Black Widow Gets Replaced by Male Heroes on 'Avengers' Toys

Hey kids, want to re-enact that awesome scene in The Avengers: Age of Ultron in which Black Widow drives out of the Quinjet on her motorcycle? (See the GIF below.) The good news is that Hasbro made a toy of that very thing! The Cycle Blast Quinjet play set comes with a plane, a motorcycle… and a Captain America toy. So that’s the bad news: Black Widow has been replaced by a male Avenger in the toy version of her own movie scene. We’ve come to expect that Black Widow will be excluded from Marvel’s Avengers merchandise, but this is a new low.

Twitter user Zac Shipley drew attention to the toy disparity a few days ago, tweeting, “Remember the scene where Black Widow drops out of the jet on the motorcycle? Well f— you the toy is Captain America.” The toy description makes it clear that it was inspired by that very scene, which was featured prominently in almost every Avengers: Age of Ultron trailer. “It’s a fast-diving jet with a secret weapon – a compartment that launches a motorcycle!” reads the text on the Hasbro website. “With your Captain America figure speeding away on his powerful cycle, the jet can climb back to higher altitude for recon and air attacks!” Except, of course, that it’s Black Widow who rides the motorcycle in the movie.

It gets worse. The Cycle Blast Quinjet is actually one of three licensed toys based on the Quinjet scene, none of which features Black Widow riding the motorcycle. In Lego’s Quinjet City Chase, Captain America gets the wheels — though Black Widow, to Lego’s credit, is included in the set. (She’s shown on the packaging flying the plane.)

Then there’s the Hot Wheels Quinjet Moto Launcher from Mattel, which puts Iron Man on the motorcycle. That’s actually the worst offender, since unlike Black Widow and Cap, Iron Man doesn’t drive a motorcycle. (Why would he need one?) But it seems like toy companies would put Thor on a Harley before they’d consider giving Black Widow her ride back.

The Cycle Blast Quinjet can be used with “up to 4 figures (sold separately),” according to the description, so resourceful parents could swap in a Black Widow action figure — that is, if they can find one. As we’ve noted before, there’s very little out there in the way of Black Widow toys for kids, and almost nothing marketed specifically to girls. The Quinjet could have been a great toy for young Black Widow fans, capturing one of her best action-packed moments. Instead, it’s just another example of the one female Avenger being pushed out of the picture.