The trolls are at it again. Captain Marvel doesn't hit theaters until March 8 and audiences haven't even had the chance to preview Marvel Studios' latest yet, but the movie's page on Rotten Tomatoes is already being bombarded with negative comments. Given that none of these people have actually seen the movie, this is particularly noteworthy.
Many of these comments seem to be taking issue with the movie's existence, rather than its content. Quite a few comments are taking issue with the Marvel Comics adaptation and its alleged "social justice warrior" agenda. A user by the name of flash g wrote, "Oh boy, first off this will be worst than The Last Jed. im calling it now." Another anonymous user, in a more lengthy attack, had this to say.
"Why Marvel decided to cast a very vocal racist and sexist aimed at white males, I'll never know. If Robert Downey Jr. started saying that he didn't care about the opinions of 40 year old white chicks and he doesn't want to be interviewed by a white woman as it's not inclusive enough, people would lose their minds."
There are dozens of comments that echo this similar tone. Much of the vitriol is being aimed squarely at star Brie Larson, who plays the titular hero. Recently, in an interview with Marie Claire, the Oscar-winning actress expressed her desire to have more diversity featured on the journalist side during her press days. Many of these negative comments seem to stem from what Larson had to say in that interview.
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'About a year ago, I started paying attention to what my press days looked like and the critics reviewing movies, and noticed it appeared to be overwhelmingly white male. So, I spoke to Dr Stacy Smith at the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, who put together a study to confirm that. Moving forward, I decided to make sure my press days were more inclusive."
This is far from the first time that negative reviews from certain sections of fandom have plagued major blockbusters. The most prominent example being The Last Jedi, which proved to be extremely divisive amongst the fanbase. Certain individuals took that to an extreme level, posting phony reviews online and harassing members of the cast. Kelly Marie Tran, who plays Rose, left Instagram over racist comments and harassment she faced.
Despite the advance negativity, it doesn't appear that Captain Marvel will suffer as a result. The first female-led solo entry in the MCU is currently tracking for an opening weekend haul of $100 million or more. While critics have yet to weigh in, Marvel Studios has a tremendous track record and it seems doubtful that Kevin Feige and Co. would allow this one to get away from them, in terms of quality. Still, based on what we're seeing on Rotten Tomatoes already, the trolls will be out in full force on this one.
