Lack of merchandise for female superheroes like Black Widow has been the subject of much discussion recently following the release of Age of Ultron, and it seems Warner Bros. has been paying attention to the criticism of Marvel’s disinterest in marketing to girls.
In a Global License report, Warner Bros. Consumer Products emphasized the Wonder Woman merchandise for Dawn of Justice and the Wonder Woman film, with executive vice president of Warner Bros. Consumer Products Karen McTier promising:
Our comprehensive program will include Wonder Woman in the merchandise lines and in standalone products supporting the film. We have always had a robust line for Wonder Woman, and her role in this film and future films offers us more opportunities to feature her character and empowering attributes in many creative ways.
Although it’s exciting to see Warner Bros. acknowledging and rewarding the power of its female fans, it obviously remains to be seen whether or not Dawn of Justice‘s lady superhero merch (or even Wonder Woman‘s, to be honest) will be more positive than some of DC’s gendered marketing in the past.
According to Global License, we can expect to see Dawn of Justice merch roll out 8 weeks prior to the movie’s March 2016 release; key licensees mentioned in the report include Rubie’s Costume Co., LEGO, Bioworld and Hallmark.
The report also offered some details on the merchandise designed for the new “DC Super Hero Girls” initiative, including “original digital content and publishing, followed by TV specials, videos, toys, apparel, books and other product categories that will rollout in 2016.”
Although it remains to be seen just how often Wonder Woman will show up in Dawn of Justice toys and whether or not DC will manage to distance itself from its poor track record of representation in advertising, I’m tentatively optimistic. What about you, friends?
(via Comic Book Resources)
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