I want to preface this article by saying that I really enjoyed The Avengers, and I in fact enjoyed the whole series leading up to it. I am a huge comic book movie fan, having seen every one of note made in my lifetime except for Spiderman 3 and Ghost Rider 2… for what I consider obvious reasons. I even sat through Elektra and Catwoman. I always keep an eye out for the women in superhero movies — Pepper Potts, Sif — because I am ever so tired of women in refrigerators and because damn it, I’m a woman, and when is it going to be my turn to have someone to look up to?
Maria Hill, perhaps because she’s badass without being a secretary (even though she’s sort of a second in command type, I’m okay with that because there’s a distinction between being a vital part of an organization and Batman’s Robin) or vamp (I love Black Widow, but she very much plays into female stereotypes and as neat-o as Anne Hathaway’s Catwoman is, so does she). She’s simply what she is, and without ignoring her gender isn’t ruled by it. I love that, and Cobie Smulders (by the way, when I first saw her surname I thought someone was joking with the image title) does a fantastic job there.
Quaff Nepenthe 