Captain America: Civil War is dominating the box office this month, but there is at least one major criticism of Marvel’s cinematic universe: there’s a lot of male characters, but not many female superheroes or villains. There aren’t even any solo female superhero movies. Captain Marvel will be the first, which is set to be released in 2018.
Screenwriter Shane Black recently revealed to Uproxx that the villain of Iron Man 3 was originally going to be female, but was changed to a male character when they were told that the “toy won’t sell as well if it’s a female.”
Stephen Colbert addressed this issue during The Late Show Tuesday night.
“I could not help but notice when I watched [‘Civil War’], sitting there in the theater, absolutely thrilled by the movie, so many of the characters had something in common: Iron Man, Ant-Man, Spider-Man, Black Panther Man,” he stated. “The Marvel Cinematic Universe is kind of a sausage fest, and I gotta say, all that spandex really showcases the sausage.”
“Come on, it makes sense. Girls don’t play with dolls,” Colbert joked. “This is so disappointing. Back in the ’80s, we weren’t so hung up on the gender of our action figures… I mean everyone had to have Meryl Streep from Sophie’s Choice. I really struggled with whether to open that one or keep it in the box. It was a real… quandary.”
Colbert concludes his complaint by saying, “Doctor Doom, why does he have to be a man? Are you saying a woman can’t be a doctor? Or be an evil techno-sorcerer? They better fix this in the next Fantastic Four movie — and there better not be another Fantastic Four movie.”
Watch the segment below:
