Avengers films making a move towards an age of more empowered women

Scarlett Johansson returns as Black Widow in Age of Ultron. Disney /Marvel

As the sole female Avenger, Scarlett Johansson had a bone to pick with Hollywood: not only were there few female superheroes, but they also tended to be dumbed down.

So when Marvel Studios brought in another formidable woman for Avengers: Age of Ultron, Johansson, who reprises her role as the feisty Black Widow, was happy to see "a step in the right direction".

As the Avengers battle a villain bent on large-scale destruction, we are introduced to the Scarlet Witch, played by Elizabeth Olsen. She is one of the most powerful characters in the original Marvel comics, known for her ability to alter people's thoughts. Other women with key roles in the film include Avengers veteran Cobie Smulders as former SHIELD agent Maria Hill and Claudia Kim as Doctor Helen Cho.

Boosting the female quotient makes sense, as women could help push Age of Ultron past its predecessor at the box office and make it the top-grossing film of the summer.

The film certainly shines a brighter spotlight on its female characters, led by Johansson’s Black Widow, who holds her own in complex fight scenes and finds romance with The Hulk, or rather, his alter ego, Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo).

The evolution of female characters in Marvel's movies "has been slow", says Johansson, who first appeared as Black Widow in 2010's Iron Man 2.

“We haven’t really been able to explore the depth of the character behind the superhero – that’s what makes characters interesting,” she says. “It’s nice to see the introduction of Scarlet Witch, and I know that there will be more to come.”

Olsen agrees. “It’s amazing to have two female characters on a poster for a superhero movie,” she says. “Also we’re both portrayed as such badasses.”

Ramping up the female perspective is “vitally important” as female filmgoers make up a bigger share of ticket sales, says Paul Dergarabedian, a senior media analyst at the box-office-tracking firm Rentrak.

“Action movies are not just for men any more,” he says.

Johansson showed the power of female-led action films in her non-Marvel movie Lucy, which grossed more than US$450 million (Dh1.6 billion) worldwide last year.

Yet, there are no plans for a Black Widow stand-alone film in Marvel's upcoming five-year plan. Fans will have to wait until 2018 to see the studio's first movie led by a female superhero: Captain Marvel.

For Joss Whedon, who wrote and directed both Avengers films, writing female characters wasn't "necessarily an agenda" for Age of Ultron.

“Everybody who is in the movie is usually the best version,” says Whedon. “Dr Cho is the best doctor in the world and Maria Hill is the best agent.

“They’re that smart, they’re that good – it doesn’t matter if they’re a man or a woman.”