Elizabeth Banks is facing backlash for saying that Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel belong to a “male genre.” Banks’ take on the Charlie’s Angels franchise hit theaters over the weekend, and it did not do as well as many were hoping it was going to do. The reboot was only able to bring in $8.6 million over the weekend, which is far less than was even estimated. “If this movie doesn’t make money it reinforces a stereotype in Hollywood that men don’t go see women do action movies,” Banks was quoted as saying before the movie hit theaters.
In wake of the lackluster success of Charlie’s Angels, the actress said some things about the comic book movie genre and female characters. Now Elizabeth Banks faces backlash from superhero fans. Banks said, “They’ll go and see a comic book movie with Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel because that’s a male genre.” Fans are stepping in to say that those movies have been great for women and that they don’t appreciate the director’s comments on the matter. “You’re watching a Wonder Woman movie but we’re setting up three other characters or we’re setting up Justice League,” Banks continued to say.
Yes, Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel were movies that fed into a larger narrative, but that’s the way that the Marvel Cinematic Universe works and something that the DCEU wanted to accomplish so badly. The movies may be dominated by men, but both Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel took major steps in showing how powerful these female characters can be. In terms of Captain Marvel, she is the most powerful character to have been introduced in the MCU thus far.
Elizabeth Banks went on to say, “By the way, I’m happy for those characters to have box office success.” The Charlie’s Angels director adds, “but we need more women’s voices supported with money because that’s the power. The power is in the money.” This is true, but it doesn’t look like anybody wanted to see Charlie’s Angels, not even women, which has been pointed out online by multiple people. The marketing has been criticized too, which plays a big factor in people actually wanting to get into theaters to see a movie.
While there are many who are bashing Elizabeth Banks’ words on the superhero genre, there are also people defending her too. Charlie’s Angels is about three women coming together as friends to take down villains and could be seen as a purer take on women taking on an action movie when compared to Wonder Woman or Captain Marvel. Whatever the case may be, there are plenty of people who believe Banks is right about the superhero genre when it comes to including women. The interview with Elizabeth Banks was originally conducted by the Herald Sun.
