'Buffy' star Sarah Michelle Gellar says negative reaction to female-led Marvel movies is 'backwards'

• Sarah Michelle Gellar said the negative response to female-led Marvel movies is "backwards."
• The actor is best known for playing the titular hero in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."

It's been nearly two decades since "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" came off the air with its divisive finale that saw Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) save the world alongside an army of young girls who had the power to stop an almighty evil.

Although many modern film and TV projects revolve around women as superheroes in one way or another, "Buffy" star Sarah Michelle Gellar said in an interview Monday that audiences are still reluctant to see women-led Marvel movies.

The star spoke to the Guardian about her role in "Buffy," and her hiatus away from the screen, before discussing the audience reaction to women as superheroes in the present day.

Gellar explained that "genre is where women can really succeed and hold an audience," before adding that audiences just aren't "accepting" of Marvel movies with women as the lead.

She said: "Every time a Marvel movie tries to do a female cast, it just gets torn apart… Unfortunately, audiences weren't as accepting."

The most obvious example is "Captain Marvel," starring Brie Larson as Carol Danvers, the titular pilot who gets cosmic powers after an accident involving an experimental jet. The film was met with huge backlash from a portion of Marvel fans who review-bombed it due to Larson's performance, giving it a 45% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

The "Ms. Marvel" TV series, starring Iman Vellani as a super-powered teenager, was also review-bombed on IMDb, with many users rating it poorly.

Gellar went on to say that audiences still favor the stereotypical idea of a male hero, rather than a woman.

She said: "There's still this mentality of 'the male superhero,' this very backwards way of thinking."

Obviously, this isn't the case for every single project. DC's "Wonder Woman" raked in $821 million worldwide (via Box Office Mojo).

Gellar also noted that "Buffy" is now more important than ever, particularly its finale.

She said: "I love the ending. I love the fact that the whole idea was that every girl who wants the power can have the power. Isn't that the ultimate lesson?"