Captain America: Civil War is just around the corner for U.S. audiences (even though it’s been out a week in the U.K. and in other countries) and anticipation couldn’t be greater for Joe and Anthony Russo’s latest Marvel outing. The film’s nearly matched its $250 million budget at the global box office already, and that’s before being unleashed on American, Chinese, and Indian audiences. What’s more, Civil War looks set to challenge for the crown as the biggest-grossing Marvel movie to date, potentially beating the likes of The Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron that made $1.5 billion and 1.4 billion, respectively.

As staple characters such as Steve Rogers (Captain America) and Natasha Romanov (Black Widow) return to the fray, a host of new ones enter Cap’s solo movie arena, including Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch, following her big screen debut in Avengers: Age of Ultron. There’s been plenty of talk over her character’s look, as Scarlet Witch’s Marvel comic book costume and what we see on-screen is very different - and Olsen has now addressed the fact she won’t be sexing up the character.

Speaking about the role on Late Night with Seth Meyers, the topic of her attire comes up, whereby Olsen was eager to clarify the reason why she’s never looked like the comic book version of Scarlet Witch:

“I did ballet growing up, but that’s not a confident look!” Olsen quipped, as Meyers looked at a revealing depiction of how the character looks in the comic world. Presenter Meyers also referenced the amount of tape that’d be required to hold things in place around the chest region, because, based on the skimpy comic book look, the outfit appears kind of ridiculous and outdated - not only in 2016 (where the character doesn’t need to be overtly sexualized), but in terms of logistically recreating such a costume, it would be virtually impossible to achieve in real-life.

“[‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ director Joss Whedon] said there’s this character, Scarlet Witch, that I’m interested in for your to play. And when you go home and Google her, just know that you will never ever have to wear what she wears in the comics.”

Marvel Studios has generally done a solid job over the years of creating capable female characters who have three-dimensional personalities are serve a purpose other than being a damsel in distress (Black Widow, Peggy Carter, Scarlet Witch, and so on). So reverting to the costume that Scarlet Witch wears in comic book world would be a step backwards, in that respect. As it stands, Olsen’s character in Civil War is massively toned down in terms of sexualizing outfits and the amount of flesh on show, even though there are still a few noticeable moments that show off a high skirt line or cleavage - generally she’s represented well and, by the sounds of things, that was always the intention.

Whether you agree that women in movies, especially superhero ones, have been desexualised for the better isn’t up for debate. The fact Marvel are taking gender equality more seriously than, say, the James Bond franchise, is only a positive move for female representation.

Captain America: Civil War opens in theaters May 6, 2016, followed by Doctor Strange on November 4, 2016; Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 – May 5, 2017; Spider-Man: Homecoming – July 7, 2017;Thor: Ragnarok – November 3, 2017; Black Panther – February 16, 2018; Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 – May 4, 2018; Ant-Man and the Wasp – July 6, 2018; Captain Marvel – March 8, 2019; Avengers: Infinity War Part 2 – May 3, 2019; and as-yet untitled Marvel movies on July 12, 2019, and on May 1, July 10, and November 6 in 2020.

Source: Late Night with Seth Meyers