Kyle Dix

Mrs.Litle

English 121

13 April 2017

Dont Change My Superheroes

When reading comic books and hearing that they are making a movie about the same

characters I expect every character to be the exact same or at least very similar on the screen as

they are in the comics. The reason that it's expected is because for example, when reading Harry

Potter you vision Harry how he is described not how he could be changed into the exact

opposite. Movies have changed comic book characters. Theyve changed characters like

Aquaman, Nick Fury, Gamora, and Heimdahl and had great reactions because it doesnt affect

the story besides actually adding more to the story. But changes like The Great One, Aunt May,

Human Torch make the character not relevant and changes certain effect on the audience. These

effects are like how the audience can connect to the character or how the character makes the

audience feel. Comic books themselves change their characters to add more relevance to the

reading material to connect with certain audience. These changes as well have its ups and downs

with audience. The ups and downs is what affects the comic book buyer or even the movie

watcher. The reason comic book characters are wrong to change to fit cultural trend is because

the story and backstory are set for a certain character and changing a thing like the characters

race or gender changes all the character.

In comic books, the change come through forms that pleases both parties but approach it a

way that makes both parties displeased as well. An example of this would be when the new Thor

was going to be a woman but they made a whole different character and made the name Thor

more of a mantle then a name. It was also shortly after that Marvel announced characters that
were originally male were going to be female. In one instance, Thor. That caused some outrage,

there were the same two blurred lines that said, Okay, we will see and the other that said,

No.(Scole) . So people were displeased because Marvel Comics was changing a character that

is known for being a male character and changing it to female role. It wasnt displeasure because

people dont want a woman to be a character like Thor but more of using the gender change as a

ploy to get more audience for the same story. There are characters that are a different gender

based on male characters like She-Hulk and Spider Woman who are their own character

themselves and have their own storyline to keep them separate from their male counterparts.

Like She-Hulk may be related to the Hulk but that doesnt affect her character build and what she

stands for. People also reacted a similar way when rumors of an African American Spider Man

was going to be the new Spiderman. It wasnt a race issue but more of an issue of changing Peter

Parker. Miles replaced Peter and its the same instance as Cap, but there is a different spectrum

of the audience it appeals to. Miles was around since 2011, his series was created in 2014, he was

not another superhero before; but, he was just a normal kid(Scole) But the issue with all the

upstir was that people didnt know that there was a separate character that wouldnt affect how

Peter Parker would change because Miles Morales was the answer. Miles Morales is a separate

character that has the same powers as Spider Man but whole different story behind his character.

But there have been issues with this technique where it ruins the whole stories. DC Comics is

one of the biggest offenders. The new 52, which is mostly awful sans a few exceptions like

Aquaman, shows that DC is trying to be hip and appeal to the younguns(James). So in The

New 52 story line the whole DC comics revamped every character they had and all it did was

just retell stories they already told. The New 52 was a chance for DC Comics to change their

characters and failed to do so. Marvel comics had little success when they did the Ultimate story
line giving them the chance to revamp but only changed just a bit of their characters like Nick

Fury.

In the movies, character bending come at its peak. The bending is such a huge change that

it has displeased a lot of fans of the source material. When movies are made on comic books the

fans are very unsatisfied because their characters are being changed so drastically. But comic

book fans are the only unpleased but regular movie watchers are complaining when the changes

are made. Movies are blamed for white washing their films and it a huge issue that people wont

watch the movie. A prime example of people issues when superhero movies whitewash their

material would be the new Netflix show Iron Fist. When the issue of whitewashing Iron Fist

people didnt even try to watch the show. There is also the issue that fans imagine a certain actor

as a certain character and the movies cast an opposite character. This also happened to Iron Fist

main character was cast as a white male when in the comic book the character is white but still

has Asian descent. When watching the new Spiderman Homecoming trailer it's expected by

viewers to see Aunt May as a white haired older lady but to see a younger lady with black hair it

throws off comic book readers. It doesnt just throw off the comic book reader but also the

comic book counterpart that the movie character should be based on. There has been little

success with characters that are bent like Samuel L. Jackson portray as Nick Fury or even Idris

Elba portrayed Heimdall in Thor. The other reason how to bend characters would be to bend

minor characters to try to get more attention to that character.I think one good example of

racebending working is with the CWs recent show The Flash. Iris West was originally a white

woman, but was changed into a black woman in the finished show, with the comics following

suit. Now, as a lover of white women this should upset me, but it doesnt. Why? Because Iris

West simply isnt that big of a character in superhero lore,(James) is what Why Comic Creators
Need To Stop Changing Characters Races says how race bending works .Or when bending

characters that dont apply to the rules of humans like making silver surfer who is a cosmic

superhero something way different.

When Peter Parker changes to Miles Morales or Spider Woman it isnt a big deal but if

Peter Parker became an Old African American woman then there is an issue. If movies would not

change from the Comic book, then issues wouldnt come up there is times where maybe change

will help like instead of getting a reboot for a character they should give a different hero a chance

maybe. There is always an issue when changing something that has a huge following where the

following must pay attention to every single detail in the movie to see if it fits the comic and it

doesnt help directors always put more Easter eggs in the work to connect other movies in the

movies comic book universe. They shouldnt change a superhero on the big screen or any form

just to get a better reaction. The issue with changing characters isnt an issue with race, gender,

or age change just the fact that they are bending all these forms on existing characters and

changing their effect instead of creating new creative characters that could have the same or even

better effects.
Work cited

Scole. "What Marvel Hopes to Achieve with the Changing of Race/Gender in Pre-Existing

Characters." The Artifice. N.p., 1 Dec. 2015. Web. 13 Apr. 2017.

James, Reggie. "Why Comic Creators Need To Stop Changing Characters Races It's the Lamest

of Marketing Ploys." Grimag. N.p., 22 Apr. 2015. Web. 13 Apr. 2017.

Wheeler, Andrew. "Achieving Superhero Diversity Through Race-Changing." ComicsAlliance.

N.p., 27 June 2014. Web. 13 Apr. 2017.

Holwerda, Leslie. "Diversity in Comics and Graphic Novels." Teaching Librarian, vol. 22, no. 3,
May 2015, pp. 25-27. EBSCOhost, libdb.ojc.edu/login?
url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lih&AN=108666670&site=eds-live.