6 Times Toxic Marvel fans Review-Bombed Something ‘Woke’ In The MCU 

Oh, Ironheart. The new MCU series’ body wasn’t even cold yet before Marvel fans had descended upon it and tanked its audience score on every rating platform known to humankind.

In fact, its body wasn’t even warm yet, considering the fact that many of these “fans” had begun rating it before it was even made available to the public. As for how they were able to watch an entire series that hadn’t even been made available to reviewers in its entirety at that time is a quandary in itself. And yet, the bigger problem with these review bombs was their coded language that highlighted problems like the show’s “unrelatable” star and the show’s “unnecessary diversity,” signifying that the sight-unseen criticism might have had more to do with, well … you’ll see.

Here are six times when Marvel “fans” review-bombed an MCU show or movie for being too woke.

1. Ironheart (2025)

Starring Dominique Thorne as the young Riri Williams, a brilliant Black inventor who first appeared in Wakanda Forever, this series follows Williams’ attempts to step into the superhero spotlight. While it’s not the MCU’s best show ever, it’s certainly better than Secret Invasion. That said, some MCU fans have clearly not enjoyed the show’s inclusion of diverse characters, and blanched at Riri’s formidable intelligence. Enter: incorrigible review bombing on Rotten Tomatoes, hundreds of fake spam comments on IMDB, and hours of reactionary YouTube videos mapping Marvel’s impending downfall.

2. Captain Marvel (2019)

This movie became an unexpected lightning rod for misogynistic hate before it hit theaters, thrusting the whole concept of review-bombing into the mainstream. Much of the anger towards this film focused on star Brie Larson, who had made comments celebrating diversity in press junkets. This was too much for terminally online incels who had already expressed difficulty over watching a female character like Captain Marvel wield such immense on-screen power. They tanked its Rotten Tomatoes audience score, ultimately leading the website to overhaul its pre-release rating system. 

3. Ms. Marvel (2022)

Kamala Khan’s introduction to the MCU was seen by many as a breath of fresh air, but the move also brought a proudly Muslim character into an otherwise secular franchise. Cue the criticisms of Ms. Marvel being “too Muslim” and “not what Marvel should be,” casting a pall over the show’s moving coming-of-age story and fascinating treatment of South Asian family dynamics. The hate didn’t stop Khan from appearing in The Marvels, though. And speaking of which…

4. The Marvels (2023)

Three women as leads? How dare they! Sure, this movie wasn’t a masterpiece, but it still whipped up potent chemistry between its leads: Captain Marvel, Monica Rambeau, and Kamala Khan. And yet, the combination was just one woman too many for certain fans, who preemptively tanked the movie’s ratings and called it a “woke disaster,” then continued to blame the movie’s poor box office on the fact that it starred women, was directed by a woman, women women women yada yada Eve yada Original Sin etc etc. 

5. Loki (2021)

Did you know Loki is bisexual? Neither did I, considering I wasn’t paying attention during the 0.5 seconds that he obliquely hinted at it during the first season of Loki! But apparently, that 0.5 second-long moment was enough to tank the entire series, because a number of amateur reviewers who clearly hadn’t watched the show seized ratings platforms and caused the series’ scores to plummet. This was all because the movie apparently pushed “LGBTQ propaganda.”

6. The Eternals (2021)

Look, I am not defending The Eternals. It had some cool effects, sure, but its runtime and convoluted plot amounted to a viewing experience that felt like watching molasses dry. (That’s slower than paint drying, right?) And yet, The Eternals did not deserve all the hate that it got from “fans” for simply including an openly gay superhero (Phastos, as played by Brian Tyree Henry.) Not only is Phastos gay-married in this movie, but he shares an onscreen kiss with his husband; and while many open-minded fans celebrated this, many others used their free time to mob The Eternals with one-star reviews. While the movie was actually censored in some countries for its gay kiss, these homegrown accusations of “forced representation” and “virtue signaling” were somehow worse. 

Marvel fans. Will you ever learn??