Mark Ruffalo Is Right: We Need More Black Widow Stuff for Girls

Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow (Jay Maidment/Disney/Marvel via AP)

Actor Mark Ruffalo seems like the last person who should complain about Avengers: Age of Ultron merchandise. After all, his incarnation of the Incredible Hulk is available on everything from pajamas to coffee mugs. But Ruffalo isn’t complaining on his own behalf; he’s upset because his young daughters and nieces want Black Widow merchandise. And right now, there are few dolls, school supplies, T-shirts, or costumes available for girls who love Scarlett Johansson’s character.

With Avengers: Age of Ultron premiering on Friday in the U.S., here’s the tweet Ruffalo sent out to Marvel last night:

Ruffalo stopped short of using the hashtag #whereisblackwidow, which is how some other fans (including the very peeved little girl below) have expressed their dismay at the lack of Black Widow products. Many blogs have addressed the issue of the single female Avenger being excluded from T-shirts and other official Avengers merch, but the problem is particularly egregious when it comes to kids’ stuff. Little Avengers fans can outfit themselves with a Thor hoodie, Iron Man gloves, and any number of school supplies and action figure play sets focused on the male characters. But to find the Black Widow stuff for kids, you really have to dig.

After a lot of searching online, we located a Hasbro playset that includes both Black Widow and Captain America; one Age of Ultron Lego set that includes a pretty awesome Black Widow minifigure; a set of Mini-Mates collectible figures that includes her; a high-end action figure modeled after the comics character, not the film character; and a Black Widow playing piece available for the Disney Infinity video game. She also appears as part of the team on a few (though not most) kid-oriented accessories like this stationary kit. That may seem like a decent assortment when they’re listed together, but trust us, it’s a drop in the bucket compared to what’s out there for other Avengers heroes like Iron Man and Captain America, or even less popular characters like Hawkeye and new guy Vision.

Most tellingly: There is little, if any, Black Widow merchandise being marketed explicitly to girls. There’s no Black Widow doll, and the one stand-alone action figure we spotted is targeted at collectors, not young girls. All the Avengers-themed costumes, pajamas, and swimwear available at the Disney Store are designed for boys. In fact, to get to any Avengers stuff on the Disney Store website, you need to first click on the tab that says “Boys.”

Also under that “Boys” tab is Star Wars, which brings us to a troubling trend in Disney marketing: From a product standpoint, all of their film and TV franchises tend to be sharply divided between boys and girls, even if the audience encompasses both genders. The Marvel and Star Wars franchises, both of which have a large female audience, are prime examples. After a fan campaign last year, the Disney Store promised to add some girls’ Princess Leia merchandise to its shelves, but so far it hasn’t happened.

However, Disney may yet see the light. Frozen merchandise sold well with boys and girls alike, and though the movie is under the “Girls” tab on the Disney Store site, narrowing the search by “boy” returns a healthy number of results. Perhaps that particular princess movie’s boy-inclusive appeal was a wake-up call for marketers. And then there’s the upcoming film Star Wars: The Force Awakens, with its heroine Rey (played by Daisy Ridley). Surely there’s no way that Disney can exclude Star Wars from the girls’ market when a girl is one of the main protagonists, right? Plus BB-8 is a universally appealing character if we ever saw one. Will the frenzy over The Force Awakens be enough to convince Disney that we need fan merch for boys and girls? (Help us Daisy Ridley: You’re our only hope.)

It’s fantastic that we live in a time when girls can go to the movies and see characters like Black Widow, who is smart, resilient, and strong. But merchandise matters too. When little girls play as their favorite characters, they’re teaching themselves what kind of person they can be. Princesses are fine, but female superheroes show different ways for girls to be powerful, even if they don’t smile all the time or wear fancy dresses. Black Widow isn’t just valued for stereotypically feminine traits like kindness and attractiveness, but for her unique skills and knowledge. Not only is she among the smartest of the Avengers, but she’s just as capable as her teammates, and they’re all stronger for working together. That theme is front and center in the Avengers movies; so why aren’t we seeing it in the toys?

Watch Johansson talk about her character: