What If Feminist Judgments Were Written on Earth 616? A Tale of Feminism and Science Fiction

Abstract

For at least three reasons, Marvel’s 2021 TV adaptation of its 1977 What If? series of comics seemed all too familiar to feminist legal scholars as a methodological exercise in alternative outcomes. This paper explores these reasons. It uses the specific example of the 1977 comics and the project on Feminist Judgments in International Law to argue that a focus on this interrelation could prove to be fruitful from a methodological perspective. Therefore, this paper highlights the intersection between these specific areas of science fiction and (international) feminist legal thought through their concomitant emphasis on contingency, inter-temporality and causality. Based on this, the paper analyses the nature of this correlation or cohesion and suggests that it offers a lens through which feminist legal tools can be viewed and further enhanced.