Comments on: Marvel Minorities: Following Black Heroes From Comics to Film

By: Richard Dingle

Richard Dingle — Sun, 07 Sep 2014 18:34:00 +0000

The idea of Black Panther getting a movie makes me cringe. He is exactly the type of Black superhero that should not be encouraged. His whole sense of being is based on his race. Storm, Green Lantern(John Stewart), Aqua Lad, Blade. These are heroes where their race is only a small facet of their character. These are the type of multidimensional characters that are appealing to read/watch.

By: Mike McCarthy

Mike McCarthy — Fri, 05 Sep 2014 15:23:00 +0000

I agree with you on these points. I guess what I was trying to push through most with this post was that Marvel has historically been on the front lines of leading minorities into our popular culture and they need to pick back up on this trend moving forward with their film-making. If I get some free time I plan to put out some other articles focusing on other minorities in comics we all want and need to see.

By: Madison Smart-McCarthy

Madison Smart-McCarthy — Fri, 05 Sep 2014 15:12:00 +0000

I think you shed light on an issue that has been ongoing in the comic world for quite some time. However, I think the more interesting debate revolves around the discussion of “why” these superheros have not been given the opportunity to be the leading role for a film. Is it because white superheros were more appealing to the general public when Marvel first developed and, therefore, minority superheros were not developed as well?

That’s probably not it. Given your great account of the complexities involved with developing the character Storm, I would venture to say that it must be something else. It is because the general public cannot relate to the minority characters and their struggles?

Again, this is probably not the correct answer. The minority characters have struggles that are germane to any human such as a lack of faith from society to achieve greatness, self-doubts, and being ostracized because they are different from others. Additionally, these struggles are found in almost any Marvel superhero, regardless of race.

My opinion why minority superheros have not been given the spotlight yet is that our society does not draw enough attention to non-fictitious minority historical figures. Most people are familiar with Martin Luther King Jr., Malcom X, Rosa Parks, and Harriet Tubman, but not many others. For example, when Nelson Mandela passed I saw several Facebook friends questioning what he actually did in South Africa that was so important. So, how do we expect the comic world to focus on their minority superheros if we neglect our own?