ONCE superheroes were no-nonsense chaps in capes and feisty heroines in catsuits who got on with defeating the baddies.
Now, as if dosed with a woke type of kryptonite, many of the titans of comic books and the big screen are morphing into what some fans say are overly-smug social justice warriors.
Critics point to Superman — who in one comic strip became a bisexual eco-warrior dating a refugee — as a hero who had strayed too far from the original.
Now, as new film The Marvels — featuring three feminist super- heroines — proved a resounding flop in its first weekend, some are asking if the genre is succumbing to the adage “Go woke, go broke”.
The movie, starring Brie Larson as Captain Marvel, took just £38million over its first three days in US and Canadian cinemas — the lowest ever North American opening weekend for any Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film, which until now have been box office gold.
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Reviewers have slammed the movie for its portrayal of strong women as “neurotically violent men”.
Right-wing US podcaster Michael Quinn Sullivan said on X: “As it turns out, the only superpower the Marvels possess is repelling theater- goers.
“Maybe @Disney and @Marvel should try making a movie that doesn’t shove woke ideology into spandex.”
So is woke killing the superhero after a legion of monsters and villains have failed?
Better tomorrow
Comic franchises have long looked to diversify their range of characters, which were once largely white, straight men.
In a 2021 storyline, DC Comics’ new Superman Jon Kent came out as bisexual.
The son of original Superman Clark Kent and ace reporter Lois Lane dated a refugee “hacktivist” reporter, campaigned against refugee deportations and fought to reverse climate change.
The plotline’s author, Tom Taylor, told how people “burst into tears” when they read the news, wishing Superman was like this “when they were growing up”.
The Australian writer added: “The idea of replacing Clark Kent with another straight white saviour felt like a missed opportunity.
“People are saying for the first time ever they’re seeing themselves in Superman — something they never thought was possible.”
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One fan tweeted: “As a bi guy myself, it warms my heart to see myself reflected in a character as iconic and kind as Superman.
“Never thought there was even a chance for that to happen!”
But Dean Cain, who played Superman in 1990s TV series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures Of Superman, slammed the move by DC Comics as “bandwagoning” rather than “brave”.
The 57-year-old actor said: “If they had done this 20 years ago, perhaps that would be bold or brave.
“But brave would be having him fight for the rights of gay people in Iran, where they’ll throw you off a building for the offence of being gay.”
DC Comics also changed Superman’s slogan so that rather than fighting for “truth, justice, and the American way” he now upholds “truth, justice and a better tomorrow”.
It all proved too much for comic book colourist Gabe Eltaeb, who worked on the new Superman strip and quit his job, calling the changes “f***ing nonsense”.
He added: “My grandpa almost died in World War Two. We don’t have a right to destroy s**t that people died to give us.”
And he called companies such as DC Comics, who he said favour woke politics over traditional conservative values, “bigoted”.
He challenged people to find a mainstream book, T-shirt or movie “that says that leftism is bad, and conservatism is good”.
Sales of comic book Superman: Son Of Kal-El, featuring new bisexual superhero Jon, were estimated at 68,000 by database Comichron, making it the 17th best-selling comic of July 2021.
But by the fourth issue the figure had dropped to just 37,500 copies.
The same year, DC Comics series Batman: Urban Legends saw the Caped Crusader’s sidekick Robin come out as bisexual.
Writer Meghan Fitzmartin tweeted: “My goal in writing has been and will always be to show just how much God loves you.”
But comic book writer Eric July — who is black — says viewers and readers don’t need to share the same background with a character to empathise with them.
The YouTuber said: “They make it seem as if the only way that you can relate to a character is because you’re gay and that character’s gay, which is nonsense!”
Revealing that his favourite superhero was Batman, he added: “I ain’t got Bruce Wayne money, I’m not rich, and I’m certainly not white.”
In 2016 Marvel’s Iron Man was re-imagined as a 15-year-old black girl.
Some fans complained about the new representation of a character which first appeared in 1963 as a superhero persona of billionaire weapons inventor Tony Stark.
One tweeted: “How is Iron MAN going to be a woman? I’m all for equality but come on that’s legit not what the character is.”
In 2020 Marvel created superheroes Snowflake and Safespace — and it wasn’t apparently a parody.
With cropped blue hair and matching Lycra, Snowflake was nonbinary and threw snowflake-shaped blades at bigots, while Safespace created pink force-fields to defend against haters.
Very smart
Co-creator Daniel Kibblesmith said: “The connotations of the word ‘snowflake’ in our culture right now are something fragile. Snowflake is a character who is turning it into something sharp.”
But the monikers were criticised as offensive, with one tweeting they were “the kind of names you’d expect a writer who’s trying to make fun of non-binary people would give their characters”.
On US TV, a Batwoman series had a storyline “advocating against an overfunded police department and fighting for more funding toward community services”.
The show ran for three seasons before being cancelled.
Yet the number of socially-aware productions has shown no signs of abating.
On the big screen, 2021’s The Eternals — also starring Brie Larson — was panned by some for its supposedly politically correct storylines.
It featured Disney-owned Marvel’s first big-screen gay couple who are married with a child.
Haaz Sleiman, who played one of the characters, said his casting was “very smart” as he will “humanise the hell” out of LGBTQ+ families.
In 2022 Natalie Portman played Thor, taking the Norse god’s mythical hammer that bestowed power on him from leading man Chris Hemsworth in MCU’s Thor: Love And Thunder.
The Ms Marvel series — screened on Disney+ — introduced the franchise’s first Muslim superhero, Kamala Khan, a 16-year-old Pakistani-American girl who is obsessed with Captain Marvel.
The movie received a wave of critical reviews after it premiered last year and was labelled too “woke” and “cringe”.
Now Kamala Khan has joined The Marvels, played by Iman Vellani alongside Brie Larson as Captain Marvel and Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau.
The movie sees three superheroines who swap places every time they use their powers.
The opening weekend flop may be down to its weak plot lines, while some blame “superhero fatigue”.
Yet others believe the movie’s feminist subtext is clumsily delivered.
Ultimately movie makers will tailor their plotlines and characters to box office returns.
More flops may mean they listen to one Reddit poster who said of the beloved superhero genre: “I just want a couple of hours of mindless, fun entertainment.
“I do not want to be beaten around the ears by some damned ‘message’.”
