I'll grant you that there's banking on the A-force's all female roster. Still, they're going to be presented as heroes, I'd hope. More so, they'll be presented as heroes and not heroes in relationships with heroes that overshadow them.
Yeah, it might be the shock value being sought after, but the opportunity for people to find lesser known characters like Nico Minoru, Hellcat, and Aurora, and others could be a good thing. Heck, I'm actually excited. Then again, I'm probably weird in that I'll look up a character's biography and click the links of other characters, places, and items linked to in that biography, and just spend time reading based on the threads connecting one character to another. This series can probably save me some time, especially on checking out the women of Marvel.
I really don't expect A-force to last. Honestly, a gimmick doesn't always have to last to have an impact, either. It just has to advertise effectively. Get people hooked. Show them a variety of things so they can pick out what they like, and glom onto it for all it's worth. The A-force seems to be well aimed at doing that. The purpose, as I understand it is to showcase a wide assortment of mentalities, powers, etc. and they just happen to be women, which might lead to some of them gaining more fame than they ever had being in a group, and diversifying the main lineup of heroes beyond the X-men, and Avengers.
Maybe A-force is going for the "freak show" route, and maybe it isn't the best method, but I'm not sure that's entirely a bad thing. I'd imagine it'd be very useful for showing that the Marvel Universe isn't just guys, it's women, too, and that potentially have a big impact. It'll show women being heroic, using their powers, not being in a relationship that may have defined them before, and so forth.
*Pushes up geek specs* Birds of Prey is just the title of the comic. The group doesn't really go by the name (Or any name for that matter). Also, while it's primarily Oracle, Black Canary, and Lady Blackhawk as staple members, Hawk (Don, not Holly Granger), Savant, and several other guys have temporarily been on the team, or assisted enough to count, IMO, kinda making it not women exclusive.
Honestly, the closest thing I can think of to an all woman team would be the Gotham City Sirens, and that was woefully short lived. Oh, and barbie, and her friends in the super hero movie thing they're doing, maybe.
Rogue, Wasp, Storm, Jean, etc. are great characters, I agree. Problem is, well, honestly, what have they done outside of their team? Storm, I think had a brief starring role in her own comic.
I'm pretty sure most every male Avenger has, or had their own comicbook title.
The women, not so much.
A lot of male Avengers are getting their own movie.
The women, again, not so much.
The favoritism you mention is part of the problem, IMO. If underutilized characters remain that way, they're harder to make into popular characters. I'd think some of the appreciation for a lot of the female characters is an appreciation for the underdogs of the popularity contest more than their character, and I'm guilty of that.
Honestly, power has little to do with my complaints. Wolverine was pushed to get popular. The rest of the X-men, not so much. The push is what's important, IMO.
I still think disrespect would be the right word. Few people expect much out of the women of marvel, few people really utilize them, few people write well for them. They make shitty movies with them, the "Women in refrigerators" trope exists for a reason, etc.
I feel like it takes respect for the property to do a character justice, and a lot of female characters just don't get that, and I don't know why. If they don't care that much about the property, why bother? Find someone that does, I say.
I gotta say you're wrong about my opinion on relationships. I actually don't expect relationships to be more than drama. I know better than to expect happily ever after.
Problem is the guy's usually on the "I'm still alive" end of things, and women are usually, well, check out "Women in refrigerators." The latter exists for a reason, largely because it happens a lot. The whole being depowered, killed, etc. thing really kinda stops any momentum towards getting popular. I think Jean Grey really got screwed over in that regard. lol
The joke about Hawkeye trying to be the token guy, then backing out once he realized what would likely happen to him is relevant, IMO, for a reason.
Frankly, women get the short end of the stick. DC didn't just screw over Batwoman's lesbian wedding, they screwed over a lesser known lesbian named Scandal Savage who was going to try and have a polygamous wedding with a stripper and a New God (Knockout) that could fight Superboy. Moreover, that trio was one of my favorite relationships in all of Comics.
Having done some googling, it seems like the execution of the idea of an all female avengers is a curiosity from a higher power to learn more about humans.
Personally, I don't care what the idea is, I'm somewhat optimistic that it has a shot in hell of giving more women opportunities to shine, and actually garner some respect. Having stumbled across the whole near 50% of comic fans are women statistic, I'm hoping that it helps show that despite a strong male dominance, there's worthwhile women in the Marvel Universe, too.
Green Arrow has a long running, popular show. Flash is hot on his heels. They've gotten a good bit of attention. Arrow's already got a line of figures out, including Black Canary (though she seems a far cry from what I know) so the attention is there. Not just in media, but in marketing. I don't doubt that we'll see figures from Flash's series soon.
Red Tornado, Captain Marvel, Martian Manhunter, etc. not so much. Not lately anyhow. Captain Marvel (At least the Shazam powered one) had a TV show back in the day, I'm sure, but I'm more of a mind to ask "what have you done for me lately" so WW's old show, or Marvel's old show doesn't really factor in.
I agree entirely that WW should be getting more attention, and it's just weird she doesn't get it. She'll have, likely, a bit part in the Batman vs Superman movie (And likely as Superman's love interest, if not Batman's), but a lot of others are said to be having a part in the movie further diminishing her importance, IMO.
DC's not terrible terrible at movies. They're just starting to find their way. Grim Dark, mainly. Which, IMO, WW is at least better suited for than Superman. That, and they're better at animated stuff, IMO.
Maybe if they somehow could transfer the spirit of their animated stuff to live action?
Honestly, what Wonder Woman marketing should capitalize on, IMO, is the way she approaches things. She does so as a warrior more than anything. She's not afraid to stab people with swords for one thing. You're right on her powerset being less than Superman's.
A pair of shows come to mind, actually.
Hercules: The Legendary journeys, and Xena: Warrior Princess. It's almost a perfect example of how to differentiate Superman from Wonder Woman. One's a super powered boyscout, the other a more skilled fighter not afraid to use weapons freely, and isn't quite as squeaky clean.
Mindset's not the same as powerset, I'll grant that.
Honestly, out of a lot of examples I listed, especially in the Bat, Spider, and Kryptonian family Wonder Woman is more likely to use what ever similar powers she has differently.