Since the time women’s rights movements started advocating for equal opportunities for females and highlighting their contributions in all spheres, female characters in comics, movies and pop culture have also evolved. Here we look at the evolution of females in the superhero world and celebrate their presence that is now as powerful as any male with superpowers.

For those growing up in the 80s, there was a dearth of super women as far as animated series was concerned. Girls had ‘Sue Storm’ from Fantastic Four, who could turn invisible; and ‘She-Ra’, the sister of He-Man, the most powerful man in the universe, as their representation in the ‘superhero’ world.

In tracing the origins and evolution of super women, we have to go back to the 1940s when most of the heroes were men. Those were the days of the Second World War and a female superhero was the need of the hour. Women were constantly supporting men in the war, and with soldiers away from home, it was the women who took care of things at home.

That ‘wonder’ attitude led to the creation of Wonder Woman, who could perform all tasks like men. Princess Diana of Themyscira was an Amazonian princess raised by her mother and aunts, on an island where men were forbidden. WW could defeat a whole bunch of bad guys by using her lasso, which compels you to tell the truth, and a jet that could turn invisible.

After World War II was over, the soldiers rejoined their families. The wonder days of women were over and they were back to their ‘original’ duties of tending to kids and looking after the home. By the mid-70s, Lois Lane and Vicki Vale came to the fore in the comic and entertainment universe, but were mere sidekicks to Superman and Batman respectively.

It was not until the ‘Women’s Liberation Movement’ of the 1970s that the girls of the 1950s needed a superhero of their own. They were fighting for equal rights and wanted to break the shackles. In a male-dominated society, women had to have their equal representation everywhere and comics, television and films were no exception.

From 1975-79, Wonder Woman managed to have a TV show of her own, where Lynda Carter played the title character, but more was needed, as Spider-Man and Batman were rediscovering themselves on TV and films.

It was in the early 1980s when kids’ favourite action figure, He-Man, was brought to life, by producing the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe series. The show became a craze and every kid wanted to be He-Man. With ‘He-Man’ around, She-Ra was imminent.

Adora, the long-lost sister of Prince Adam, who was separated at birth, used superpowers to change into She-Ra. Swift Wind, her unicorn, is her partner in all her adventures. She-Ra, just like He-Man, got revisited and was reintroduced to the new generation through an animated series on Netflix. The millennials were just as thrilled to see the magical sword back in action as their parents were.

At the motion picture level, Christopher Reeves, as Superman, was a stupendous success in 1978. Several sequels made the producers attempt a ‘Supergirl’ movie in 1984. The failure of the film eventually took its toll and Superman could not go beyond the fourth film.

In the 1990s, superhero movies were scarce, but the action was there at the TV level. DC Films had a successful animated Batman series while Marvel continued with X-Men, Fantastic Four, and Spider-Man. Batgirl and Cat-Woman emerged as two powerful ladies from the Batworld, but it was X-Men that changed it all.

The multiple X-Men movies that were released at the turn of the century had equal representation of male and female superheroes. By the time a couple of the first X-Men spell ended, the X-Men were in the hearts and minds of the viewers. If there were Wolverine, Cyclops and Ice Man for the boys, there were Mystique, Phoenix, and Rogue too, for the girls. The latter characters soon became household names and finally, women got their due.

With the acceptance of female superheroes with X-Men, producers went ahead with the concept. Wonder Woman was given a big role in Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman movie, an association that went on for two solo movies, so far.

Supergirl made a successful comeback on TV when Melissa Benoist flew in the air as the girl in a cape and skirt. It ran for several seasons and was even added as a regular character in DC animated films.

In 2018, Into the Spider-Verse transformed Peter Parker’s love interest Gwen Stacy into Spider-Gwen. She was one of the five superheroes to fight Kingpin in the movie, led by Miles Morales. In 2022, all characters would be back on the big screen, and she would play the love interest of Miles, who is no longer a kid, as one saw in Into the Spider-verse.

With the Marvel Avengers making its debut in cinemas, female characters started to appear right, left and centre. While Agent Carter made a place for herself on TV, it was Black Widow who took the centre stage in films. She was part of the original film and by the time Avengers’ last film was released, there was a huge list of ‘female superheroes.

In the scene in Avengers: Endgame where Spider-Man fails to take the gauntlet to Ant-Man’s van, during the Battle of Earth, the ‘girl power’ came to the rescue. In that particular scene, Captain Marvel emerged as the saviour of the universe, while Pepper Potts in Iron Man suit, Scarlet Witch, The Wasp and Shuri, the princess of Wakanda, all of them walked together to confront Thanos, the man who snapped the world’s population into half in the earlier flick.

Black Widow and Captain Marvel emerged as favourites and had their moments in the film. Black Widow’s sacrifice in Endgame was the game-changer, while Captain Marvel was the only one who could stand up to Thanos.

Thanos’ adopted daughter Gamora was also fighting alongside the Avengers, and with powerful appearances throughout the Guardians of the Galaxy series, has made fans around the world.

It was a good thing that American TV picked up from where Endgame ended. Since then, Black Canary, an important DC character, has appeared in Arrow TV shows, while Scarlett Witch, the girl who nearly killed Thanos, had a TV show WandaVision with her love interest, Vision.

Scarlett Witch may be powerful, but Captain Marvel comes out as the most powerful female superhero around. It was hinted at the end of Infinity War when Nick Fury calls Captain Marvel for help, moments before he vanishes into thin air and was confirmed when she proved to be the main difference between the two Thanos battles. Her own film between Infinity Wars and Endgame helped the audience acclimatise with her entry when it mattered the most!

Recently, news of Kamala Khan’s Ms Marvel is making rounds. It’s about a young Muslim girl, inspired by Carol Danvers’ Captain Marvel, from whom she borrowed the name. The TV series where Ms Marvel would make her debut would air later in the year.

The world of super-heroines has come a long way since the 1940s. And ‘girl power’ has evolved with time — whenever there comes a testing time, ‘female superheroes’ come forward to save the day.

Published in Dawn, Young World, March 5th, 2022