Women in Marvel Films

Description

The concept of identity in superhero narratives has become a burgeoning field in academic studies of this increasingly popular cinematic genre. Women in Marvel Films provides the first rigorous analysis of the portrayals of women, heroic and otherwise, in films based on Marvel comics from the 1980s to the present. It explores the relationships between this cultural phenomenon and wider issues of gender equality, considering the cultural moments in which Marvel films are made and incorporating complex histories of the comic book and Hollywood industries. The book also asks how feminist issues surface within superhero adaptations and how they are dealt with via Hollywood and comic book conventions. Women in Marvel Films shows how the Marvel superhero film taps into political complexities regarding gender and related identity issues, such as women's roles in society and their relation to men, and provides a fascinating insight into gendered power dynamics in contemporary American popular culture. Women in Marvel Films Copyright Contents Figures Acknowledgements Introducing . . . The Mighty Women of Marvel! 1 ‘You have a knack for saving my life!’: Wives, Girlfriends and Women in Refrigerators in Marvel Films 2 Pepper Potts and Gwenn Stacy: Recuperating the Superhero Girlfriend 3 With Great Power Comes Great Frustration? Configurations of Hero(ine)ism in Marvel Films 4 Playing Superheroine: Feminine Subjectivity and (Postfeminist) Masquerade 5 Marvel Legacy: Girl Heroism and Intergenerationality and in Marvel Films 6 Mad With Power: Female Villainy in Marvel Films 7 Mutants, Cyborgs and Femininity Unfixed? Addressing the Gendered Bodies of Mystique and Nebula 8 Disrupting the Rainbow Bridge: Dysfunctional Heterosexuality and Reinforcing Gender Difference in Marvel Adaptations 9 Black Skin, Blue Skin: Race and Femininity in Marvel Films 10 The (Afro)Future of a Diverse Marvel: Gender, Race and Empire in Thor: Ragnarok and Black Panther Afterword: Some Concluding Remarks on Marvel Women . . . Thus Far! Filmography Bibliography Index