LOS ANGELES, April 23 — As the sole female Avenger, Scarlett Johansson had a bone to pick with Hollywood: not only were there few female superheroes, but they tended to be dumbed down.
So when Marvel Studios brought in another formidable woman for summer action film “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” Johansson, who reprises her role as the feisty Black Widow, was happy to see “a step in the right direction.”
Out in US theatres on May 1, the Walt Disney film reunites Black Widow with 2012’s “The Avengers” superhero ensemble of Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, the Hulk and Hawk-Eye as they fight a villain bent on large-scale destruction.
Now comes Scarlet Witch, played byElizabeth Olsen, one of the most powerful Marvel comics characters, known for her thought-altering magical powers, to join the male-dominated superhero ranks. Three other women play key roles.
Boosting the female quotient makes sense as women fans could help push “Age of Ultron” past its predecessor at the box office and possibly make it the top-grossing film of summer 2015.
The film throws a larger spotlight on its female characters, led by Johansson’s Black Widow holding her own in complex fight scenes and finding romance with Hulk (Mark Ruffalo).
The evolution of female characters in Marvel’s superhero movies “has been slow,” Johansson said, who is happy to see more females introduced to the franchise. — Reuters
