Thank you for your thoughts. I would agree that a superhero like Superman or Thor is definitely going to need to present a bulked up physique to match the traditional presentation of the character. Even Batman has appeared more muscular on screen (both Christian Bale and Ben Affleck).
For Bruce Banner, I think that his Hulk persona is always going to be very muscular--it's there in the name, the Hulk, ha ha--but his Bruce appearance works best as *not* overly muscular. And Iron Man's strength is in his suit, so he doesn't need to appear muscular, although Robert Downey Jr. is pretty ripped these days. Also, for Flash, it might seem visually odd if Barry Allen is zipping around like Arnold Schwarzenegger when the perception you might have of a fast zippy sprinter is very lithe and lean.
For Skylord, is that maybe Star Lord from Guardians of the Galaxy? I think that a lot of viewers still think of him as buff, although possibly that's a lot because of the transformation that Chris Pratt underwent from being a little schlubby and cuddly in his Parks and Rec days.
Personally, I think a strong female physique is very attractive and appropriate for these roles, but I still suspect that a lot of the *other* roles these actresses might audition for wouldn't suit that look, and so they tend to not work out super hard to pack on the muscle. Exceptions could be Hillary Swank in Million Dollar Baby or Emily Blunt in Live Die Repeat, although even that didn't seem to go to the degree that you see male actors in super hero roles.
All this makes me want to go rent some MCU movies! :-)
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Otter (24464)
7 years ago
IMHO the stereotype of all superheroes having builds like pro bodybuilders comes more from comics than movies. In the books all the male heroes are massively muscled and the ladies have whatever build you find in the artist's fantasies, but the movies use actual human beings. There isn't a huge amount if body diversity in the movies but there's some; fir instance in the books Magneto was bulky and muscular when I saw him last, and in the movies he's played by McKellen and Fassbender, neither is a big man.
As for Gadot, well, her power comes from magic and/or divinity and not steroids, so I was willing to accept a woman who looks athletic in the role. And a good director made her look bigger and more impressive than she is, I thought it worked.
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lasteven (305)
7 years ago
Definitely! We're in complete agreement there. I thought her portryal worked well for me, and the mythological element took care of any questions I might've had about how she could pull off the feats she did. Her power came innately from her identity as Diana and not the hours she'd spent at the gym.
I was struck recently by the shift in how musculature is portrayed in comics. I was reading Batman: Year One, which was released 30 years ago in 1987. Batman looked solid, certainly, but nothing like the ultra-pumped look you see common to superheroes now. The style of art itself has changed significantly. I'm not criticizing it, but it does seem to be reflected somewhat on the screen as well.
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