"Avengers: Age of Ultron' actor Mark Ruffalo, who portrays the Hulk in the franchise's films, made an online plea for Marvel to come up with more products for fans of the Black Widow, played by Scarlett Johansson.
The actor is only one of the many complainants who are seeking greater female representation following the release of only three pieces of the female superhero's merchandise out of 60 pieces of the latest official "Avengers' goodies that were released last week.
"@Marvel we need more #BlackWidow merchandise for my daughters and nieces," Ruffalo tweeted last Tuesday. "Pretty please."
It has been noticeable that Black Widow was excluded from majority of the "Age of Ultron' products, including shirts, toys and other merchandise. On Twitter, a #WheresNatasha hashtag, which refers to the character's alter ego Natasha Romanoff, became a trending topic to highlight the lack of representation.
Director Joss Whedon, who penned the screenplay for the two "Avengers" films, took care of Black Widow's scenes and ensured that the cat-suited agent also had ample opportunities to take part in the action as much as the men did in the movie.
"I try not to turn it into an agenda when I create but at some point you've gotta do a head-count," Whedon said in an interview with New York Daily News this month. "And I have a 10-year-old daughter. Her favorite characters from the first movie are (Black Widow) and Maria Hill."
Johansson may have succeeded in her efforts in co-starring with Chris Evans and his Avenger character in last year's "Captain America: The Winter Soldier.'
However, it is unlikely that Black Widow will be having a standalone movie soon. According to Marvel, its first female superhero film to be released will be "Captain Marvel', which has been set for an official release on Nov. 2, 2018.
Meanwhile, "Avengers: Age of Ultron' is expected to have a massive weekend at the domestic and global box office.
The first "Avengers' movie made an impressive debut in 2012 with a total of $207.4 million during its opening weekend, smashing records and soaring to the top of the highest opening weekend list in history.
The film continued on to join the list of the highest-grossing movies of all time, raking in more than $1.5 billion in the global box office.
Following the success of the first "Avengers' movie, other films that revolved around Marvel's Cinematic Universe also raked in impressive hauls; these include "Iron Man 3' with $1.2 billion, "Captain America: The Winter Soldier' with $714 million and "Guardians of the Galaxy' with $774 million, among others.
