Quote of the Day

[Content Note: Misogyny; sexual objectification; heterocentrism.]

"I have a theory about She-Hulk. Which was created by a man, right? And at the time in particular I think 95% of comic book readers were men, and certainly almost all of the comic book writers were men. So the Hulk was this classic male power fantasy. It's like, most of the people reading comic books were these people like me who were just these little kids who were getting the shit beaten out of them every day—'What if I became giant, and could clap my hands and create a sonic boom?' And so then they created She-Hulk, right? Who was still smart. So it was like, I think She-Hulk is the chick that you could fuck if you were Hulk, you know what I'm saying? …She-Hulk was the extension of the male power fantasy. So it's like, if I'm going to be this geek that becomes the Hulk, then let's create a giant green porn star that only the Hulk could fuck."—Screenwriter David S. Goyer, on the latest episode of the Scriptnotes podcast.

There was immediate pushback against Goyer's remarks, including by Stan Lee, co-creator of She-Hulk:

Unsurprisingly, Lee's recollection of She-Hulk's creation differs greatly from the scenario presented by Goyer. "I know I was looking for a new female superhero, and the idea of an intelligent Hulk-type grabbed me," he told The Post. (The generally accepted backstory has more to do with Marvel's concerns that CBS might create a spinoff of the live-action Incredible Hulk television series starring a female counterpart, a la Bionic Woman, giving the network ownership of the character.)

In any case, She-Hulk was not conceived as a fucktoy for the Hulk. In fact, as Alan points out at The Mary Sue, She-Hulk "is not portrayed as the only woman the Hulk can have sex with because first and foremost, they're cousins."

Anyway. Goyer's comments are manifest garbage, but what I find most interesting about his "theory" is that it not only demeans a female superhero by reducing to her a sex object, in the very same way that female superheroes are demeaned all the time, but also that it demeans She-Hulk, a very explicitly large, strong, and physically powerful woman, on the basis that she's fuckable only by the Hulk.

Or, to be very specific, little boys and men imagining themselves to be the Hulk.

The men who demean other female superheroes this way—female superheroes who may have intimidatingly powerful superpowers, but still look like idealized versions of human women—don't imagine they have to be superheroes themselves to fuck those superheroes. But give them She-Hulk, and it takes a Hulk to fuck her. Or want to fuck her.