Spider-Man: Homecoming makes a valiant attempt at trying to counter-balance the systemic sexism and racism that has run through the heart of every Marvel Cinematic Universe film that has gone before it. Such efforts are to its benefit, as it is unarguably one of the best instalments in this franchise to date. But, don’t get too excited. Spider-Man: Homecoming is actually not about to revolutionise the Marvel Studios corner of the superhero genre in terms of the representation of women.

On the surface, the film looks like it is far more representative of people that are not white men than any other MCU movie to date – and that’s because, statistically, it is. There are 39 named characters in the story. 14 of them are white men, while 13 of them are men of colour. Seven are white w...

Please subscribe to keep reading.