Is Marvel too woke? | The Press

” THE woke have had their lesson! », “The right-thinking left has hit a wall! », “The feminists have pushed the envelope too much! », “The studios will start making films that interest the real world again”…

There was talk last week in the most conservative and anti-feminist corners of the media and social networks. The Marvels (The Marvels), the most recent superhero film in the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) nebula, may have topped the North American box office, but it also had the worst first weekend in the history of Marvel Studios at the box office. : 47 million US.

This is much more than many other Hollywood films, but less than the 32 previous MCU films in 15 years, and far from the sum of some 270 million invested in its production.

It was enough for many to rejoice at the setbacks of this umpteenth cinematic derivative of Marvel comics. Some because they have had enough of superheroes, others because they are tired of seeing racialized women starring in action films whose main roles were traditionally played by white men.

“ Get woke, go broke » (Be woke and go bankrupt), popular podcast host Tim Pool told his 1.8 million followers on Marvels. His formula has been adopted almost everywhere in conservative circles. A number of right-wing commentators immediately rushed to declare victory over the woke from Marvel, in their YouTube channels and elsewhere.

Uninhibited sexism and uninhibited racism have of course fueled some of the attacks intended to discredit The Marvelsa film directed by a black woman (Nia DaCosta), written by three women and starring a trio of women, including an African-American (Teyonah Parris) and a Canadian-Pakistani (Iman Vellani).

It was to be expected. It’s the usual backlash created by “bros” and “dudes” allergic to superhero films, combined with the contempt of conservatives for cultural productions which are too bothered – according to them – with concepts such as the representation of diversity ( ethnic, sexual, etc.). Disney, the studio to which Marvel belongs, has been their target of choice for several months.

This predictable backlash was undoubtedly one of the factors in the poor performance at the box office of the Marvels. But it is far from explaining everything. “One factor is misogyny, but it’s not just that,” Fiston, with whom I saw The Marvels as well as the 32 other MCU films. Aside: I’m not sure that I knew, at 17, the word “misogyny”, much less its meaning.

Son is right. It’s more complex than that. The anti-woke, in short, give themselves a lot of importance. The anti-feminist tsunami that preceded the theatrical release of Captain Marvelof which The Marvels is in a way the sequel, demonstrated the limits of the movement in 2019. The bombardment of bad user ratings on sites such as Rotten Tomatoes did not prevent the film starring Brie Larson from garnering more than one billion dollars in revenue worldwide in 2019.

If it is not the masculinist or racist blockade imposed on the film, what explains the slow start of the Marvels ? It is partly explained by the inability of the actresses in the film to promote it due to the Hollywood actors’ strike, which ended when The Marvels took the poster.

There is also the fact that the superhero market is saturated, in particular by the too large number of TV series from Marvel to have flooded the Disney+ platform since its launch. How many characters and parallel universes can coexist in a single series of films and TV series without repeating themselves and giving the impression that we are stretching the sauce? We are starting to have the answer.

Finally, there is the fact that The Marvels is not an essential film of the MCU, in the same way as the series of Avengers, even if it is entertaining. Above all, it is the archetype of the overly complicated film, which reflects a problem that Marvel created from scratch. By complicating while diluting its cinematic universe with television versions of its films on the Disney+ platform, the MCU has shot itself in the foot. Too much is like not enough.

Although I have seen all the MCU films as well as the series Ms. Marvel And WandaVisionfrom which the main characters of The Marvels, I still lost parts of the plot. Where do all these alien kittens come from? Who made them appear?

I am willing to accept that at my age, my cognitive abilities are starting to decline. But if I, who have all the keys to understanding, cannot grasp all the nuances – or the logic? – of a superhero movie that constantly shifts from drama to comedy to even musical, I suspect I’m not the only one.

It’s not because he’s too woke that The Marvels put off many. That’s because in Marvel Studios’ ever-expanding multiverse, it’s becoming increasingly complicated to navigate.