This isn’t an excuse for the difference, but I wonder how exposure bias played into their perception. If a person was more accustomed to men in a specific situation and a woman “surprised them” by being involved, it could lead to time passing being perceived as longer. It would be similar to how any new experience is often perceived as taking longer than a familiar one in the same time period. Underrepresentation of women in that scenario would support it.
I agree with your reasoning but I think it highlights a major difference between genders in those stories. The hulk has decades of backstory that lets you just throw him into any plot as a badass. You don’t need to invent why he’s a badass because we all know it and the origin story is so played out that we all gloss over it. Now do that with a female character. Writing the equivalent to decades of lore in one origin story and then doing something with that origin in the same movie is way harder. Wonder Woman would be kinda similar but those origins are muddy with misogyny vibes. So now you have to use well established S tier characters to garner attention and bring in a fresh female face of similar calibar of power and act like they earned decades of respect in one movie. Either you’re Mary sue or treated like a child in those situations. The lore fights female empowerment because of baggage. I feel sorry for anyone trying to write for a character like she hulk with all of the obstacles that exist, but I get why the attempts weren’t successful.
Well he has been twice so they tried I guess.