There is no doubt that men seem to have a monopoly on strong, ac-
tion-oriented roles in the media, but recent comic books and movie productions in the making are giving women their time in the spotlight.  With recent focus on feminism in social issues, girl power is finally starting to take hold, and the results are interesting new characters that defy expectations and are kicking butt and taking names.

Female Thor

On Oct. 1, Marvel debuted a controversial new take on a classic superhero: Thor, the God of Thunder, portrayed by a woman. Writer Jason Aaron and comic book artist Russell Dauterman decided to re-launch the old comic with a new twist, turning hero into heroine and proving that girls can be just as tough as boys. Marvel executive editor Tom Brevoort is optimistic about the character’s introduction to the world and is confident in the latest super-heroine.

“She’s going to be Thor,” says Brevoort to USA Today, “as pow-
erful and strong as the previous God and embodying the same sort of nobility we think of as being Thor.”

Aaron also promises a battle between old hero versus new, in which the male Thor confronts female Thor after hearing that she is wielding his beloved hammer, Mjolnir. In Aaron’s preceding Thor-centered series, “Thor: God of Thunder,” the majority of supporting characters in the comic were women. Aaron considers this latest development only natural in the progression of the world Asgard, now renamed Asgar-
dia, and he believes that having a Goddess of Thunder will add a new dimension to the comics previously unseen. Although the decision to create a female counterpart to the beloved classic hero has been met with mixed responses, Marvel is confident that this new version will ultimately change the dynamics of comics for the better.

Female Ghostbusters

Women are taking the stage again as Paul Feig, director of the beloved Ghostbusters franchise, announced on Jan. 27 the cast for a new, all-female version of “Ghostbusters.” The original movies have gathered quite a cult following since the first movie’s debut in 1984, and news of a comedic reboot has fans on the edge of their seats in an-
ticipation. The original franchise starred Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis as wacky parapsychologists who founded a “ghost-busting” business amid the hustle and bustle of New York City. Wildly popular, the film spawned sequel “Ghostbusters II” and copious additional Ghostbusters merchandise, including comic books, video games, a television series and even a theme park.

Feig announced the female-version cast via an article in The Hollywood Reporter and an ambiguous tweet featuring only the photographs of four famous actresses. The cast is set to include Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon, with original stars Murray, Aykroyd and Ramis agreeing to reprise their roles in the reboot.  There has even been speculation that Jennifer Lawrence may make an appearance in the highly anticipated film, which will be released on July 22, 2016. The switch from the all-male cast of the 1984 film to this predominantly female cast is a breath of fresh air for anyone looking to see more comedic movies starring women.

A-Force

Marvel once again takes the lead in combating sexism in the genre of superheroes after announcing a new comic by the name of “A-Force,” another take on Marvel’s male dominant “Avengers” superhero team.  The original Avengers were first featured in 1963 comic books by the same name, and have since gone on to appear in a movie adaptation and television series. The first Avengers team was a mash-up of many long-time fan favorites who started out in their own comics, including the Hulk, Iron Man, the Black Widow, Hawkeye, Captain America and Thor. Now that Marvel has squeezed every penny out of the immensely successful 2012 film, the comic’s publisher is proud to announce their similar yet drastically different new Avengers in the form of A-Force.

Since the original Avengers disbanded in the “Secret Wars,” A-Force has come to take its place in the form of superheroines She-Hulk, Dazzler, Medusa, Nico Minoru and a brand new character by the name of Singularity. These new characters will represent the burgeoning force of powerful women who fend for themselves in the fight of good versus evil, and hopefully provide girls with some superheroes they can more easily relate to.  The announcement of the assembly of A-Force has been met with generally positive feedback, especially from comic book fans hungry for strong female characters in the su-
premely male-dominated world of superheroes.