The Avengers got back together for a mission that somehow ended up being more dramatic than defeating Thanos as they defended Chris Pratt, only to cop backlash for not doing the same for Brie Larson.
According to Uproxx, it all started this weekend as Pratt was declared the loser of Twitter’s “Worst Chris” competition. He beat off stiff competition from Chris Hemsworth (it was never going to be our Aussie legend Thor), Chris Pine, and Chris Evans (fresh off posting his own junk accidentally online).
Who knew that a battle over four of the most vanilla men in Hollywood with the most boring first name would lead to such ugly discourse.
Things really heated up after it emerged that most of the Avengers were taking part in a fundraiser for Joe Biden’s Presidential bid this week, with Pratt notably absent.
People were naturally quick to make a connection between Pratt and possible support for Biden’s rival Donald Trump. His devout religious beliefs were brought up. That infamous cat story was angrily discussed again.
It was the Avengers to Star-Lord’s rescue though. Robert Downey Jr, otherwise known as Iron Man, unleashed a strong statement backing Pratt.
“What a world…” Downey wrote. “The ‘sinless’ are casting stones at my #brother, Chris Pratt… A real #Christian who lives by #principle, has never demonstrated anything but #positivity and #gratitude… AND he just married into a family that makes space for civil discourse and (just plain fact) INSISTS on service as the highest value.
If you take issue with Chris,,, I’ve got a novel idea. Delete your social media accounts, sit with your OWN defects of #character, work on THEM, then celebrate your humanness.”
Mark Ruffalo, who played Hulk in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, also added his piece: “I know him personally, and instead of casting aspersions, look at how he lives his life. He is just not overtly political as a rule. This is a distraction. Let’s keep our eyes on the prize, friends. We are so close now.”
You all, @prattprattpratt is as solid a man there is. I know him personally, and instead of casting aspersions, look at how he lives his life. He is just not overtly political as a rule. This is a distraction. Let’s keep our eyes on the prize, friends. We are so close now.
— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) October 20, 2020
While it’s fair to want to trust Ruffalo’s word, many were struggling with the fact that Chris Pratt received so much support while Brie Larson received nowhere near as much defence.
Captain Marvel has endured wild misogynistic abuse since joining the MCU. Her standalone film was fake-review bombed by sexist trolls. The act of her merely picking up Thor’s hammer riled some nerds up to an unimaginable amount.
https://twitter.com/reeseyl21/status/1318716376589238277?s=21
good morning to everyone including brie larson but excluding the rest of the avengers who really did not have the same loud defensive energy for the horrible misogynist abuse she got as they do for chris pratt being a bible thumping trumper
— G (@oneofthosefaces) October 21, 2020
Don Cheadle and the late Chadwick Boseman did indeed step up to show support for Larson during it all but other Avengers weren’t so forthcoming.
Why one co-star and not the other?
Check out the trailer for Avengers: Endgame:
