Another day, another entry into the “everyone forgot who Tony Stark was” diary. With each new episode of Disney+’s She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, we have another group of angry “fans” online claiming that the series is ruining the Marvel Cinematic Universe because I guess everyone suddenly hates fun and can’t understand it? The most baffling of remarks is that “Tony Stark died for this.”
What does it mean? I don’t know. If anything, Tony Stark would have loved Bruce’s cousin who isn’t afraid of fighting back at him. But with each new episode, we get some remark about how She-Hulk and Jennifer Walters are tarnishing the MCU and its legacy and the characters who have come before. Those remarks just tell me that the people making them haven’t ever actually watched the MCU before!
For whatever reason, the idea is that the Marvel Cinematic Universe was super serious before? Is that what I’m missing? Because Tony Stark pissed in his suit just to prove he could, Peter Quill took place in a dance-off to save the galaxy, Baron Zemo got drunk and was dancing around on The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and I could go on with the things that our favorite heroes have done. Remember when Captain America looked at his own ass and said, “That is America’s ass”? Because I sure do!
They’re silly little superheroes
It seems that these naysayers think it’s okay when the male superheroes have fun, but if a woman dares to have a little laugh or enjoy herself in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, she’s crucified on Twitter. Because Jennifer Walters twerking with Megan Thee Stallion is not that different from other heroes enjoying themselves in the overall MCU.
Well, I guess the difference is two women having a grand ole time. I’ve also seen how a lot of viewers (particularly male viewers) seem to think that this moment contradicts Jen’s rant at Bruce in the first episode. She explained to Bruce that she didn’t want to be cat-called and that she constantly knew how to control her anger because she did it every day. So, when she dared dance with Megan Thee Stallion, the sexists on Twitter reared their heads to say that she shouldn’t dance like that if she didn’t want to be objectified.
And that’s where our problem lies. People want to control what Jennifer Walters does, and the show isn’t letting that happen, which is, in a lot of ways, exactly how Tony Stark would act to things. Tell him he can’t do something? He’ll find a way to do it anyhow.
Stop pretending like you know Tony when you clearly don’t
Tony Stark was the most unserious man in the world. That was made clear from the 2008 movie Iron Man all the way up to Avengers: Endgame when he took his last breath. He joked around, would rather tease someone than have a genuine connection with them, and hid his own self-doubt behind a smart-ass response. So when it comes to the female heroes that men online love to “bitch” about, Tony Stark would have loved each of these ladies and championed them.
And before you tell me he wouldn’t, it was proven in the context of the MCU that he did! For the playboy that he was prior to Pepper Potts, Tony Stark respected women and saw their strength, so yeah, he’d love Jen Walters, and if he could have, he would have jumped in and danced right alongside her and Megan Thee Stallion.
(featured image: Marvel Entertainment)
