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There have been reports that plans to have a female villain inIron Man 3were scrapped due to concerns over the toy sale. And it appears that merchandise sales have long been one of the focal points for Marvel Studios, whether it involves a female villain or superhero. Dave Gonzales, Gavin Edwards, and Joanna Robinson’s latest book shared insight into the studio’s approach to female superheroes, which had been highly influenced by the merchandise sales.
It also highlights their reservations about Black Widow merchandise, as they believed it wouldn’t achieve the same sales figures as merchandise featuring other superheroes.
Read More:A Prototype Version of a Cancelled Daredevil Game Has Emerged
Merchandise Sales Influenced Marvel’s Approach to Female Heroes
Following the release of the secondAvengersfilm, many people questioned whyScarlett Johansson’sBlack Widow was not included in the film’s merchandise. However, this was not the first time the studio followed such a practice.
BeforeAge of Ultron,Zoe Saldaña’scharacter Gamora was also missing from theGuardians of the Galaxy merchandise.MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studiosreveals that the studio often“manifested its hidebound attitudes about gender and race”with certain members of the Creative Committee
Alan Fine was also one of them, who reportedly believed that merchandise sales were one of the prominent sources of revenue. An insider claimed that Fine believed that boys would not be interested in buying merchandise related to female superheroes.
“Where he comes from, boys will not buy girls’ dolls, period,”the insider revealed, claiming that Fine would cite the failure of female-centric movies likeElektraandCatwoman, which did not perform that great at the box office. And it eventually resulted in the absence of Black Widow and Gamora’s absence from the merchandise.
Read More:Further Hints Suggest That Daredevil Could Be the Next Hero Featured In Insomniac’s Spider-Man Universe
Iron ManVillain Was Gender Swapped For the Same Reason
Iron Man 3 features Adrian Killian as the antagonist of the movie. However, screenwriter Shane Black revealed during an interview withUproxxthat an early draft of the film featured Rebeca Hall’s character, Maya Hansen, as the main villain.
However, the role was gender-swapped as they were concerned that the toy merchandise could lack sales with a female villain. Black explained,
“We had finished the script and we were given a no-holds-barred memo saying that cannot stand and we’ve changed our minds because, after consulting, we’ve decided that toy won’t sell as well if it’s a female.”
He shared that they had to change the entire script after that. However, he also stated that the Marvel Studios’ president had no take on it, saying,“That’s Marvel corporate.”Disney has also faced criticism for the same, especially after a former Marvel employeeclaimedthat Disney acquired Marvel and Lucasfilm to gain more access to male audiences.
Read More:Fans Lament the Removal of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2’s ‘Spider-Cube’ Bug
Laxmi Rajput
Senior Writer
Articles Published :3448
Laxmi Rajput is a Senior Writer at FandomWire, with over 3,300 articles published covering film, TV, and pop culture. With a degree in Broadcast Journalism and over three years of experience in content writing, she pivoted to entertainment journalism because let’s be honest, superheroes, sitcoms, and Netflix binges are way more fun. Laxmi frequently covers Marvel, Harry Potter, Star Wars, and popular TV shows, offering both fan-first enthusiasm and thoughtful analysis. Her work often dives into Marvel theories, revisits the genius of The Big Bang Theory, or unpacks the Netflix phenomenon of Stranger Things.
