Captain Marvel’s timely release on International Women’s Day, is either a strange coincidence or just a nice touch.
She isn’t the only big name out there though, here are our top 5 female superheroes:
5. Jean Grey
Jean Grey came from a troubled background with her mutant powers manifesting at the age of 10 after experiencing the emotions of a dying friend through telepathy. Her parents didn’t understand her and took her to Charles Xavier’s orphanage for mutants to be ‘Treated’ little did they know shed grow to become more powerful than him. Jean grey is telepathic and can use telekinesis but she also has a darker alter ego ‘ The Phoenix’ which enhances her current powers but also provides her with fire-related powers. She is now often considered the most powerful mutant of the X-men.
4. Catwoman
Although some consider Catwoman a villain she is more anti-hero than a villain with her character highlighting the important lesson that not everyone is one way or the other with her being a person who does wrong things for right reasons. She is also known for being Batman’s love interest, but she never uses that as her identity she likes to be known for being a seductively sneaky female burglar and jewel thief who dresses like a cat and uses a bullwhip as her weapon of choice. She operates under a strict moral code which differentiates her from the typical villain and moves her into hero territory. She is much like the female version of Deadpool with her attitude of self-interest and motivations first but will always try to do good where she can.
3. Faith
Faith is a different choice as she doesn’t fall into the Marvel or DC super houses however still just as important on this list. She is the first ever plus size superhero representing diversity and acceptance to a whole generation of comic fans. Powers aside, Faith is blonde, bubbly, and a total sci-fi nerd who’s obsessed with Doctor who making her a really relatable superhero, but she is also a complete badass with Telekinetic Powers, Flight, Psychic blasts, Telepathy, Confidence Aura, Group Teleportation. She offers a new level to heroism making it more real and proving anyone can be a superhero no matter your gender, body type or interests breaking the mould of the typical idealised hero we frequently see.
2. Storm
Storm was created In the Bronze age of comic books and was the first major female character of African descents in comics making her groundbreaking for comic history and paving the way for a more diverse future. Storm was raised an orphan after losing both her parents in conflict fulfilling her troubled childhood that most superhero’s experience leaving her with defining weaknesses and strengths for later in life. She is a member of X-men with skills such as an expert pit pocket, psionic ability to manipulate weather i.e. control atmospheric pressure and temperature – which is where she got her name from. Another skill she has that isn’t highlighted as much is flight. She is a mainstay of the X-men film series and TV show and is one of the groups most iconic, core members.
1. Spider Gwen
Finally a much more recently represented female superhero, Spider Gwen, who was recently one of the main characters in Spider-man: Into the Spider-Verse. This version of Gwen Stacy plays in a band and gets bitten by a radioactive spider while on a field trip. She has been a consistent presence in the Marvel universe since her debut because of her popularity with fans and her individual look. She’s relatable for many reasons some being her youthful age, musical interests and her alternative style but she has remained a fan favourite from all the characters from the Spider-verse.
By Chloe Sharp