After 18 action-packed superhero movies, Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCM) released the first film that featured all the characters on a single stage in 'Avengers: Infinity War'. That’s not the only “first” that comes with 'Infinity War', which also became the first MCM film to produce a whopping $2 billion in global sales. One could say that superheroes and impending doom have become a universal narrative that speaks to people from every corner of the globe.
But despite the positive reception, can we really say that 'Infinity War' and other MCM movies truly represent all of its viewers? While this film’s success indicates that superhero narratives speak to people from around the world, whether these films actually represent a global audience is a different question altogether. It’s no doubt that MCM content is more diverse than that of its competitor DC Comics. But to many viewers around the world, superhero movies have a long way to go in terms of truly celebrating diversity and inclusion.
Earlier this year, the world celebrated the first MCM movie featuring a black superhero and predominantly black cast in 'Black Panther'. And that’s AWESOME. The success of this movie left many people optimistic that sooner or later, people of Asian descent would also get a chance to be superheroes and carry an entire Western film. Given that 'Infinity War' only featured 3 Asian-descendant characters (two of which are biracial and play aliens), this optimism is beginning to fade. There are actually several Asian characters in the MCM comics, so why haven’t there been any MCM films around these Asian characters? Only the producers behind MCM films know the answer to this, because you can’t say that the demand isn’t there, especially among Asian-Americans.
So, we became curious about what people in Asia really think about 'Avengers: Infinity War'. In particular, we wanted to know how the film was received among the people of South Korea, which had a pre-sale rate of 93% earlier this year. In addition to shedding light on the representation issue, our street interview brought to light some controversy that the film faced in South Korea in particular.
Curious to learn what the hype was all about? Check out this video and let us know what you think below!
