It might be too late for Age of Ultron, but it looks like Marvel has listened to some of our vocal and widespread criticism of the lack of merchandise for women, and will be attempting to remedy that problem with Captain America: Civil War.
At the Licensing Expo in Las Vegas this week, Marvel unveiled Civil War merch that included brands like Hasbro, LEGO, Funko, Hot Wheels, Rubies, Mad Engine, C-Life, Jay Franco, Global Brand Group, Kellogg’s, Hallmark, and American Greetings. You can expect to see the goods next March.
According to Paul Gitter, senior VP of licensing for Marvel at Disney Consumer Products, “We’ll see an extension mixing in new characters with new skills. There will also be a big focus on adult female apparel.” Apparently, this will include merch for “newer” characters like War Machine, Black Widow, Falcon, and Black Panther.
Which sounds great; but belying this message is a new job posting for Disney’s UK team that specifically asks for “a Digital Content Producer to work in the ‘Boys’ market, including franchises such as Marvel and StarWars [sic].” They repeat that phrase three times in the posting, noting that candidates need “[a]n understanding and interest in the production of web content for a younger audience (specifically in the ‘Boys’ market)” and that they will have “[t]he chance to work with our most exciting franchises in the ‘Boys’ market, including Marvel and StarWars.”
Ew. That’s especially horrible consider UK Disney stores just scrapped gendered toy categories.
Only time will tell if Disney Consumer Products has really been listening to fan response and will expand their merchandise lines for women – but hope springs eternal, I suppose.
(via Variety)
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