After ‘Avengers’ Uproar, Marvel Planning a ‘Big Focus’ on Products For Girls, Women

It was a common complaint after Avengers: Age of Ultron opened in theaters: women of all ages went looking for products featuring their favorite female superheroes and found precious little. Black Widow was left out a toy set based on a scene where she was one of the main characters. Even Avengers star Mark Ruffalo had enough, asking Marvel for more toys for his daughters. Finally it seems as if Marvel has gotten the hint and for the upcoming Captain America: Civil War merchandising line, they’re promising a “big focus” on new products for women.

Post-Age of Ultron, a former Marvel employee explained to The Mary Sue why there was such a lack in female-themed product saying, “That’s not why Disney bought us. They already have the girls’ market on lockdown.” OK, but not all girls and women are into princesses. Some of them — gasp! — even like superheroes! Thankfully Disney seems to have realized they’re leaving a lot of money on the table and are looking to fix this.

Paul Gitter, senior VP of licensing for Marvel at Disney Consumer Products, spoke to Variety and said that in addition to “an extension mixing in new characters with new skills,” there will be “be a big focus on adult female” products. There was little provided in the way of specifics, but the article noted Marvel was showing off “apparel, accessories, footwear, core toys, sporting goods, consumer electronics, seasonal, costumes, party goods, stationery, food, home furnishings and collectibles” with Gitter adding that they’ll be “mixing in new characters with new skills”.

With the glut of characters involved in Captain America: Civil War (deep breath: Captain America, Iron Man, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Vision, Scarlet Witch, Ant-Man, War Machine, Crossbones, General Ross, Black Panther and Spider-Man), there should be no shortage of possibilities for the toy makers. Our only hope is that Black Widow and Scarlet Witch get just as much love as their male counterparts.

Captain America: Civil War opens in theaters on May 6, 2016.