This past week it was announced that Sony Pictures will be expanding their SpiderMan Universe and creating a "Spider Women" film, according to Deadline.
Along with the announcement, Deadline wrote about the recent increase in female superhero movies and how the typical narrative of superhero movies may be changing.
For years typically men have been portrayed as superheroes, while women have been seen as damsels in distress that male superheroes have to save. Deadline pointed out that these new films don’t just do great in the box office, they also help to deconstruct the idea that women need to be saved and cannot be the ones doing the saving.
This wave of female characters seemed to stem off of the success of Wonder Woman, which came out in June of 2017. Some of the other powerful female leads that have recently graced the screen or are in the works include: Captain Marvel (which will be the most powerful character in the Marvel universe), Harley Quinn, Dark Phoenix (who will also be the most powerful character in her universe), Supergirl, White Canary, and Batwoman.
Deadline says that movies with strong female superhero leads, such as Wonder Woman have not only been successful for their ideas of female empowerment, but they have also "been energized further by the #MeToo movement and representational politics of the moment as well as the changing demographics of the Comic-Con fan world.'"
I personally love superhero movies, so to finally see TV Shows and Movies showing female characters as incredibly strong, sometimes even the strongest in the universe, is incredible. We are finally sending the message that gender doesn't define strength. We are also ending the idea that superheroes are just for boys and princesses are just for girls.
As we know representation in films is incredibly important, especially for young children watching, so to see so many incredible female characters is truly inspirational.