4) Black Widow (Avengers: Age of Ultron)
Despite Marvel refusing to bow to public pressure regarding a Black Widow solo movie, the Russian spy has evolved into one of the studio’s most popular characters, stealing scenes from her male counterparts across a range of films. As a full-fledged member of the Avengers, Natasha is regarded as an equal despite her lack of super powers, a remarkable feat considering that she’s surrounded by thunder gods and super soldiers on a daily basis.
Issues cropped up this year though in Avengers: Age of Ultron. After flirting with both Steve Rogers and Tony Stark in previous films, an inexplicable romance was shoe-horned in with Bruce Banner. Natasha eventually revealed that she’s unable to have children, labelling herself a “monster” in the process.
[zergpaid]Suffice to say, the internet was not best pleased with this and to make matters worse, Black Widow required rescuing in the films third act, becoming the token ‘damsel in distress’. As the only woman on the team, this seems more than a little unbalanced, especially considering Joss Whedon’s penchant for creating strong, independent roles for women in his previous work.
Despite all this though, Black Widow still played a pivotal role in the storyline and her general fighting capability earns her a place on this list. Natasha is sexy as hell and she knows it too, but her role on the team isn’t the resident sex object. If anything, more camera time is spent on Thor’s abs and Captain America’s arms, but Marvel still needs to hurry up with that damn Black Widow movie if they plan to keep things fair and equal.