The race and gender swap addiction of many of our iconic and beloved characters is one of the many reasons DC and Marvel comic books, TV shows, and movies are failing. I say addiction because both companies, including their parent movie companies, Warner Bros. and Marvel are gender and race swapping characters at such a furious rate that they can’t seem to get it done quick enough. So, why are they moving at such a quick pace to do this to so many characters? A number of reasons. But the biggest reason is to appease the twitter mobs who go out of their way to find an opportunity to try and cancel an actor(Gina Carano) or comic book artist(Jae Lee)because they might not agree with how the twitter mob or the left thinks. Last I checked, this was still America and we had freedom of choice and thought. But, a few days ago, Dan Slott and Eddie Robson gave us some reasons as to why gender and race swapping are quick and efficient and should be happening. It all started when Dan Slott posted on Twitter that
“When adapting comics to TV and movies, or rebooting comics today, there’s no reason to have the iconic characters be straight white men.”
I think Dan’s missing the point about what is going on and why these iconic characters are being race and gender swapped by DC and Marvel. DC and Marvel are doing it to pander to the minuscule crowd on Twitter that is having temper tantrums over Superman because he is white. Picking Ta Nehisi Coates to write the next Superman movie, to actively pursue a black man to be Superman, and to place the movie sometime in the 20th century is all done purposely by these companies. Not because they really believe in what they are doing, but rather, that they are following the narrative that white supremacy and racism are systemic and race swapping or gender swapping will help the cause. Ta Nehisi Coates believes in white supremacy. How does that not tell you what the agenda is? Has he even read a Superman comic book? The Race and gender swap addiction is real because DC and Marvel need to say to their audiences that they too feel the plight of BLM, the LGBTQ community and the Twitter mobs. They get it and will prove it to these groups by erasing these well established white male characters as fast as they can.
“The only reason they’re that way in comics is because they were created in the 30’s & 60’s when that was the default.”
How completely narrow minded and dishonest of Dan Slott. Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster created Superman because they saw themselves being Superman not because he was white. They imagined being someone of incredible stature, being the hero, and saving the day. Why do you think most of us read comic books Mr. Slott? It was because we saw something in those heroes that we wanted to be and emulate. Half of the creators from the 30’s to the 60’s created these heroes because that’s how they imagined themselves. So your argument is lacking in depth and perception. Dan Slott then followed up with this tweet:
“There is nothing in this statement that says that comics SHOULDN’T be made with all new characters featuring super heroes who aren’t just straight white males.”
“It’s possible to [do] BOTH things: To SHARE the icons and to CREATE new characters who represent all of us at the SAME TIME.”
Either Dan is being very politically correct or he truly believes this. Share the icons? You can’t share Clark Kent and all of a sudden make him a different gender or race after 83 years of him being a straight white male. If your goal is to sell comic books and movies then it will fall flat and your customers are going to look for something else(Manga/Anime anyone?). If your goal is the message and to appease everyone, you’re going to fail and lose money again because the small community that actually cares is not going to make you enough money to be profitable(Captain Marvel, Ironheart, Jane Foster as Thor). If you want to get your message across then do it by creating new characters. As Stan Lee once said
“I just see no reason to change that which has already been established when it’s so easy to add new characters. I say create new characters the way you want to. hell, I’ll do it myself.”
Stan Lee was the king of creating new characters. Some failed and some succeeded. Eddie Robson then tweeted a response to what Dan Slott was saying:
“And you always get people saying “Why not create new characters who aren’t straight white men?” missing the point that characters like that ‘are’ being created all the time, but it’s hard for them to compete with famous, iconic characters with decades of history behind them.”
Mr. Robson obviously doesn’t believe in capitalism because that’s what competition is all about. May the best man or comic book character win. You have to be able to create a character that will resonate with your audience, whoever that may be. It’s not the established characters fault that a creator couldn’t make his or her character successful. That’s just a lazy way of thinking. It’s almost as if Eddie Robson thinks race and gender swapping established characters should be a participation trophy event where there is no individual achievement. Iconic characters have been created in the past and have resonated with audiences. Look at Spawn, Carnage, Deadpool, or Witchblade from the 90’s. Or what about Dawnstar, Luke Cage, and Black lightning of the 70’s. Eddie Robson goes on:
“It’s a franchise-dominated landscape and you can’t just will new franchises into being. You’ll make much faster progress by diversifying the franchises that already exist.”
Wow, ‘mouth open’ because I can’t believe what he just said. That is such a lazy and deceitful solution to get your message of diversity across. What Eddie Robson is saying, I believe, is that in order for the left to make sure it gets its message across about diversity, inclusivity, and representation, is that the main stream movie and comic book industry needs to appropriate well established characters because they are creatively bankrupt and don’t have the will to do it on their own. In other words, take advantage of well established characters to expedite your progressive narrative. Finally, Dan Slott defended his stance by offering up counterpoints with characters that have been switched in the past.
- Aquaman in the comics vs Jason Mamoa Aquaman. He offers this example up because he thinks it defends his argument that Aquaman was race swapped and was successful in the movies. Jason Mamoa’s Aquaman was successful because over half of its audience were women who wanted to see Jason Mamoa with his shirt off.
- Nick Fury in the comics vs Sam Jackson’s Nick Fury of the MCU. I wouldn’t say Nick Fury was iconic, but let’s say that he is…it’s a different universe both in the comics and the movies. No one has a problem with making a Superman that fits your needs in another universe. You can use Calvin Ellis or Val-Zod of earth-2.
- Valkryie in the comics vs Valkyrie in the MCU. Again two different universes and definitely not iconic.
- Aunt May in the comics vs Aunt May in the MCU. Not iconic and another universe.
- Grey Hulk vs Green Hulk. Seriously? That’s the stretch you had to make. For someone who writes for Marvel, your grasp of the history of its characters seems shallow. The reason that Hulk went from grey to green is because of a technical issue. The grays were not printing correctly and turning green…that’s it. Stan Lee was happy with that accident.
- Yellow suit Daredevil vs Red suit DareDevil. Ummm….costume change and choice by the team that wrote DareDevil at the time. Are we really going to relate that to race or gender swapping…weak.
- Grey armor Iron Man vs red and yellow armor Iron Man. An upgrade which was depicted very well in the MCU
Related: Scott Mendelson Gives Hollywood a Scapegoat
Dan Slott offers up three actual examples of race swapping of characters, other than Aquaman, that are really not that iconic and done in a separate universe. I, for one, was one of those fans that read the Wizard magazines that offered up actors that might be a great fit if ever a movie was made based on those characters. Samuel Jackson came up all the time as a shoe in for Nick Fury from the Ultimates line. If memory serves, the writer/artist in that universe specifically chose Samuel Jackson as their model for their Nick Fury.
I see Superman as a character that I looked up to when I was 7 years old
It’s pretty clever of Mr. Slott to try and defend his argument of why iconic characters like Superman or Batman should be gender swapped with lame and non-iconic examples, but it falls flat with the fans. He might be reaching the twitter fanatics who don’t know or care enough about comic book history, but his attempts at trying to convince the fans that Superman should be black because we should ‘share’ the history is nonsense. When I see Superman I don’t see him because he is white. I see him as a character in a comic book that I looked up to, when I was 7 years old, that taught me truth, justice, and the American way. The American ideal which taught us to be better and learn from our past every time we make a mistake. Superman just happens to be white and not because it was the ‘default’ as Dan Slott argues in the 30’s and 60’s. It was because two teenage boys in the 30’s imagined themselves as a hero saving the day. So, to appropriate Superman and make him black, because it’s politically and expediently convenient, is a true insult not only to black people but to the fans as well.
The main stream comic book industry is failing
This is why the comic book industry is failing and why fans are turning to alternatives for their entertainment. We’re sick and tired of you turning our established characters and franchises into a propaganda poster for who can be the wokest the quickest through your race and gender swapping. Eddie Robson defended this best in his tweet…
“It’s a franchise-dominated landscape and you can’t just will new franchises into being. You’ll make much faster progress by diversifying the franchises that already exist.”
DC and Marvels addiction to this will see withdrawal symptoms soon as more and more movie theaters open up and they don’t see the numbers coming in like they once did. It will be fun to watch as DC, Warner Bros. and Marvel scramble around, scratching their heads, and wondering what happened and why.
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