Brie Larson climbs a rope as Carol Danvers in Captain Marvel.

Don’t Tell Captain Marvel to “Smile More,” You Monsters

Never tell a woman to "smile more," especially if she's a superhero who could punch the crap out of you.
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It almost seemed too good to be true! Most of the reactions to the Captain Marvel trailer were positive. No one was really bashing her, and everyone seemed excited. Then, the men came out of the woodwork, telling Carol Danvers to smile more, and don’t worry, I’ve already thrown my laptop multiple times in anger.

Seriously? No, really, we’re doing this shit? You’re going to sit here and say that a superhero should be smiling more? I’m sorry but did we tell the men in the Avengers to smile? Do we sit there and tell Bucky Barnes that he should be smiling while he’s the Winter Soldier? What about in Iron Man 3? Should Tony have been all smiley and happy the entire time? No. You don’t tell men that they need to smile, so why would you look at the strongest Avenger and photoshop her smiling to appease your toxic viewpoints?

Why? Just … why? Did you do this to be “that guy” on the internet? Honestly, the entire situation is bullsh*t. Here is what we’re going to do: We’re going to look at the trailer for Captain America: The First Avenger. Just watch this.

Now, did you count how many times Cap smiles? He smirks one time, and then Peggy Carter shoots at him. Where were all the photoshopped pictures from this trailer? Better yet, let’s watch the trailer for the first Thor movie!

This movie, which was filled with weird humor and fun jokes, doesn’t have Thor smiling once in the trailer. The best example of this is in the trailer for Spider-Man: Homecoming. Arguably the happiest Avenger, Spider-Man (or rather Peter Parker) smirks one time. He’s a fifteen-year-,old kid and even he isn’t smiling throughout the trailer.

So the real question is: What’s your point? All these men don’t smile. Marvel doesn’t really have a track record for smiling heroes in their trailers for movies. Every hero is serious, ready to help save the world. Maybe Carol should go back to outer space and leave our favorite characters to die if you’re all going to be bitter about her “not smiling.”

The best reaction to this “smile more” phenomenon that is happening with Carol on Twitter?

The moral of the story is this: Don’t tell women to smile, especially if that woman is Carol Danvers and can literally destroy all of the Avengers easily. She doesn’t know who she is, she’s trying to figure out how she got back to Earth, and most importantly, she does smile in the trailer. You’re all just too busy making a mountain out of a molehill to see that she’s happiest when she’s flying in the Air Force.

(image: Marvel Entertainment)

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Rachel Leishman
Rachel Leishman (She/Her) is an Assistant Editor at the Mary Sue. She's been a writer professionally since 2016 but was always obsessed with movies and television and writing about them growing up. A lover of Spider-Man and Wanda Maximoff's biggest defender, she has interests in all things nerdy and a cat named Benjamin Wyatt the cat. If you want to talk classic rock music or all things Harrison Ford, she's your girl but her interests span far and wide. Yes, she knows she looks like Florence Pugh. She has multiple podcasts, normally has opinions on any bit of pop culture, and can tell you can actors entire filmography off the top of her head. Her current obsession is Glen Powell's dog, Brisket. Her work at the Mary Sue often includes Star Wars, Marvel, DC, movie reviews, and interviews.