From 'Pepper' to 'Peggy': Influence of Women Power in the MCU

For far too long, the word "superheroes" have gone up shoulder-to-shoulder with men, leaving the women out of the equation. Heroes have been visualized as caped and suited men and until today, people fail to grasp the meaning of being a "hero." Being a hero doesn’t necessarily signify capes or superhuman strength; it’s what lies within a person. It’s the heart that counts. While the men have snatched the limelight in the MCU so far, it’s important to focus on the other gender for a while. Let’s look at some of the important contributions in the MCU from the ladies.

Natasha Romanoff

How better to start discussing the influence of women when a lady is already an integral part of the Avengers! The Black Widow might not have superpowers but she has unmatched skill and experience, probably the best spy and assassin one has seen. After working for the KGB, she has played an influential part in S.H.I.E.L.D as well as all of the missions involving the Avengers. She has never held herself back and has always fought with vigor irrespective of whether the enemy is an intergalactic alien army or an army of vibranium robots. She had undergone vigorous training and had compromised enough to reach such a stage. We find her ruminating on her past to Bruce Banner,

"In the Red Room, where I was trained, where I was raised, um, they have a graduation ceremony. They sterilize you. It's efficient. One less thing to worry about. The one thing that might matter more than a mission. Makes everything easier, even killing."

Gamora and Nebula

The two Guardians of the Galaxy had bitter resentment stuffed in them when the first installment in the Guardians of the Galaxy series took up the stage. Gamora was raised by Thanos and both of the "sisters" trained under Ronan, the Accuser. She escaped the clutches of Ronan and Thanos to seek the "Orb" to save the galaxy. In the second installment of the series, we find the two sisters finally patching up their past resentments and Nebula leaving to find Thanos. Although Gamora met an unprecedented fate at the hands of Thanos, we cannot deny her contribution, even if it was the slightest, towards defeating Thanos. Nebula, who recently turned on to the good side, makes this list because it takes courage to do what’s right, even if it seals your fate.

Peggy Carter

Elizabeth "Peggy" Carter was one of the most influential agents of the Strategic Scientific Reserve (SSR) and the first love of "God's righteous man" (that's Steve Rogers if you missed the pun). She, along with Howard Stark, was one of the main architects behind Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division (AKA S.H.I.E.L.D). Immensely dedicated to her job, she helped our very own Cap during his initial training stages. She was impressed by his will to fight and his leadership qualities and thus befriended him. When Cap was taken out of the ice after 70 years, she was suffering from Alzheimer's living in Washington DC. She died after a few years in her sleep, thus marking the end of a great spy and tactician. You've just got to admire her nerve and the determination which made her stick to her decisions. She bought her niece her first thigh holster, remember?

Pepper Potts

Tony's romantic partner and the Chief Executive Officer of Stark Industries, Pepper proved to us numerous times that even Tony Stark has a heart. In the events of Iron Man 3, she had been injected with Extremis, which was accompanied by extreme pain. Yet she fought her way through it, finally terminating Aldrich Killian. A constant companion to Tony, she helped him in uncountable situations, always staying by his side and gradually turned to "girlfriend" from "assistant." Both of them finally took it to the next stage when Tony proposed to her in Spiderman: Homecoming. If it wasn’t for Thanos going crazy for the stones, we might even have witnessed their wedding! Please don’t die on Titan, Tony.

Wanda Maximoff

An enhanced individual turned Avenger, she is not only known for her superpowers but also for her accent (which is cool, by the way). Maybe, we hadn’t seen her rise up to her full potential earlier. Avengers: Infinity War, however, gave her a whole new stage. Desperate to save the world, she destroys the one person (android) she loved while fending off attacks from the fearsome Mad Titan. Arguably the most powerful scene in the whole movie, the Scarlet Witch showed extreme strength and courage to even attempt such a feat. This wasn’t, however, the first person she had lost. She lost her parents in a bombing incident. She lost her brother on Sokovia. One can only endure so much.

Female roles have long been underestimated when superheroes are being considered. It's high time we break that wheel and see them as equals. With the likes of Captain Marvel coming on to the bigger stage, we wouldn't have to worry about their exposure.

Captain Marvel is set to hit the theaters on March 8, 2019.

Which female character do you think has been the most important for MCU? Let us know!