#WeWantWidow

(image source: Autumn Wheelock)

Across the globe starting at noon today, cosplayers will be taking over the internet with one simple, powerful message: #WeWantWidow!

**CHECK OUT OUR FLASH MOB PHOTO GALLERY**

It’s no secret than many fans and feminists alike feel Avengers: Age of Ultron completely dropped the ball with Black Widow. We were all excited to see where this bad-ass assassin would go in her character development in the latest film, and were all pissed when screen time that COULD have been spent on further character development for Natasha, was wasted on a sudden romance subplot.

Aside from the obvious missed opportunities in Ultron, Marvel and Disney seem to be actively excluding Black Widow from all facets of marketing. Almost all the Avengers got their own stand-alone movie, merchandise, and actions figures. And on the subject of action figures, Marvel even went as far as to completely remove Black Widow from her amazing Ultron scene (busting out of an air craft on her motorcycle) and replaced her with a Captain America figure in the Hasbro version, and Iron Man in the Mattel version. What the what!?! And Adidas, who recently partnered with Marvel to release a line of Avengers inspired sneakers, apparently doesn’t give a shit about Black Widow either.

There have been tons of blog posts and tweets expressing the frustration people are feeling about the obvious lack of superheroine promotion from Hollywood. Even Scarlett Johanssen understands Natasha’s plight with the hilarious SNL skit Black Widow: Age of Me.

Black Widow is an important female superheroine in the Marvel universe and she deserves to be more than just a love interest at this point. She is a trained assassin with an incredible background story, turning from Russian espionage to joining the Avengers and saving the world. She should have her own movie and merchandise and Marvel should be proud at the opportunity to develop a character that girls can look up to. Unfortunately, even with all the Hulk-smashing internet outrage, it seems that Marvel and Disney are still not listening. So I’ve taken it upon myself to do something about it.

Today, we have coordinated a massive multi-city flash mob of Black Widows. The first of its kind and spanning 16 cities from San Diego to Sydney, cosplayers from around the world are joining forces to send a powerful and positive message: #WeWantWidow.

The Black Widow Flash Mob project was held in secret internet meetings to gather attendees and supporters over the last few weeks. In order to make our message #WEWANTWIDOW as effective as possible, we assembled thousands to our group to support the Black Widow image. Throughout today, following this hash tag you will see amazing Black Widow cosplayers, as well as online profiles being changed to images of Natasha in support of our message.

So in response to #WhereIsNatasha, we are all banning together to make a simple statement loud and clear – We Want Widow!

(image source: Autumn Wheelock)

Every participating city has a City Captain that helped gather attendees and secured locations for their flash mob. Here are the awesome ladies who have done an amazing amount of work to pull this off:

Kristin Rielly (Founder & Event Coordinator), Jay Justice (Event Coordinator, Philly), Juli Mayers (Boston), Autumn Wheelock (NYC), Andrea Levine (NYC), Jennifer K. Stuller (Seattle), Theresa Marie Salvador (Tampa), Jennifer Williams (Las Vegas), Belle Bredehoft (D.C.), Tanya Wheelock (Orlando), Sarah Boutcher (Ottawa), Priscilla Crocker (Minneapolis), Kelly Kirstein (Detroit), Keisha Howard (Chicago), Courtney Cuellar (San Diego), John Marcotte (Sacramento), Stephanie Rector (Sacramento), Catherine Kyle (Boise), and Variable (Sydney).

They worked tirelessly and fearlessly to nail down mob locations and tasked with the incredibly hard job of using social media to invite cosplayers to join in without letting the secret out. And Jay Justice, the Philly Captain and my second-in-command has been instrumental in keeping our group focused and maintaining the integrity of our mission.

So spread the word, change your profile pic, dress up in black and red, and let Disney and Marvel know that they can’t ignore female superheroes any longer! #WeWantWidow.

If you would like to participate online today, feel free to share the banner and profile images below as well as our press release and event blurbs.