The trolls are at it again. Captain Marvel doesn't hit theaters until March 8 and audiences haven't even had the chance to preview Marvel Studios' latest yet, but the movie's page on Rotten Tomatoes is already being bombarded with negative comments. Given that none of these people have actually seen the movie, this is particularly noteworthy. Many of these comments seem to be taking issue with the movie's existence, rather than its content. Quite a few comments are taking issue with the Marvel Comics adaptation and its alleged "social justice warrior" agenda. A user by the name of flash g wrote, "Oh boy, first off this will be worst than The Last Jed. im calling it now." Another anonymous user, in a more lengthy attack, had this to say. "Why Marvel decided to cast a very vocal racist and sexist aimed at white males, I'll never know. If Robert Downey Jr. started saying that he didn't care about the opinions of 40 year old white chicks and he doesn't want to be interviewed by a white woman as it's not inclusive enough, people would lose their minds." There are dozens of comments that echo this similar tone. Much of the vitriol is being aimed squarely at star Brie Larson, who plays the titular hero. Recently, in an interview with Marie Claire, the Oscar-winning actress expressed her desire to have more diversity featured on the journalist side during her press days. Many of these negative comments seem to stem from what Larson had to say in that interview. 'About a year ago, I started paying attention to what my press days looked like and the critics reviewing movies, and noticed it appeared to be overwhelmingly white male. So, I spoke to Dr Stacy Smith at the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, who put together a study to confirm that. Moving forward, I decided to make sure my press days were more inclusive." This is far from the first time that negative reviews from certain sections of fandom have plagued major blockbusters. The most prominent example being The Last Jedi, which proved to be extremely divisive amongst the fanbase. Certain individuals took that to an extreme level, posting phony reviews online and harassing members of the cast. Kelly Marie Tran, who plays Rose, left Instagram over racist comments and harassment she faced. Despite the advance negativity, it doesn't appear that Captain Marvel will suffer as a result. The first female-led solo entry in the MCU is currently tracking for an opening weekend haul of $100 million or more. While critics have yet to weigh in, Marvel Studios has a tremendous track record and it seems doubtful that Kevin Feige and Co. would allow this one to get away from them, in terms of quality. Still, based on what we're seeing on Rotten Tomatoes already, the trolls will be out in full force on this one.<doc-sep>In another instance of a situation that is becoming all too common, a major female-led film has been attacked by online trolls. Captain Marvel’s audience score on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, which allows users to post comments and rating ahead of a film’s release, has fallen to 40%. This score is called ‘want to see’ before a film’s release, and is replaced by an audience score post the film’s release. With more than a week left before Captain Marvel is unveiled, star Brie Larson’s outspoken feminism seems to be the bone of contention. “Larson has made it clear, men need not attend this movie,” one commenter wrote. “Larson’s sexist and racist comments don’t want me to spend money on this anyway, so here you go, Ms Larson,” wrote another. Several such comments have since been taken down by Rotten Tomatoes, who according to a Huffington Post report did not respond to queries regarding such trolling. Captain Marvel’s score tampering isn’t a rare occurrence. Marvel’s Black Panther was similarly attacked, as was Star Wars: The Last Jedi and most infamously, the 2016 Ghostbusters reboot, whose trailer recorded the most dislikes in YouTube history. In India, similar campaigns were allegedly launched against Anubhav Sinha’s Mulk. Several hateful comments about Captain Marvel, according to HuffPost referenced a recent interview in which Larson had called for a broader pool of journalists writing about films, which she said was ‘overwhelmingly white male.’ She told Marie Claire, “I do not need a 40-year-old white dude to tell me what didn’t work for him about ‘A Wrinkle in Time.’ It wasn’t made for him. I want to know what that film meant to women of colour, to biracial women, to teen women of color, to teens that are biracial. And for the third time, I don’t hate white dudes. These are just facts. These are not my feelings.” Also read: From Black Panther to Rishi Kapoor’s Mulk, 5 films whose IMDb scores were attacked by trolls Captain Marvel’s ‘want to see’ score has fallen from over 90% to 40% in a matter of days. The current score is based on over 25,000 ratings. Captain Marvel will be released on March 8 and is tracking for a US opening weekend of more than $100 million. It will directly lead in to Avengers: Endgame. Early reviews have been very positive. Follow @htshowbiz for more ott:10<doc-sep>
Captain Marvel arrives in cinemas just over two weeks from now on a wave of strong buzz, but with this being the internet and all, it was only natural that the film would also have its share of vocal detractors, many of whom have recently focused their attention on flooding the movie’s Rotten Tomatoes page with negative takes. This tactic of driving down a film’s user score is nothing new, with Black Panther being on the receiving end of a similar campaign last year to dissuade filmgoers from giving the movie a try. Of course, as anyone who recalls the box office figures of T’Challa’s solo debut can tell you, the approach proved pretty ineffective in sinking Ryan Coogler’s pic, and with Captain Marvel currently tracking for a $100 million-plus domestic opening, it feels safe to say that this latest wave of backlash is hardly a reflection of the majority opinion. Much of this negative response concerns comments made by Brie Larson in June last year, when she called for more diversity in film criticism. During a speech at the Crystal + Lucy Awards, the Oscar-winner used the negative critical reception to A Wrinkle in Time as an example, explaining, “I don’t need a 40-year-old white dude to tell me what didn’t work about A Wrinkle in Time. It wasn’t made for him! I want to know what it meant to women of color, biracial women, to teen women of color.” Marvel Trolls Trying To Bomb Captain Marvel's Rotten Tomatoes Score 1 of 2 Click to skip MORE FROM THE WEB Click to zoom The actress also remarked that she doesn’t “hate white dudes,” but was concerned that if you “make the movie that is a love letter to women of color, there is an insanely low chance a woman of color will have a chance to see your movie and review your movie.” In any case, despite the early backlash, the real test for Captain Marvel comes when the film hits theaters on March 8th, 2019.