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Mainstream female-led superhero shows and movies were not a reality even a few years back. While a handful of shows and movies attempted to change this scenario, like Elektra, Catwoman, Agent Carter, and Jessica Jones, female-led superhero projects were still not deemed commercially viable enough to ensure that they were produced in plenty.
Thankfully, the scenario has changed over the last few years due to a few breakthrough films and characters like Wonder Woman that have broken new ground for female-led superhero projects.
One such female-led superhero show is DC's Stargirl. Created by Geoff Johns, the show is based on DC Comics superhero Courtney Whitmore a.k.a. Stargirl. While the show's first season premiered on DC Universe in May 2020, the second season premiered exclusively on The CW in August 2021. And the latest season, subtitled Frenemies, premiered on The CW on August 31, 2022.
The series follows high school student Courtney Whitmore (played by Brec Bassinger), who learns that her stepfather was Starman's sidekick. She also discovers the Cosmic Staff of Starman. As Stargirl, she formed the new Justice Society of America by recruiting Wildcat Yolanda Montez, Hourman Rick Tyler, and Beth Chapel, a.k.a. Doctor Midnight.
Check out this list of other female-led superhero shows and movies you should watch if you're a fan of Stargirl.
WandaVision and 3 other female-led superhero shows and movies to binge watch
1) She-Hulk
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, the latest female-led superhero Marvel project, marks the MCU debut of the titular character. The show premiered on Disney+ on August 18.
Created by Jessica Gao, the nine-episode-long action-comedy series revolves around Jennifer Walters (played by Tatiana Maslany), a lawyer specializing in superhero-oriented legal cases, whose blood gets accidentally contaminated by her cousin Bruce Banner a.k.a. Hulk's blood when the two get injured in a car accident.
Walters acquires Hulk-like powers, but unlike Banner's Hulk, she retains her personality, intelligence, and emotional control when transforming into the superpowered She-Hulk. The series follows her journey as she tries to balance her life as a lawyer and her newly-found superpowers.
The series' crew is also primarily made up of women. Apart from writer Jessica Gao, the show's directors, Kat Coiro and Anu Valia, are also the women behind some of the most well-known sitcoms who have a history of balancing feminist sensibilities with snappy humor. The all-female crew also includes the talented music composer Amie Doherty.
2) Ms. Marvel
Ms. Marvel is another female-led superhero show created by a woman. Bisha K. Ali created the show with the Adil & Bilall serving as directors. The MCU miniseries, which premiered on Disney+ in June 2022, tells the origin story of Marvel superhero Kamala Khan a.k.a. Ms. Marvel (played by Iman Vellani), a 16-year-old Pakistani-American fangirl of the Avengers, particularly Carol Danvers a.k.a. Captain Marvel.
Starring a host of Pakistani, Indian, and American actors of Indian and Pakistani origin, including Vellani, Yasmeen Fletcher, Zenobia Shroff, Mohan Kapur, and Rish Shah, the show presents an authentic representation of all aspects of Pakistani-American culture and the realities of living as a modern Muslim woman in America. It also portrays Muslims as superheroes rather than villains.
The actors are set to reprise their roles in the upcoming MCU movie The Marvels, scheduled to be released on July 28, 2023, featuring a team-up of three female superheroes, Captain Marvel, Monica Rambeau, and Ms. Marvel.
3) WandaVision
WandaVision is yet another female-led superhero show created by a woman. The nine-episode-long show, created by Jac Schaeffer and directed by Matt Shakman, is based on the Marvel Comics character Wanda Maximoff (played by Elizabeth Olsen) and her husband Vision (played by Paul Bettany). The show premiered on Disney+ in January 2021.
The show is set after the events of Avengers: Endgame (2019) and follows Wanda's journey as she finds herself living with Vision and their two kids in an idyllic suburban town of Westview, New Jersey. But they soon realize something is amiss when their reality starts moving through different decades of sitcoms and television tropes.
The Emmy-winning series received critical acclaim for paying homage to past sitcoms and exploring the stages of grief Wanda went through as she coped with Vision's death in Avengers: Infinity War (2018).
4) Black Widow
Another female-led superhero film created and directed by women, Black Widow, was the long-awaited solo film for one of the original MCU Avengers, Natasha Romanoff, a.k.a. Black Widow. Co-written by Jac Schaeffer and directed by Cate Shortland, the film was simultaneously released in theaters and on Disney+ on July 9, 2021.
The film is set after the events of Captain America: Civil War (2016) and before Avengers: Infinity War (2018). The film follows Natasha's (played by Scarlett Johansson) journey as she is forced to confront her former life as a spy while on the run. She reunited with her dysfunctional family, including her sister Yelena Belova (played by Florence Pugh), to kill Dreykov, the creator of the Red Room.
Don't forget to watch these female-led superhero shows and movies along with DC's Stargirl.
