'Captain Marvel' Releasing This week: Female empowerment in MCU-Marvel Cinematic Universe or Phoney Feminism ?

The latest addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Captain Marvel is the first woman-led superhero film from the franchise, following US Air Force pilot Carol Danvers as she generates superhuman strength and the ability to fly. While the movie is expected to deliver the typical superhero tropes – from bad guys and battle scenes to tragic backstories – Larson says the most important take away is the importance of female empowerment. 

"And the reason why I did it was basically for this, for these moments, for these conversations, when we are discussing what it feels like or what it looks like to be a female, a self-identified female, and be strong " - Brie Larson,  at a recent promotional Interview.

But, Fans have been pointing out on social media that Marvel Studios seems to be making a last-ditch marketing effort to sell tickets -- with various promos teasing the character is replacing Captain America, which is upsetting a lot of fans. Upwards of 55% of users on Rotten Tomatoes voted they won't be going to see the movie, and a major news outlet confirmed the film is undergoing a PR nightmare, so there is a question of just how well the film will perform at the box office.

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The Captain Marvel controversy has also caused the shut down of certain fan features at Rotten Tomatoes. The movie review aggregate site closed the ability for fans to vote if they want to see a movie prior to its release and comment, but following Captain Marvel's "Want to See" rating plummeting, Rotten Tomatoes removed those two features.

A self-proclaimed feminist user on Twitter has created a firestorm when the account tweeted that white men who are haters shouldn't see Captain Marvel. James Woods responded to the tweet, with his tweet having been liked and retweeted over 20k times. It should probably be noted that the Twitter account isn't representative of all the Captain Marvel fans, though the directors have confirmed it is a "feminist, humanist" movie.