Mpower is a 4-part documentary series about the women within Marvel Universe, who are both in front of and behind the camera, and the impact that working on these female centric characters had on them personally as well as the wider importance that their work has had on the world around them.

The written below is below (originally published on Medium). If you would like to watch my video review of Mpower, you can watch it here on YouTube:

For the first time in history, women are telling our own superhero stories and defining what being a female superhero means, and that’s the power of Marvel’s Mpower series.

What the Mpower series does really well is to capture the first-person accounts of the Marvel women involved with bringing these powerful female superheroes to the screen, and that will be important to future historians. The series comprises 4 episodes that dive into the stories within the comics, the female characters within the stories, and how the Marvel team itself translated those stories from page to film.

The first episode focusses on the women of Wakanda, exploring their impact and their roles within the social structure of a nation. The second is about Captain Marvel and Ms Marvel and how their identity changes as they grow into their powers. The third features the Scarlet Witch and the importance of family, motherhood, and children…and the impact of their loss. The fourth episode explores the deep sibling connection between sisters, featuring the relationship between Gamora and Nebula. Each episode looks at examples of how these characters have fought their own demons and accessed their internal strengths in meaningful and powerful ways both onscreen and off.

Some people may look at this series and think it’s a bit self-serving since there are currently so many more women and female people of color in film and television today. But that wasn’t always the case, and that’s why Mpower is such an important documentary. This series captures the feelings, experiences, and relationships that the actresses and the female creatives behind the scenes have regarding their work in the Marvel Universe, in the film industry, and in society at large.

They are the first generation of women to bring leading roles for female superheroes to the screen and from this day forward, little girls won’t know a world in which women superheroes do not exist because we are in the process of normalizing a new status quo.

Sure, there were a few superhero-ish women in past films and TV shows. But, with the exception of Linda Carter’s Wonder Woman, Lucy Lawless’s Xena Warrior Princess, and Sarah Michelle Gellar’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the only ones who easily come to mind are secondary or tertiary characters supporting their male counterparts. You really have to think about it to come up with additional leading role female superheroes before the year 2000. And, off the top of my head I can’t think of any who weren’t white.

So, I am thrilled when I look at a series like Mpower, in which Marvel clearly invested time and money into interviewing and documenting the rise of female technicians, screenwriters, directors, producers, and actresses to bring the stories of so many female superheroes of different races and ethnicities to the screen.

These women are the first generation of their kind. They grew up not seeing people like them as heroes, protectors, and role models…whose roles weren’t in the “homemaker” category. As a result of their stepping onto the stage and into roles behind the scenes, little girls today can easily think of dozens of female characters in film and television who are equal to and just as visible as their male counterparts. And that’s what this documentary series captures: this moment of change within the film industry and Marvel’s place in that moment.

It captures the female perspective of this unique generation of Marvel women who trail-blazed their way into the superhero genre to redefine the stories that we tell about ourselves as women and how we tell them.

So, yes, perhaps Mpower is a little bit self-serving as a Marvel documentary about Marvel women, but this series is so important, and these interviews will be used by scholars in the future. This is the nascent stage of capturing the first-person accounts of the women who are a part of that wider media change to be more inclusive because representation does matter. And, frankly, it means we get better films and stories for everyone, even the boys. Next, we need to address the lack of representation for people whose gender roles don’t align with traditional male and female roles.

There is so much more than I can say about the Mpower documentary series and these characters, but instead of listening to me, I recommend that you watch the series and do it with your children and talk with them about the things you see and hear there. It is important.

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