Queen Studios: Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) 1:4

[Phoenixblazes]

Originally Posted by Silas Loki

It didn't bother me, as I'm not attached to Task Master as a character, and I loved what they did with the character in the film. That said, I think they could have created a specific character for the role, and had the same outcome. I'm not sure why they needed to re-imagine an existing character in this way.....hence why, in my opinion, it seems like the kind of thing that's been plaguing western comics for a while.

Why not make Black Widow a Man, or Black Panther a white guy from Alabama...in the end, it's their story and they can attach any narrative they want to it, but don't be surprised if people turn away from the fluctuating (fashionable) trends that seem to drive these story choices.

Last comment on this......If they were set on making Task Master a female, why did they bulk her out before the big reveal? In her opening scenes she was buff as hell, and even after the reveal - she had the head of a woman, but the body of a man.....this tells me they were trying to be smart from the get go, and were actively misleading the audience to expecting the character to be male......it feels like they were baiting people, which is a childish d*ck move, and cheapens an otherwise good film.

Too me, Taskmaster is a very minor character. So I’m not surprised they pulled that kind of move on this level of character. Because if you’re going to do it with any character, this seems ‘almost’ a prime choice.

And obviously about the character choice, it’s all marketing to the comic book fans, but it was pretty obvious to me that the response would be the same as that whole Trevor Slattery situation (that one did annoy me and I’m of East Asian decent). Whereas the Ancient One gender switch in Doctor Strange I was perfectly fine with. And I love what they did with Wong’s character too. So some changes to source material is perfectly fine, but others can be questionable to me.

[generalszabo]

Originally Posted by Silas Loki

Why not make Black Widow a Man, or Black Panther a white guy from Alabama...in the end, it's their story and they can attach any narrative they want to it, but don't be surprised if people turn away from the fluctuating (fashionable) trends that seem to drive these story choices.

Last comment on this......If they were set on making Task Master a female, why did they bulk her out before the big reveal? In her opening scenes she was buff as hell, and even after the reveal - she had the head of a woman, but the body of a man.....this tells me they were trying to be smart from the get go, and were actively misleading the audience to expecting the character to be male......it feels like they were baiting people, which is a childish d*ck move, and cheapens an otherwise good film.

This is exactly what they were trying to do, people were expecting a male, whether they've read the comics or not. It's all about representation of all genders and races these days and there were too many white men in the comics

[Silas Loki]

I love to see more strong, independent, intelligent and LIKEABLE female superhero films. Hell, even just female characters with those traits. I'm not sure why it's so hard to do - my favourite is Helen Ripley! An absolute icon, and someone you'd want to be stranded on an island with..... (for survival!)

But, this gender swapping (or race) is just.....well, lazy. In my opinion....there's room to create more characters, and especially if those characters are not carrying the baggage of past eras of comics.

I get the feeling they do this bait and switch, because they don't believe females or western minority groups can carry a character from inception to cult status.

[Phoenixblazes]

Originally Posted by Silas Loki

I love to see more strong, independent, intelligent and LIKEABLE female superhero films. Hell, even just female characters with those traits. I'm not sure why it's so hard to do - my favourite is Helen Ripley! An absolute icon, and someone you'd want to be stranded on an island with..... (for survival!)

But, this gender swapping (or race) is just.....well, lazy. In my opinion....there's room to create more characters, and especially if those characters are not carrying the baggage of past eras of comics.

I get the feeling they do this bait and switch, because they don't believe females or western minority groups can carry a character from inception to cult status.

Unfortunately now whenever I see a female led film, be it action, adventure, fantasy etc; nearly without fail I always see comments that she is or will be a Mary Sue. Or that there are too many of them etc. I’ve never really understood it, as flip it around and it’s exactly the same situation as the action movies of the 90’s….and well the past two decades as well. And it’s always the likeable aspect which is always in question as many find certain traits to be well…. questionable in women.

And unfortunately whenever they’ve tried to create new characters, be it in comic or otherwise they usually fail spectacularly, commercially wise anyway. Comic book readers fall on both sides of the spectrum, but many can be sensitive to certain topics if they feel they’re being lectured to, whether they are or not, and that’s a large chunk of your commercial base who won’t give things a shot due to initial perception.

[Phoenixblazes]

Originally Posted by generalszabo

This is exactly what they were trying to do, people were expecting a male, whether they've read the comics or not. It's all about representation of all genders and races these days and there were too many white men in the comics

I believe actual comic book readers are an extremely small percentage of the movie going public. So at the end of the day most producers are going to aim at the larger audience (not that I particularly liked or hated this particular gender swap). Does anyone know the actual percentage?

Heck by experience on these forums, most here haven’t read an actual comic in decades. Whether that was in the 80’s, 90’s etc.

[generalszabo]

Originally Posted by Phoenixblazes

I believe actual comic book readers are an extremely small percentage of the movie going public. So at the end of the day most producers are going to aim at the larger audience (not that I particularly liked or hated this particular gender swap). Does anyone know the actual percentage?

Heck by experience on these forums, most here haven?t read an actual comic in decades. Whether that was in the 80?s, 90?s etc.

You're probably right, and they definitely target the biggest audience to maximise revenue. It's all a big money making exercise at the end of the day

[nearmint]

Preorder appears to be closed on the QS site.

[Silas Loki]

I believe only the Asia region can order directly from QS, everyone else needs to go through their global distribution and / or retailer.

Based on that, QS stating they've sold out, is like blowing in the wind - you can get both these statues - for days - excluding SpecFiction, where it's apparently "coming soon".........

[SkilledButton]

Originally Posted by nearmint

Preorder appears to be closed on the QS site.

Fwiw, they were both officially sold out before the PO window closed.

And still nothing from spec. Glad I didn't wait on them and picked this up when I did.

[generalszabo]

Originally Posted by SkilledButton

Fwiw, they were both officially sold out before the PO window closed.

And still nothing from spec. Glad I didn't wait on them and picked this up when I did.

Same, I could have been still refreshing the page now haha