Will Boys Watch Girl Superheroes?

Warner Bros., the parent company of DC comics — home of the superheroes Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and dozens of others — announced it’s taking the “unprecedented” step of tapping into the ‘tween girls market for superheroes.

In its latest girl offering, Warner Bros. is taking its key female characters, such as Wonder Woman and Batgirl, and giving them a My Little Pony makeover. It’s making them high school students that deal with the travails of adolescence while saving the day.

A trailer for the new animated series, “DC SuperHero Girls” — which will follow with a toy line, costumes and even play weapons, such as a projectile-shooting shield — features the redesigned characters with big eyes, bright colors and the tender palette of most girl-oriented animated television.

Will boys buy into “Superhero Girls”? Especially with story lines about school clubs and high school social life, instead of “Hulk smash” and “Avengers assemble”? Warner Bros. is taking the risk of creating a show with no appeal to boys when the mantra for years has been “crossover appeal on all things entertainment.”

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If the trailer is an accurate portrayal of the show, there is zero chance of that occurring.

There are plenty of shows that appeal to boys, as well as toys. Hasbro, Mattel — and those other companies that produced magic when you were a kid — still hit that notch without press releases and public relations campaigns.

One walk through the toy aisle can make a grown-up male almost jealous, with Lego sets dedicated to building actual vehicles from favorite shows and movies; collectible cars with details down to the correct valve covers under hoods that open; tool sets that are almost carbon copies of heavy-duty equipment made by DeWalt; and so many riding toys that you wonder why anyone would stay inside.

But boys are doing so in droves, living their lives online or taking out their youthful energy on foes in “Call of Duty.” Their dads aren’t faring much better. Recent studies show that middle-aged white American males — specifically in the working and middle classes — are dying at an increasing rate, opposite every other trending demographic in the world.

Some have attributed the mortality rate to a disappointment in expectations. Their fathers worked blue collar jobs, had insurance, homes, one-income families and solid retirements. Much of that has disappeared, but one aspect missing is the lack of identity.

“SuperHero Girls” will no doubt raise those issues in the familiar “grrl power” frame, but maybe it’s time for some boy power. “SuperHero Boys,” anyone? Boys could embrace their masculinity, their energy and what makes them great, just like these shows do for girls.