We’re
still a long way off from a female-led superhero film. There’s just no way
around it — even if the studios started working on it now, it would be pushing
it to get it out by 2015. So instead of focusing on the negative there, let’s
focus on the positive in the newest Marvel movie, Thor: The Dark World.
Featuring not one or two flat female characters, it has four fully formed women
who are strong, smart, vulnerable, and real that all have their own
personalities and motivations at play. While the film may be about the titular
demi-god, it does an excellent job of telling the stories of the women who have
shaped and continue to influence his life.

Frigga,
played be the regal Rene Russo, barely made a blip in the first Thor film. I
honestly can’t remember if she even had any lines. Here we see her as the
caring mother and wife, yes, but she also has an amazing fight scene and is the
catalyst that gets a number of the plot points in motion. We see her influence
on her husband Odin (Anthony Hopkins) and at first she’s the only one willing
to give Loki a second chance. While she’s not on the screen for long, her
impact is felt throughout. And the moments between her and Jane Foster (Natalie
Portman) truly standout. There’s obviously the funny meeting-the-parents
moments, but there’s also the key scene where Asgard is in trouble and Thor
trusts Frigga to keep Jane safe. And Jane’s respect for her is perfectly
displayed with just the delivery of a “yes, ma’am.” said with the
same manner of respect a soldier would say to his commander. It’s sadly not an
exchange we see enough in cinema.

Speaking
of Jane, she continues to be my favorite of the leading ladies in the Marvel
cinematic universe. Yes, she’s the superhero’s love interest but she’s also so
much more. She’s a brilliant astrophysicist and instead of just waiting for
Thor to return, she’s back out dating and has never given up on her work. Her
work is what gets her mixed up in the villain’s plot, not the fact that Thor
cares about her and wants to exploit his weakness. And even in the face of
death, she’s endlessly curious and always searching for answers. And
(Spoilers!) it’s all because of Jane’s brilliance that Thor is eventually able
to defeat the villain. Her knowledge of science and gravitational fields gives
Thor enough time to use his brute strength to delay Malekith just long enough
for him to miss his window of opportunity. And then, when she thinks Thor is
going to die, she throws her tiny frame on top of him in attempt to save this
nearly immortal demi-god from a giant monolith crashing down on him. She’s
amazing, and throughout all of this she’s not invincible and displays real
emotions and vulnerability. She’s not a super-woman after all, she’s got real
fears, desires, and hopes mixed in with all this genius.

Jane
and Frigga are part of the core storyline, but even the ancillary characters of
Sif and Darcy are fully realized. Sif (Jamie Alexander) is a strong warrior
woman fighting alongside Thor, but it’s hinted at that others and maybe Sif
herself were hoping for more that just fighting next to Thor before Jane came
in to the picture. Here the film could have very easily devolved into a cat
fight over a man, but instead Sif is shown as a true friend, battlefield comrade,
and even has a moment with Jane where they seem to size each other and display
a mutual respect.

Darcy
(Kate Dennings) is still bound to grate on many viewers since she is still
mainly the comedic relief and “millennial voice” with references to
social media and interning. However, she displays a few good moments with Jane
where she seems to actually care about the work. Her relationship with the
intern also serves to turn an old trope of using secretaries or female
subordinates as lackeys on its head by having him at her beck and call for the
job. She’s not just spewing the one-liners to lighten the mood now, she’s got
her own motivations for wanting to be on this team and face down the pending
apocalypse.

Thor
and Loki may be at the heart of this film, but happily the women are definitely
not just window dressing.