**WARNING this article contains spoilers! **

Decades have passed since “heroes” became a thing in Hollywood. Surprisingly, only a few “female heroes” have made it onto the screen. Until recently, most of these heroines were either given the role of the male hero’s love interest, or his attractive sidekick. Fortunately, prominent changes have been made in the past few years. Wonder Woman, released in 2017, greatly revitalized the DC Comics cinematic series. Earlier this year, Marvel Studios released their very first female character-lead film, Captain Marvel. Both films were a huge success, and many fans were enthralled in these strong, independent female leads.

The Beginning

Wonder Woman

Diana is the daughter of Hippolyta, the queen of Amazonian women warriors. These warriors living in the hidden island of Themyscira were created by Zeus to protect mankind from Ares. In 1918, in the midst of the 1st World War, Diana rescues Steve Trevor, a US pilot from a plane crash. With Steve’s guidance, Diana leaves her island to save mankind, under the conviction that Ares is the one behind the great war.

Captain Marvel

Vers, a member of Starforce from Kree Empire, suffers from severe amnesia. Her commander Yon-Rogg and Supreme Intelligence – the A.I. leader of the Kree civilization – trains her to keep her emotions and power under control at all times. Vers gets abducted by the Skrulls – enemies of the Kree – during her first mission. She soon escapes and crash-lands on Earth, which is soon revealed to be her home planet.

Associates

Wonder Woman

As expected, Steve Trevor becomes Diana’s closest associate. He guides her to the human world, and supports her through the devastation of war, and soon becomes her love interest. The romantic relationship between them is nothing new, nor unexpected. However, the amount of screen time and focus given to their love makes the hero more lovable, and relatable to some viewers.

Captain Marvel

Unlike Steve in Wonder Woman, Nick Fury, an associate of Captain Marvel, is the one who learns about the new world through Carol Danvers (Captain Marvel). Their relationship built upon pure trust is nothing peculiar, but strangely a rare scene in Hollywood. This fresh relationship presents the hero as a strong leader, and drives viewers away from stereotypes of women in films.

Breakthrough

Wonder Woman

Just like her awakening as a hero, Diana’s breakthrough is fueled with love again. But this time, it is the loss of love that gives her power. Witnessing Steve’s self-sacrifice to save people, Diana comes to understand the ambivalence of mankind. She embraces Steve’s love, and rises to be a stronger protector of the world. This connection between love and strength as a hero is cliché, but not entirely. Many times, love was a weakness that made heroes no more special than humans. But by focusing on the strength of love, the film gives a fresh feeling to the long awaited female hero.

Captain Marvel

Unlike Wonder Woman, Captain Marvel shows that romantic love is not necessary for a woman to break through her previous limits. Confronting her real enemies, Yon-Rogg and Supreme Intelligence, Carol gets in link with her past. She realizes that all this time her family, the commanders, the Kree, the whole world have been oppressing her. She cuts off these chains and finds her true self, one who is able to go higher, further, and faster than anyone. Carol’s breakthrough of oppression as a woman and a hero is what makes the film so inspiring and special.

Editor’s Pick!

Best Scene of the Movie

Wonder Woman

Diana and her associates reach the front in Belgium, where harsh battle turned a small village into no man’s land. Despite Steve’s dissuasion, Diana runs through the battlefield alone and saves the village. The sun starts to shine, and warm colors are brought back to the screen. This shows how love, represented as Diana, saves the whole world.

Captain Marvel

Carol’s younger self, who throughout her life was denied power and self-worth and was also looked down upon by all those mentioned earlier, shows a ‘won’t quit’ attitude, repeatedly faces her challengers and the camera. This shows how Carol has been constantly fighting against limits as a woman, and that she will never stop from breaking these chains.

Wonder Woman shows how love makes one stronger, and Captain Marvel emphasizes that limits were meant to be broken. These two films have almost nothing in common, except for their success in drawing the audience to empathize with the female leads, not objectify them. This was possible due to the female directors of the films. Regarding the fact that there has been extremely few female directors and characters for young girls to look up to, this success is very special. This change of gender perception in a field that holds great influence on children is more than welcomed.

Lee Giwon  jlee1402@naver.com

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