Avengers: Age of Ultron debuted in theaters on May 1, earning $187.7 million during its first weekend. Yet the only superhero anyone seems to be talking about is the Black Widow, aka Natasha Romanoff, played by the beautiful Scarlett Johansson.
Between Mark Ruffalo, the actor who played The Hulk, taking to Twitter to ask why there aren’t more Black Widow toys available for his nieces, and Chris Evans and Jeremy Renner making tasteless comments about Black Widow being a “slut” and a “whore,” this female super hero, an Avenger herself (#recognize), cannot seem to catch a break.
.@Marvel we need more #BlackWidow merchandise for my daughters and nieces. Pretty please.
— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) April 29, 2015
Fans are expressing their concerns all over the Interwebs, and are directly reaching out to Marvel, Hasbro, Disney, and even retailers such as Target via Twitter and Facebook using the hashtag #WheresNatasha. They want to know why toy aisles are stocked with Avengers products, but there’s not a single Black Widow toy in sight. Another major problem consumers are encountering is not that Target or Marvel are unresponsive to fans’ concerns, but that they’re telling fans to look online for the toys.
@LizGmaz Thanks for telling us you’d like Black Widow in stores. We’ll make sure our buyers look into this. Please check online for her.
— AskTarget (@AskTarget) April 29, 2015
@EverydaySexism Telling my superhero-loving girls that they don’t make any Black Widow toys. https://t.co/53kCzo8axO pic.twitter.com/qRgIBTqKsc
— Heroic Girls (@HeroicGirls) May 5, 2015
Disney Consumer Products did reach out to Vanity Fair with the statement: “Black Widow is a staple in the Marvel Universe with a robust consumer products program. Tied to the release of Avengers: Age of Ultron, Marvel has over 60 Black Widow SKUS across diverse categories such as Hot Wheels, action figures, video games, T-shirts, costumes and collectibles, with even more products available for back to school and Halloween.” Disney also provided Vanity Fair with images of the Scarlet Witch and Black Widow items that are available, though not yet for sale, at disney.com. You can see an assortment here.
In addition, Funko also received heat from fans for having released its line of Avengers: Age of Ultron toys in January sans any Black Widow items. Since then, Funko has created an Avengers: Age of Ultron Black Widow Pop! figure to be available this summer.
Unsurprisingly, the drama doesn’t stop there. Not only has the film’s writer and director Joss Whedon “quit Twitter,” but now Marvel’s dealing with another “disaster” due to a leaked email with details as to why female superheroes movies have been a “disaster.” So, for anyone who had his or her hopes up about a Black Widow movie and tie-in toys, I leave you with that.
For more commentary from Deanna, check back often. Views expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Toy Book as a whole. We hope that you will share your comments and feedback below. Until next time!
