Marvel Fans Aren’t Happy With Vans’ Handling Of Captain Marvel Shoes

Matthew Aguilar

06/13/2018 03:41 pm EDT

Captain Marvel fans were elated to find out that the beloved character is getting her very own shoe courtesy of Vans, but those celebrations were dashed quickly if you happen to be a guy with a size 11 or greater foot.

Vans' Marvel Collection just went on sale, and a big part of the collection is their stylish SK8 HI shoes, which come in Black Panther, Deadpool, and Captain Marvel variants, among others. Fans were stoked to grab their Captain Marvel shoes on launch day, but if you went to the website you noticed that they stopped at Mens size 10. Some shoes only come in certain sizes, we get that, but the male characters didn't have the same problem, as those go all the way up to 13.

So, it comes down to that Captain Marvel is a female character, right? It looks like it, as I wasn't the only person utterly bummed that I can't rock some slick Carol Danvers kicks, as Vans has received several responses to the news, asking if they were going to offer bigger sizes at a later time.

First up is Vans Europe, who responded to a customer by saying, "Hey Jamie. I love that you are so passionate about these. I assume as these are based on the AWESOME women's character, these are just made following our standard women's sizes. Hopefully there is something else you can ranthough and love just as much. Louise"

Vans' official account received several of the same responses, and while they didn't offer much hope of that changing, they did say they will pass along the info. "Sorry y'all. I'm afraid that this particular design max'd out at 10 for the guys," one tweet reads. "But, I'll pass on the feedback (you're not the only ones)!"

Here's the thing: It's not the Vans social media team's fault that the shoe is listed in primarily women's sizes, so no reason to blame them. There is a problem though, as we have come a long way in regards to appreciating female heroes and leads until it comes to merchandising, which seems to be way behind the times when it comes to decisions like these.

Captain Marvel is a popular character already, but she is going to be insanely popular once the movie hits. As we saw with Wonder Woman, you're going to see plenty of women and men rocking Captain Marvel gear, and Vans is missing out on a whole section of fans because they couldn't for a minute think past dated concepts.

It's not the end of the world by any means, and we in no way mean to imply it is, but Vans had my money before, and now that will be spent elsewhere. At the end of the day that's just bad business, right?

Other fans feel the same way, and you can hit the next slide to see some of the responses.

@TomTaylorMade

It isn't just fans who are lamenting the decision from Vans. Marvel creators like Tom Taylor, who guides the adventures of All-New Wolverine and X-Men Red is also pretty bummed about the whole thing and had planned on buying a few pairs for his collection.

"Hope you rethink this one, @VANS_Europe. I was already planning to grab a couple of pairs."

@JConcha_

(Photo: Vans)

Turns out there a lot of people with bigger shoe sizes that really wanted these Captain Marvel kicks

Now Vans did offer up the custom sneaker option through their website, which caters to 13 plus and does feature a few Marvel patterns, though they aren't in the same style as the Captain Marvels. Utilizing that method you can get sort of close, but some things you just can't duplicate, the like gold embellishment and the symbol on the heel. You can take a look at our closest recreation above.

@Johnnymattwood

The good news is that there are more Captain Marvel items in the Vans collection than just shoes, but unfortunately, those also suffer from the same issues, as Matt Wood points out about the Captain Marvel socks.

"Hey, yo. @VANS_66, those Captain Marvel's need to come in a Size 13. Even the Carol socks are too small for me"

He would even be fine with paying extra for the larger sizes, which would be fine by me too (what, just sayin).

@EricaFails

Erica Henderson, who previously drew The Unbeatable Squirrel-Girl for Marvel, was prepared to buy two pairs of the Captain Marvel kicks, but now that might go down to zero.

"Weird that the Captain Marvel Vans only go to a men's 9.5. Actually it's not weird at all & disappointing that yet another place assumes that all men think "ew that's a girl character and I'm not a girl".

Shit. I was about to drop 150 on shoes for me and Dave but I might spend 0"

@McKelvie

(Photo: Vans)

Image Comics creator Jamie McKelvie (The Wicked + The Divine) is also a bit disappointed, but more in regards to the reasoning behind it, which was because Captain Marvel is a "women's character."

"Bit :/ to see Vans say the Captain Marvel shoes aren't in larger sizes because she's a "women's character"."

@seusscat

While Vans is targeting women with this shoe, they managed to keep a slew of women from buying them because of the small sizes, so women with feet above a 10.5 size are also out of luck.

"That's ridiculous. 1) she's an everyone's character and 2) I have large feet for a woman"

@cherry_LA

As @cherry_LA points out, this decision leaves money on the table for Vans for the worst of reasons, and she gets a little GIF assistance from Carol herself.

"Like women don't have big feet and that men won't want to wear the shoes too! Leaving money in pockets for sexism #Vans #CaptainMarvel #WomensCharacter #Shoes"

@JamieB_RC

(Photo: Vans)

Thanks to the shortage of larger sizes the 9 size is pretty much all gone, but the fact that this is even a thing at all seems pretty dated.

"Yeah, I tried to get the 9s and they were all sold out super quick, probably cos they're the only ones most guys can fit in.
'Women's Character' just isn't a thing in 2018."

@LockheedCharm

While it's disappointing, to say the least, one fan is trying to find a solution, so if you are buying a pair make sure to leave a comment on the receipt.

"If you do buy yourself a pair, you can fill out a customer feedback survey from the receipt & let them know about the sale they missed. If we make it hard for them to miss that that there's a demand for Captain Marvel shoes in all sizes, I bet they'll be more likely to make more."

@ladyvader99

While the Captain Marvel shoe is gorgeous, it is unfortunate that due to outdated concepts of what character is for a certain gender more people can't enjoy it.

"hey @VANS_66 lots of us want to buy the gorgeous captain marvel shoes today, but they only go to sz 10 mens which is a weird oversight. dudes with big feet, trans women with big feet, non binary people with big feet deserve to support this character. will this be addressed?"

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