It seems as though no major franchise these days is safe from the wrath of internet culture, as Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker can most recently attest to. With virtually everybody having access to social media in order to make their opinions known, blockbuster movies are now facing constant backlash on an unprecedented level.
One of the more recent high-profile efforts to receive a lot of hate online was Marvel Studios’ Captain Marvel, and if you thought that the furor had died down seeing as Carol Danvers’ solo debut was released almost a year ago, you’d be wrong. There’s already been a petition aimed to have star Brie Larson replaced as the title character, although the actress herself admitted that she doesn’t pay any attention to the trolls, while major websites such as Rotten Tomatoes even had to make changes to their algorithm to stop people from sabotaging the movie’s critical score.
Co-star Clark Gregg made a pretty succinct point when asked for his thoughts on why people had so many issues with Captain Marvel, with things even reaching the ridiculous moment when the movie’s deleted scenes were coming in for criticism. And unfortunately, the backlash doesn’t seem to have stopped, as that aforementioned petition demanding that Larson be replaced has now gained over 27,000 signatures.
As per The Petition Site, the latest attempt to remove the star of a billion dollar hit, and an actress that will play a recurring and major role in the biggest and most lucrative franchise in the history of cinema, is allegedly being done in the name of social justice.
“We need Brie Larson to step down from her role to prove she is an ally of social justice and ensure a gay woman of color plays the role. Let Monica, the original female & black Captain Marvel instead of white-washing characters for the benefit of the straight, white men running Disney. She hasn’t donated money to any charity other than The Motion Picture and Television Fund Foundation and it’s time for her to show she is not all-talk.”
Ignoring the fact that Monica Rambeau, the second Captain Marvel, already exists in the MCU and may even end up suiting up as her comic book alter-ego Photon/Pulsar in the future, this is ridiculous. Calling for someone to drop out of the highest-profile role of their entire career is one thing, but questioning their charitable donations and asking them to prove that they aren’t all talk while claiming that you’re acting on behalf of the rights of others is peak toxic fandom. With things like this, there’s little wonder why Kevin Feige recently labeled modern internet culture as a hell pit.