'Avengers: Age of Ultron' Toys Remove Black Widow From Motorcycle Scene, Disney and Lego Face Backlash
After the leaked Sony emails about the studio's aversion to female superheroes, here comes another issue about one of Marvel's superheroes, the Black Widow. Disney and Lego have removed Black Widow from of her best scenes in the movie in the officially licensed toy set for the franchise.
Disney and Lego issued new toy sets of the "Avengers: Age of Ultron" managing to leave out Black Widow. In the Disney toy set which features the Quinjet and the motorcycle that was dropped out of it, Captain America is shown riding the motorcycle, which is nowhere near the real scene in the movie. In the movie, Hawkeye piloted the Quinjet, then drops out Black Widow from the hold, riding a motorcycle.
"It's Black Widow who ultimately accomplishes the goal, and it's Black Widow who gets to ride around on the motorcycle and be a bada--," Screen Rush reported. The LEGO play set, on the other hand, features Black Widow in the pilot seat of the Quinjet, but has Captain America on the motorcycle.
This move by these toy companies have received quite some flak from critics, making it a trending topic online. Most of the main criticism accuses the toy companies of being insensitive and pushing gender-exclusivity even in toys.
Some believe critics are reading too much into the removal of Black Widow from her motorcycle. According to a Forbes report, the toy companies were merely deciding based on what will sell best in the market. With toy sets such as these, they expect more boys to play with these toys, so a female superhero on the bike could have meant lower sales.
Neither Disney nor LEGO have commented on the backlash.
