Fight Like a Girl (Marvel Females Countdown Part 3)

Ashley has returned with her last part of her countdown.

Hey guys! Ashley here! After seeing Captain America:The Winter Soldier twice and finishing the first season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., I have my Marvel Females Countdown finale for you! (Just before Gamora from Guardians of the Galaxy comes along to mess up my order, because I'm sure she'll be on the remastered list someday.) Here are the final four!

4. Betty Ross

I've only seen The Incredible Hulk once, and Mark Ruffalo is my Bruce Banner/Hulk (sorry Ed Norton), but the one thing I liked about this movie was Betty Ross. I'm a fan of Liv Tyler as Arwen in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, so I'm probably a bit biased toward the character, but I enjoyed her performance. She's loyal and supportive to Bruce no matter what's going on with him, and that's heroic in my eyes. To be honest, it's a fangirl dream of mine for Liv's Betty and Mark's Bruce to be in a movie together. I ship it, canon or not. (;

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3. Pepper Potts

It was hard to put Pepper in 3rd place, but these last three ladies are almost even for me. Virginia "Pepper" Potts is arguably the best "non-super" heroine of the whole Marvel Cinematic Universe, and she definitely set a precedent in the very first movie for a strong female lead. Only someone as tough and tactful as her could handle Tony Stark, let alone love him. As he said himself, "You're in a relationship with me, things will never be okay." Nonetheless, she can handle herself in the face of super villains or a date night with her egocentric boyfriend. She's also had some of the most screen time, including four movies and a mention in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. She's beautiful, she's smart, she's sometimes the only sane person around, she was extra amazing for those brief seconds with Extremis and defeating Aldrich Killian, and she's the woman behind the genius billionaire (not so) playboy philanthropist. Without Pepper, there is no Iron Man. If for no other reason than that, you got to love her.

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Also, in the comics, Pepper actually has an iron suit and is a super heroine called Rescue. Her wearing Tony's suit in Iron Man 3 was a nod to her comic-verse alter ego, so she's a heroine no matter where she is.


2. Margaret "Peggy" Carter

Peggy Carter is probably my favorite Marvel female next to Maria Hill and Natasha Romanoff, and now that she is going to have her own mini-series, I think Agent Carter is about to get more popular than ever. The future aside, she was one of the best characters in The First Avenger. If I could be any Marvel female, I'd pick her. She's courageous, spunky, beautiful (can wear red lipstick), kick butt and a killer shot, gets a great guy before marrying another one, helped found S.H.I.E.L.D. and all in my favorite time period of WWII. She proves all her great qualities in her Marvel One-Shot "Agent Carter", a precursor to the television show, and that short alone helped her become one of my favorites. 

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1. Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow

Last but not least, is the pick I think you all saw coming. Natalia, Natasha, Agent Romanoff, The Black Widow, whatever name you like best, there is no doubt that she is the top female of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Scarlett Johannson's unforgettable performance has brought this iconic heroine to life from comics to the big screen. Her skill set is as varied and precise as her hairstyles, but whether she's sporting curls or not, she never fails to be kick butt, lethal, beautiful, and humorous on top of it all. She's out there with the best of them without a super shield or magic hammer, fighting aliens and super human soldiers with nothing more than her learned fighting skills, sometimes along with fellow mortal and agent Clint Barton/Hawkeye like in The Avengers. She does everything as a human with no powers and no special weapons, and because of this I think it makes her more relate-able than other heroines, which is a great thing to see. I also enjoyed her character most in The Winter Soldier because we get to see more of who she is, even if she's still trying to hide parts of herself. She's more humorous and "normal", and her interaction with Steve who also is relatively mortal is fun to watch. I'm looking forward to her stand-alone movie, because I don't think you can get too much of this kick butt super heroine.

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Here's my honorable mention. Although the movie isn't out until August (I can't wait!),  I think Gamora is going to be another amazing female lead to add to the list of Marvel movie ladies. (;

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I hope you enjoyed my guest posts! Thank you for reading!

Still believes in heroes,

Ashley Tara