DementedSheep said:
What the difference? derivative of another hero and derivative of another hero that just happens to be a different gender. This is somehow worse?
You sidestepped the point about them not really being gender bends in the first place. Tony has not become a woman and we don't know much about this character yet.
you are greatly misunderstanding me, Sheep. firstly, by "gender-bending", i dont mean that the characters themselves literally became female, i mean that the superhero persona was taken up by a new female character after originally being made famous by a male character.
second, it is worse for these comic entities to recognize that society is clamoring for them to be more inclusive toward women, yet their response is to simply have female characters take over the mantle of well-known male superhero personas. there are plenty of characters that are derivative of their predecessors (Miles Morales, Bucky Barnes, etc.), but at least there were plenty of original male superheroes to begin with that were the stars of their own comics.
have you noticed how the reverse doesnt seem to happen? there has never been a Wasp-Man, or Black Widowmaker, or Invisible Man, or Scarlet Wizard, etc. the problem is that these comic writers are looking at the social climate and thinking "we need more female superheroes... screw it, lets just replace Thor and Iron Man with women."
these half-assed efforts to be inclusive have persisted for decades, and they are probably the reason why the MCU and DCU film franchises are severely lacking in female heroes, and will continue to be lacking for some time. more than half of the current male Avengers in the film series have had female versions in the comics. those female versions all represent a missed opportunity to create a completely new female character with her own persona and her own unique story and abilities.
the only other way i can try to put this is that as far as the Avengers and DC comics are concerned, women are often stuck riding the coattails of the men. theyre stuck following in the footsteps of the men. the women tend to either be sidekicks/side characters, or they simply take over for the men after the men die or otherwise leave their superhero persona behind. while it is perfectly fine that characters are replaced by others after death or retirement, and while it is fine that their replacements are sometimes female, it sucks that there are so few worthwhile original female superheroes in these comics. we need more characters like Wonder Woman, Black Canary, Black Widow, Invisible Woman, etc. that are not derivative of male superheroes.
basically, these comics would be a lot more genuinely inclusive if they were more like the X-Men comics. those comics are extremely diverse, and the mutation aspect of that series forced the writers to come up with completely original female heroes and villains instead of just making characters like Professor Charlotte Xavier or Magneta or Icewoman. this resulted in gender diversity in the comics and the films without the women having to replace the men. you know what i mean?
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