Iron Man 2, Justice League, Suicide Squad: 5 times superhero movies were downright sexist

Marvel and DC are signalling the start of a whole new era with female characters putting the 'her' in 'hero'. While Wonder Woman played a significant role in leading the way back to theatres amidst the pandemic, Marvel has put the fate of Phase 4 on the able shoulders of Black Widow. While these ladies and several others are now enjoying their view from the top, there was a time when their characters were overly sexualised in films. From Scarlett Johansson smiling her way through sexist remarks in 'Iron Man 2' to Gal Gadot forcefully mouthing her lines in 'Justice League', here are 5 times superhero movies were downright sexist.

A decade after first making an appearance as Black Widow, Scarlett Johansson finally addressed the "hyper-sexualisation" of her character. Speaking about her first stint as Natasha Romanoff, opposite Robert Downey Jr's Tony Stark in 2010's 'Iron Man 2', she said that her superhero alter ego smiled her way through some sexist remarks in the film. She said to Collider.com that, "at one point (Tony Stark) calls her a piece of meat, and maybe at that time that actually felt like a compliment".

Gal Gadot slammed the 'horrendous' screenplay for Wonder Woman in the original 'Justice League', but fans couldn't quite fathom sexist portrayal of the Goddess until they saw Zack Snyder's cut. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Gadot didn't mince her words when she said, "I hated Diana Prince’s storyline in the original 'Justice League'—something that, at the time, I had attributed completely to Joss Whedon". She further went on to state that she knew the 'blatant sexism in her storyline' was completely Whedon's doing, something that was later proven right by Snyder when he released his original version of the film. According to the actress, the director threatened to 'harm' her career if she didn't say the lines given to her.

'Suicide Squad' features on this list for obvious reasons--turning Margot Robbie's character of the genius Dr Harleen Frances Quinzel into a skimpily clad, bubblegum-popping 'sexy' villain. While the movie gave us a first look at Harley Quinn and her back story, fans of the comic books found it impossible to overlook the sexualisation of the character, who was, in fact, a victim of mental abuse and torture.

Joss Whedon makes his second entry on this list but this time for the way he handled Black Widow's back story and seemingly "forced" her into a romantic relationship with the Hulk. Years may have rolled by since 'Avengers: Age of Ultron' released, but it seems like fans are nowhere close to forgiving the director for the scene where Natasha calls herself a "monster" after revealing to Bruce that she was sterilised as part of the Red Room's graduation ceremony. Many took offence that the character went as far as calling herself a "monster" while implying that she couldn't have children.

Long before Gal Gadot and Brie Larson got their shot at the billion-dollar box office, Halle Berry was among the first few women to star in the female-driven superhero film, 'Catwoman'. The film wasn't the best to come out of the DC Cinematic Universe, but besides the plot holes and hollow sketch, the sexism in the movie made it impossible to watch. From the beauty-centred plot to Selina Kyle actually buying her superhero costume from a sex shop, ought to ring some bells.