often does not match the subject matter. The franchise tries to have both extremely serious movies with deep issues while still having lighthearted and quippy humor. Often, these two things don’t mesh well.
This especially was the case during Endgame when the Thanos snap was played off at times like a joke.
It took them multiples movies to finally have a diverse lead
While there were some diverse characters in the movies, it was over 15 films before the MCU had a lead that wasn’t a white male. Black Panther was the first film to have a person of color as the main character, and Captain Marvel was the first Marvel movie to have a female lead.
While these movies were a great step in the right direction, it shouldn’t have taken so long to get there.
There is a joke about sexual assault
If there’s one single movie with the most troubling gender dynamics, it’s Avengers: Age of Ultron. There are many uncomfortable moments in this movie, especially in regards to Black Widow and her relationship with Hulk, but one of the worst examples is when Tony makes a joke about prima nocta.
Many fans are still upset about this joke because it was so off-color, and even for a known womanizer like Iron Man, it was too far and felt out of character.
Straight, white cisgender men make up most of the main characters
While the MCU has made some strides to cast more diverse leads and include more women and people of color in the movies, there is still room for improvement.
For an entire decade, Black Widow was the only main character and member of the Avengers who wasn’t a white man. It definitely made the series feel a little bit out of step with the times.
There is a lot of sexualization of women
This is another area where the franchise has improved with time, but many of the older movies have some major issues with sexualizing women.
Once again, Black Widow is the character who was treated this way most often. Some examples include how Tony tried to seduce her and the fact that she was cast as a love interest to multiple men in the series. Plus, there are many shots filmed with close-ups on her body parts.
The portrayal of Mantis
While the treatment of women in the films isn’t always great as a whole, except for the women in Black Panther, there aren’t many other positive portrayals of women of color. Mantis, as the only more main Asian female character, is portrayed using a lot of unfortunate stereotypes.
Many fans were upset that she was way less powerful than in the comics and was made to seem weak and submissive.
Many of the people of color are sidekicks
While the MCU is finally taking steps to rectify this, for a while two of the main people of color in the series were sidekicks to white superheroes.
Both Sam Wilson and James “Rhodey” Rhodes were ing characters for Steve and Tony respectively, and their role was often to help and encourage them. While Sam might have taken over the mantle of Captain America, there still needs to be more movies and shows with people of color at the helm.
Captain America’s choice to live in the past sends a bad political message
Captain America was created in the comics as a symbol of fighting back against fascism in World War 2. So, when Endgame sent him back to live in the 40s and 50s during times of segregation, homophobia, and sexism, many fans were rightfully upset.
This seemed out of character and a troubling message that presented this choice as moral. It definitely felt like a choice that only filmmakers with a straight, white, male perspective would make.
There’s absolutely no LGBT+ representation
If there’s big problem with the MCU so far, it’s that there hasn’t been any queer representation to date. While Valkyrie is supposed to be confirmed as queer with a visible queer storyline in Thor: Love and Thunder, this movie isn’t out yet.
Despite having many opportunities to include these characters, and a lot of subtextual stories such as with Carol and Maria or Steve and Bucky, Disney and Marvel have been behind the times.
