Credit: Marvel StudiosOkay, so this sounds bad. Like I’m pitting women against each other, and comparing them to judge a clear winner.
Instead, I posit that we take a deep dive across the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), and compare the objective markers of success from reviews and the like, alongside the fan response to these projects.
Is the female-led MCU truly all that bad?
Related: Disney Seemingly Fires Two Marvel Stars as Actors’ Social Media Goes Dark
With the recent reception to Disney+ (Disney Plus) Marvel Television series Agatha All Along seemingly spelling a positive comeback for the MCU into fans’ good graces, there’s been chatter online. That Disney is finally putting an end to the “M-She-U” hate train with a genuinely well-produced, high-quality, female-led story.
Now, of course, the naysayers rose up to demean the show, calling for those sympathetic to their “anti-woke” rhetoric to boycott the queer, female-led Marvel show.
What’s up With Agatha All Along?
Marvel Studios’ first Disney+ original series, WandaVision (2021), was designed by Kevin Feige to broaden the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and its Multiverse Saga, leading to two exciting spinoffs.
The first, Vision Quest, will feature Paul Bettany reprising his role as White Vision, exploring his journey after WandaVision as he starts a robot family of his own. The second, Agatha All Along, is a Halloween-themed series centered on Kathryn Hahn’s character, Agatha Harkness, which premiered on September 18.
Originally titled Agatha: House of Harkness, the show underwent several name changes, including Agatha: Coven of Chaos and Agatha: Darkhold Diaries, with Marvel Studios even teasing the name Agatha: The Lying Witch with Great Wardrobe as part of a clever marketing gimmick. The title has now been finalized as Agatha All Along, a nod to the fan-favorite jingle from WandaVision.
The Kathryn Hahn-led coven of misfit witches embarks on a magical journey down the legendary Witches’ Road, facing a series of “tricks and trials. ” New episodes are released every Wednesday.
Directed by WandaVision‘s Jac Schaeffer, Agatha All Along embraces a playful, campy vibe while dishing out spooks in spades — perfect for the Halloween season. Drawing inspiration from WandaVision‘s hit songs, like “Agatha All Along,” the show explores a fresh blend of horror and musical theater within the MCU.
Related: Disney’s Halloween Marvel Release Will Be the Most Queer the Franchise Has Ever Been
What’s the purpose of this exercise, you may be wondering? Well, it’s to take a look at the vast range in quality within the MCU, and demonstrate that the MCU is inherently flawed, being an ambitious interconnected universe — running the gamut from badly received to highly praised.
In this ranking, we’ll refer to the more objective Rotten Tomatoes score, alongside the more subjective general fan perception.
9. She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022)
With a generally mixed-to-negative reception, She-Hulk Attorney at Law ranks as the lowest on the list due to its overwhelmingly lackluster reception from Marvel fans, with a 33% Audience score on Rotten Tomatoes despite a somewhat better 77% Critics score.
The decision to break the fourth wall was fun, with She-Hulk/Jennifer Walters star Tatiana Maslany generally well-liked for her performance of the character.
The less-than stellar elements of the series however, remain in the inconsistent ton and overall uneven CGI and special effects. With the cameo episode(s) featuring fan-favorites like Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock/Daredevil faring the best with fans, perhaps the most divisive element of the series is the rather confusing finale.
8. Eternals (2021)
The Eternals by director Chloe Zhao remains one of Marvel’s more divisive films to date. With an extremely mixed reception, the movie strayed from the typical path by attempting to tell a sweeping epic that spanned the length of centuries — unfortunately, its massive (arguably over-stacked?) cast led to an overstuffed plot and pacing issues that few fans could overlook.
Coming in at a 47% Audience score and 79% Critics score, this ensemble cast generally led by Sersi (Gemma Chan) and Athena (Angelina Jolie) had moments of real sparkle, amidst a lot of “pretty people gazing out on the horizon”.
Additionally, the greater “cosmic-level” MCU elements added to the overwhelm of the plot, and quite ironically, leading to the film being less engaging for many viewers.
7. Captain Marvel (2019)
Ah, the famous Captain Marvel.
With an overall positive reception, this film stands as potentially the most controversial, especially among the “anti-woke” set. Brie Larson as Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers introduced a ridiculously powerful female hero to the MCU, as well as giving audiences a strong dose of ’90s nostalgia, with a genuinely impressive box office performance.
Most criticism of the film comes in the form of critiquing the rather predictable plot and character development, which some viewers and critics alike felt lacked emotional depth.
This is despite the fairly strong Critics score of 79% (still considerably lower than other Marvel offerings at the arguable peak of Marvel Studios’ cultural dominance), and an Audience score of 45%, Captain Marvel was a decent entry into the MCU pre-Avengers: Endgame (2019).
6. The Marvels (2023)
The Marvels was another attempt at a fun, superhero romp through space, with a primarily female led cast starring Brie Larson as Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel, Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel, and Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau.
The strong chemistry between the leads definitely added to the fun of the film, though many did feel it lacked depth and had a weaker plot compared to other films in the MCU canon. Nevertheless, the almost campy nature of the movie shined with audiences, who gave the film a score of 84%, despite a Critics score of (a still respectable) 84%.
5. Black Widow (2021)
Black Widow caused a bit of a stir between Disney and lead Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff).
Due to the COVID-19 restrictions in 2020 through to 2021, the movie unfortunately could not be debuted in theaters. Disney made the choice to release the film on their new streamer Disney+, prompting Johansson to sue the company for breaking their contract, which explicitly stated that the movie would have to have a theatrical release.
Despite the hubbub surrounding Black Widow, the movie was a long time coming as the fan-favorite Black Widow finally got her own origin story. On top of giving Florence Pugh her MCU breakout as Yelena Belova, the film was praised for Johansson’s solid performance as well as the satisfying action sequences.
Unfortunately, the film was released a little too late into the MCU game, as by 2021 Johansson’s Black Widow had long been dead due to the events of Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Endgame. A lackluster third act and rather generic villain also held the film back from reaching great heights, but it still did well with Marvel fans and Critics alike, with 91% and 79% respectively on Rotten Tomatoes.
4. Ms. Marvel (2022)
Ms. Marvel remains one of Disney’s stronger entries in the Marvel Television side of Disney+, with a whopping 97% Critics score and 80% Audience score, despite its seemingly less “relatable” story (to the “anti-M-She-U” crowd) of the young Pakistani-American Kamala Khan coming to terms with her family’s generational trauma and grappling with her newfound powers.
The series did particularly well with younger audiences and has been praised for its vibrant and culturally rich storytelling, alongside Iman Vellani’s star power and charisma as Ms. Marvel.
Both audiences and critics noted general pacing issues, particularly in the second half of the series. Overall, this show is still one of the most popular and well-regarded Marvel Television offerings to date.
3. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)
Director James Gunn’s swan song in the MCU, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 did well basically across the board, with a Critics score of 81% and an Audience score of 94%.
On top of the very strong box office takings, the final entry in the current iteration of the Guardians focused heavily on the characters of Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper), alongside the tension between sisters (and Daughters of Thanos) Nebula (Karen Gillan) and Gamora (Zoe Saldana).
Seeing as Gamora’s original iteration of the character was killed by Josh Brolin’s Thanos in exchange for the Soul Stone, the “new” variant of Gamora had a lot of heavy lifting to do in terms of understanding her new relationships, especially to her sister Nebula and former (though in this timeline, not really) lover Star-Lord/Peter Quill (Chris Pratt).
With a satisfying character arc for these two female leads, Gunn masterfully juggled the demands of a strong and varied ensemble cast, despite minor complaints about pacing. Overall, one of the most heartwrenching, bittersweet, and arguably best trilogy endings a Marvel fan could ask for.
2. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2021)
One of the most beautiful tributes to a legacy left behind by the beloved Chadwick Boseman (Black Panther/King T’Challa), Wakanda Forever follows the women of Wakanda in the Black Panther franchise as they protect their nation and navigate the emotional aftermath of their king’s death.
Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), Shuri (Letitia Wright), (Lupita Nyong’o), Okoye (Danai Gurira), and the Dora Milaje Warriors (including Florence Kasumba) all explore their grief in different ways, learning and growing through the experience and rising to meet daunting challenges.
Leaving King M’Baku (Winston Duke) to take over the day-to-day running of Wakanda, the film also charts T’Challa’s sister Shuri’s rise as her own version of the Black Panther hero.
With an Audience score of 94% and a Critics score of 84%, this stands as one of Marvel’s best female-led films with an all-minority cast.
1. WandaVision (2021)
WandaVision is potentially one of the most well-received entries under Disney+’s Marvel Television umbrella, with highly positive ratings across the board of a 91% Critics score and 88% Audience score.
Led by the fan-favorite Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch, the series uniquely blended sitcom tropes with superhero action, with Olsen and Paul Bettany’s (Vision) standout performances and characters’ emotional depth being a major highlight of the series. Alongside creative storytelling, catchy music, and ingenious experimentation with the very format of television, WandaVision never disappointed.
Despite some general complaints about the finale not living up to the build-up, the journey there was one of the most enjoyable excursions away from the MCU canon, it remains one of Marvel’s strongest projects.
At the end of the day, the whole purpose of this exercise was to highlight a few simple concepts — namely, the fact that Marvel Studios projects vary widely in terms of quality, regardless of who’s in front of them.
You may get some divisiveness with franchises like Captain Marvel, but you equally get the lower end of Marvel Studios quality with Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania (the worst-ranked by Tomatometer!) and the lackluster Thor films like Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) and Thor: The Dark World (2013).
From Peggy Carter/Captain Carter (Hayley Atwell) to Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter), Mighty Thor/Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) to Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) — the women of the MCU have never been set dressing.
This idea that female MCU heroes and the “strong female character” are running Marvel entertainment into the ground recently doesn’t really hold much water if you take time to look at the expansive history of the franchise.
With Agatha All Along shaping up to be a sleeper hit this Halloween, perhaps Disney will add another solid entry to the list of well-loved, female-centric Marvel Comics-inspired stories.
Did you enjoy any of these (female-led) superhero projects from Marvel? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!