Marvel StudiosWhile fans have been marvelling over the new Avengers: Endgame posters for a week or so now, upon closer inspection, it seems the promotional artwork series has perpetuated some societal beauty myths of which Carol Danvers would not approve.
The 32-poster series features the likes of Captain Marvel, Spider-Man, Nick Fury and Shuri – some of the most beloved characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, who are here for the final instalment to kick Thanos’ butt and un-click his be-gauntletted fingers, hopefully.
But one fan has noticed the requirements of the job are kind of different for the female supers than the males, if the posters are anything to go by.
While other have been giving the posters the meme and fan-fiction treatment, Katie Antoniou, a San Francisco-based journalist from London, claimed to notice a visible difference in the treatment of the portraits featured in the artwork, emblazoned with the phrase, ‘Avenge the Fallen’.
Antoniou noticed a lot of the portraits of female characters seemed more airbrushed than those of the men.
Given the current climate of female beauty stereotypes, it’s not too far of a reach, but would be very disappointing from a movie studio making strides toward equal and fair representation in their films.
Antoniou posted a comparison photo to Instagram on Wednesday, March 27, evidencing her point which has since been picked up by other Marvel fans, who’ve sounded off in the comments so much she’s disabled them.
Captioning the images, she said:
I love The Avengers. I loved Captain Marvel. But these photos have made me so mad. Spot the difference? Women: literally no facial lines- foreheads completely airbrushed.
Men: every single one (even the gods/aliens/people who don’t physically age) you can see lines on their foreheads.
And there’s about a dozen more characters I haven’t included, all the same. What’s the deal Marvel?
You’ve got to admit, purposeful or not, General Okoye, Pepper Potts, Valkyrie, The Wasp, Captain Marvel, and Black Widow certainly have been posed to present a different aura to Iron Man, Thor, Ant Man, Hulk, Captain America and Hawkeye.
One user, who had to caveat her comment by saying she’s a massive fan, noticed:
For me it’s not just that they have lines on the face – I think they have had a lot photo-shopped out too – but they’ve all got the same foreword brow photo-shopped in to show how serious about this world saving business they are!
Some commentators have noted the alleged airbrushing can’t just be explained away buy a difference in character’s – or actor’s – ages either.
A male ally wrote:
Not that I just want to piss people off more, but it’s notable that the average age of these women is 37. The average age of the men is 45.
Apparently they shouldn’t just have flawless skin, but also never age past 40.
Marvel are yet to respond to the criticisms.
Avengers: Endgame hits cinemas in the UK on April 25, 2019 and the US the following day.
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A former emo kid who talks too much about 8Chan meme culture, the Kardashian Klan, and how her smartphone is probably killing her. Francesca is a Cardiff University Journalism Masters grad who has done words for BBC, ELLE, The Debrief, DAZED, an art magazine you’ve never heard of and a feminist zine which never went to print.