Just to inform: I am a male blogger, writing this as truthfully and unbiased as I can.
I do not know if it is a prerequisite for all stand alone female lead superhero movies to be awful… But they just are? Catwoman, Elektra, even the planned Wonder Woman TV show was cancelled before its initial release date… Why? How can strong and powerful characters like Black Widow and Silk Spectre have decent back stories developed in a male dominated environment, but not have successful independent movies? Is there not enough traction?
I believe that without female super heroes (or super heroines) the comic book world, either on page or screen, would be considerably dull; it let’s us know, as an audience, that the female presence is absolutely necessary. For men, it is something to look at and most certainly an impressive watch when those much like Mystique and Batgirl can easily best Beast and Batman. For female audiences, I guess it would have the same effect on them as watching Captain America or Superman has on men; an aspiration and mild loathing at how good looking and fit they look. Alternatively, it could be seen as an intrusion; let the men do all the fighting; let them get on with it? I do not know. All I know is, that as it stands, the solo female lead super hero movies have not been received well and I am worried for future ones, I.E Wonder Woman.
I was so excited upon hearing that Warner Bros would make a Catwoman spin-off. One of the great fictional female icons had a film! Starring Halle Berry and Sharon Stone, the film had it’s own origin for the story and was a milestone with the first black Catwoman on the big screen. But… Well, need I say it. It was a flop of epic proportions and Halle Berry supposedly only took up her role of another comic book character, Storm, in X-Men 3: The Last Stand in an attempt to rid the failure of this movie. Awkward.
Following this, a Marvel character would get her own spin-off. Elektra! Jennifer Garner would reprise her ninja character from Daredevil to take up the sai once more. Elektra is my all time favourite female comic book personality, so needless to say, the movie was hotly anticipated. Doing certainly better than Catwoman at the box office, it was still a tremendous disappointment. I still loved both these products of cinema over-enthusiasm, but as I have grown up on them; I can appreciate the more sour taste they leave come the credit roll.
Now, new images have been released from the set of DC’s latest cinematic escapade “Suicide Squad” and these prominently feature the leading lady, Margot Robbie as none other than Joker’s right hand gal: Harley Quinn. This will be her first big screen showing in a live action film. Writing this, I realise I have put “leading lady” and “right hand gal” in the same sentence; no the film is not all about her character; if the film stays true to it, she is more of a side kick. That is a shame; I hope she gets plenty of screen time, as she is certainly one of the more bulshy female antagonists to grace the comic book universe. 
At the moment, the main woman heading up for female comic book characters is undeniably Scarlett Johanson’s Black Widow and I have to hand it to Marvel; despite not having her own spin-off, she certainly is a focal point. Marvel have continued to introduce strong female leads into their films and TV shows such as Cobie Smulder’s Agent Marie Hill and Zoe Saldana’s, Gamora. But, nevertheless, they are supporting characters to the male dominated plot’s in Captain America and Guardians of the Galaxy (where Gamora is the only woman.)
This is the same with Emma Stone’s Gwen Stacey in The Amazing Spiderman 1 & 2. It detracted from the “damsel in distress” and gave her great intellect in comparison to even Peter Parker, which was nice to see… but ultimately, she was a plot device for him; a love interest and her death only made that considerably more focal.
All this makes me fearful as to whether the new Wonder Woman played by Gal Gadot will be successful; to be introduced in Batman VS Superman: Dawn of Justice, this will be the a completely new generation of Wonder Woman; the pinnacle of female superheroes. There was alot of back lash about Gal Gadot being too skinny, which I felt was unjust, but her first promotional image made her look beautiful and formidable. I do no know how audiences will take it, but I just hope we’ll finally see a successful female lead super hero movie! Fingers crossed. So that is my brief summary; controversial as it may seem, this is how it seems and it’s about time we got a great lady hero movie!
Read on and Prosper!
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