The term "woke," as noted by Forbes, was coined in Black spaces to denote being aware of systemic inequality in society, but has been co-opted by the far-right to signify anything that acknowledges women, Black people, or LGBTQ individuals. Back in April, Rolling Stone reported that certain purported Marvel fans were already rooting for "The Marvels" to fail on those grounds, referring to Captain Marvel as "Captain Feminist."
Portrayals of nerd culture have long centered on straight, white, cisgender men, and for those within that demographic, seeing others at the center of a story can feel jarring. As social critic Laurie Penny wrote for The New Republic, "Finding out you're not the Rebel Alliance, you're actually part of the Empire and have been all along, is painful." As she points out, white male nerds have tended to view themselves as a sort of oppressed minority due to the dismissiveness with which their niche interests were viewed by society. Today, though, in a culture dominated by those formerly cloistered interests, a latent sense of entitlement has risen to the surface.
Stories focused on women and Black people in media like the MCU and "Star Wars" — and the characters in these works — have faced especially vitriolic responses, as evidenced by the hate directed toward Rey Skywalker (Daisy Ridley), Reva Sevander (Moses Ingram), and Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran) in "Star Wars," along with Carol Danvers and Jennifer Walters (Tatiana Maslany) in the MCU. The vitriol toward Danvers has been especially pronounced, with the 2019 film "Captain Marvel" getting review-bombed on Rotten Tomatoes ahead of its release. That movie nonetheless earned over $1 billion.
