--- title: Marvel Spider-Woman Cover: Should We Forgive Them for Misogyny? description: An overly sexualized female super-heroine is bad for business canonical: https://time.com/3153866/spider-woman-marvel-comic-butt/ author: Eliana Dockterman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-08-21T17:16:52.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:45:25.330Z og:title: Marvel Spider-Woman Cover: Should We Forgive Them for Misogyny? og:description: An overly sexualized female super-heroine is bad for business og:url: https://time.com/3153866/spider-woman-marvel-comic-butt/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5f5c3b3909740514/6986a057f983e73ab304f511/spiderwoman001manara-06299.jpg?branch=production&width=900&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 900 og:image:height: 506 og:image:alt: SPIDERWOMAN001Manara-06299 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Marvel Spider-Woman Cover: Should We Forgive Them for Misogyny? twitter:description: An overly sexualized female super-heroine is bad for business twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5f5c3b3909740514/6986a057f983e73ab304f511/spiderwoman001manara-06299.jpg?branch=production&width=900&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Should We Forgive Marvel for That Awful Spider-Woman Cover ? > Sponsored content. 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Worth Your Time is TIME's culture recommendation newsletter, edited by culture editor Eliza Berman. Twice a week it surfaces the books, shows, films and ideas TIME's editors think are worth your attention, and explains why. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Does TIME have a culture newsletter? Yes. Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published Tuesdays and Saturdays. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Understanding the Marvel Cinematic Universe [Watch (HLS stream): Understanding the Marvel Cinematic Universe](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/nKWYGrii.m3u8) (2:55)  _Published 2013-11-05. How do we get from Iron Man to The Avengers? Where do the X-Men fit in? Learn how Marvel has crafted the progression of its superheroes in film._  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Aug 21, 2014 5:16 PM UTC  Spider-Woman #1 Variant Cover by Milo Manara Spider-Woman #1 Variant Cover by Milo Manara Marvel Comics  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Aug 21, 2014 5:16 PM UTC Oh, Marvel, we had such high hopes. In recent months Marvel has announced that [a woman will wield Thor’s hammer](http://time.com/2987551/thor-marvel-woman/) for the foreseeable future and revealed at the [“Women of Marvel” panel at San Diego Comic-Con](http://time.com/3023606/san-diego-comic-con-avengers-fangirls-booth-babes/) that there would be a new Spider-Woman comic series come November. Female fans rejoiced that major characters in the Marvel universe would finally look like them. It was a smart business move for the comic book company: 47% of comic fans are female, and women make up 62% of the Facebook fans of female comic characters (including Black Widow, Elektra and She-Hulk), [according to](http://comicsbeat.com/market-research-says-46-female-comic-fans/) Comics Beat. But after building up so much good will with the ladies, they had to go and screw it up. This week, [Marvel released](http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=54933) to Comic Book Resources the alternate cover (presumably for promotional purposes) for Spider-Woman No. 1\. In the picture, the superheroine is in a…ahem…compromising position. As [The Mary Sue notes](http://www.themarysue.com/marvel-spider-woman-variant-butt/), the (physically impossible?) pose—bottom up—is familiar to anyone who has read erotic comic books. More importantly, there’s no way that is an efficient method of climbing that rooftop. And what kind of material clings to a posterior like that? When asked to comment, Marvel declined. I get it: superheroes wear Spandex and a lot of excitable teenage boys read these comic books. But this cover takes the sex-factor to a new extreme, totally alienating those 47% of comic book fans I mentioned earlier. A male hero would never be placed in the same physical position. The man who drew the cover is known for his [erotic style](http://io9.com/check-out-spider-woman-1-starring-spider-womans-ass-1624535918), which begs the question: why hire him to draw a major character to whom female fans are supposed to be able to relate? And courting those female fans means big bucks. Studios are increasingly relying on comic books as source material for summer blockbusters, and studies have shown that movies with empowered female characters do better at the box office. That, and the success of films like _The Hunger Games_, _Divergent_ and _Lucy_, suggest that a female superhero film will do well. As Marvel develops more female characters, it’s not just about comic books: movie ticket sales are also on the line. Sony just inked a deal with Marvel Comics to put out a female-led superhero movie based on a character from the Spider-Man universe (like, I don’t know, Spider-Woman?). This may have been an alternate cover, but it’s launched [1,000](http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx%5Ffactor/2014/08/20/marvel%5Ffails%5Fwith%5Fspider%5Fwoman%5Fs%5Fbutt%5Fwhile%5Fnicki%5Fminaj%5Fsucceeds%5Fin%5Fanaconda.html) [think](http://www.vox.com/xpress/2014/8/20/6046577/marvel-spider-woman-cover-sexist) pieces, the conclusion of which has been: “This is what happens when men draw female characters.” If this is how Spider-Woman is envisioned for the comics, female fans shouldn’t get their hopes up for the movie version. Kevin Feige, the head of Marvel Studios, recently said that he thought there ought to be a female superhero film. And yet he hasn’t green-lit one, despite the fact that fans are practically begging for a Black Widow movie starring Scarlett Johansson—a spinoff from the _Avengers_ franchise. Perhaps he’s waiting to see how Sony and Marvel’s yet-to-be-named super-heroine will do first, which is why drawings like this one matter. So do better, Marvel. ## Transcript >> I think you missed a column. >> Shut up! >> Before you rush out to see Thor: The Dark World, it's important to know what you're getting into. Sure, you can zone out to 90 minutes of explosions and predictable dialogue, but if you want the full experience, you need to understand the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe. >> Not a word. >> Action. >> While marvel and cinema can't, of course, replicate the robustness of over half a century of the comic books, it does do its best to interweave the stories of some of its most recognizable characters. >> Back in 2008, Robert Downey Jr. first donned to the Iron Man's suit, setting in motion Phase One. In the post- credits scene-- You did stay for the post- credits scene, didn't you? Samuel L. Jackson hints at a future where heroes coalesce. >> Who the hell are you? >> Nick Fury, Director of S. H. I. E. L. D. >> Oh. >> I'm here to talk to you about the Avenger Initiative. >> Next, Edward Norton transformed himself into The Incredible Hulk, a reboot of the 2004 film Hulk directed by Ang Lee. After some creative differences between Norton and the production team, the franchise found a more agreeable Hulk in Mark Ruffalo. Iron Man 2 released in 2010 gave a sneak peek to the coming of Thor which would open in theaters in 2011. >> Sir, we found it. >> Two months later, Marvel Studios released Captain America: The First Avenger, ending with a trailer for The Avengers, Phase One's [ unk ]. Are you sensing the theme here? All those post- credits scenes were meant to guide you to The Avengers which smashed the box office records in 2012, earning over $ 200 million its opening weekend. All those superheroes- fighting evil and each other really raked in the profits for Marvel. With the release of Iron Man 3 this past summer and Thor: The Dark World out this month, we have officially entered Phase Two of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, set to culminate in, you guessed it, another Avengers movie tentatively scheduled for a May 2015 release. " Wait a minute ," you say, " what about the X- Men ?" Will Professor X or Mystique ever enter the fray? Sadly, those X- Men movies are administered not by Marvel Studios, but by 20th Century Fox. 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