Marvel's CEO Might Have Something Against Female Superheroes

Indiewire's "Women and Hollywood" blog recently took a poke around (opens in new tab) WikiLeaks's collection of leaked Sony emails and found a message (opens in new tab) that appears to be from Marvel Entertainment CEO Ike Perlmutter to Sony exec Michael Lynton. It is not the best image-wise, mostly because it's a list of female-superhero movies that crashed and burned at the box office:

Michael,

As we discussed on the phone, below are just a few examples. There are more.

Thanks,

Ike

1. Electra (Marvel) – Very bad idea and the end result was very, very bad.

2. Catwoman (WB/DC) - Catwoman was one of the most important female character within the Batmanfranchise. This film was a disaster.

3. Supergirl – (DC) Supergirl was one of the most important female super hero in Superman franchise. This Movie came out in 1984 and did $14 million total domestic with opening weekend of $5.5 million. Again, another disaster.

Best,

Ike

Because we know nothing about the nature of Mike and Ike's call, it's simply too far of a stretch at the moment to condemn them, as some other news outlets and social media users are doing. Hey, maybe they didn't want to screw up another character. Maybe they wanted to get it right with Captain Marvel (opens in new tab). But we do have to say comic book crossovers and the industry surrounding them have been overwhelmingly sausage-y in the past, so a sexist attitude, if that is indeed what this shows, wouldn't be anything new.

You should also check out:

The First Female Superhero Movie Is Looking for a Female Director (opens in new tab)

Marvel's Victoria Alonso Calls for Female Superhero Movie (opens in new tab)

A Feminist Ranking of Female Superheroes (opens in new tab)

Spider-Man's Girlfriend Is Now a Badass Superhero (opens in new tab)