Woman calls out Marvel for airbrushing female characters on 'Avengers' posters: 'Literally no facial lines'

What do superheroes Captain Marvel, the Black Widow, Valkyrie, Pepper Potts, the Wasp and Okoye all have in common?

They all appear to have been airbrushed within an inch of their lives in new promotional posters for Avengers: Endgame.

On March 26, to build excitement leading up to the Apr. 26 release of the latest film in the Avengers series, Marvel Studios released a series of closeups of the featured characters’ faces. And while Marvel Studios drummed up plenty of buzz among fans, with nearly 118,000 likes on a tweet thread of the posters, one raised questions about why the women’s faces appear to have been airbrushed while the men’s faces do not.

The Instagram user — identified as San Francisco-based journalist Katie Antoniou in her profile — posted a slideshow comparing the photographs of the men and women in Avengers: Endgame, and expressed her outrage over the unfair beauty standards.

“I love The Avengers…. But these photos have made me so mad. Spot the difference,” she wrote on. “Women: literally no facial lines- foreheads completely airbrushed. Men: every single one…you can see lines on their foreheads. What’s the deal Marvel Studio?”

Marvel Studios did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Yahoo Lifestyle.

The slideshow features photos of Brie Larson as Captain Marvel, Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Pots, Chris Evans as Captain America, Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man and more. Although Antoniou only posted 12 photos of the men and women in the upcoming Avengers blockbuster, she observes that the apparent inconsistency in airbrushing is visible in all 32 photos released by Marvel Studios. She also tagged body-positive activist and actress Jameela Jamil for “back up,” as Jamil has been outspoken about airbrushing in the entertainment industry.

Several Instagram users echoed Antoniou’s sentiment, expressing how the inequality “really pissed [them] off.”

“Makes me irate, but again I need to embrace my face and not worry about my own!!” commented one user.

However, one user challenged the criticism of the photo, suggesting that the facial lines were left on the foreheads of the Hulk and Iron Man because they were frowning.

Antoniou further noted that every male superhero in the promotional campaign appeared to have normal creases, whether they were frowning or not. “You can still see lines on their foreheads, you know, like humans,” she wrote. (She did not respond to a request for comment from Yahoo Lifestyle.)

The practice of airbrushing photos, particularly of women, has been under fire for years. Those who now denounce the practice argue that it’s because it is disproportionately used on photos of women in mainstream media and advertising, creating an unachievable image of perfection. Jamil, Founder of “I Weigh,” has been a particularly outspoken critic, saying that she wants airbrushing “gone.”

“I think it’s a disgusting tool that has been weaponized, predominantly against women, and is responsible for so many more problems than we realize because we are blinded by the media, our culture and our society,” she said in an interview with BBC. “I suffered from eating disorders as a teenager and so I know how damaging ‘perfect’ images in magazines can be.”

Read more from Yahoo Entertainment:

• The living and the dusted: ‘Avengers: Endgame’ character posters, synopsis, runtime revealed

• Twitter wants a Captain Marvel and Valkyrie team-up and Brie Larson and Tessa Thompson are in

• Reshoots. End credits. Alternate takes. 6 secrets from the ‘Captain Marvel’ editing room (spoilers!)

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