Utlimate Spider-Man is half black, half Hispanic

[PaulTwist]

Surprised there isn't a thread here already for this... I know the main focus is on UK comics but we've discussed major events in US comics before.

Anyway, as I'm sure you all know, the new Spider-Man in Marvel's Ultimate universe is one Miles Morales, a half black, half Hispanic kid. (Nice to see they've at least kept the alliterative name!)

I think this is a splendid idea, and exactly the sort of thing the Ultimate universe SHOULD be used for.

While the 616 titles should, on the whole, remain as the classic characters we all know and love, the Ultimate universe shouldn't necessarily. Kill Peter Parker in the Marvel Universe? Ah, he'll be back in a few months. Kill him in the Ultimate universe? Not necessarily so.

Of course, look around the internet and you'll find bigoted buffoons who are up in arms about changing Spidey's ethnicity but, y'know, sod 'em. Anyway, would be interesting to see what everyone here thinks...

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

Racism is pretty tasteless stuff, rightly condemned by the majority of the population.

However, part of the attraction of comics for me has been the 'escapist' elements that take me away from everyday trials and tribulations, which includes racism.


As comics evolve, naturally more modern issues like race will be represented in comics, though I've always felt that the two [comics and racism] are uneasy bedfellows.....


Comics are simply entertainment, however the subject of race is a hot potato that still means the difference between life and death for many, and yields atrocities on a daily basis, as daily news bulletins will testify to.....despite the best efforts of the P.C. brigade.

Mixing these two themes has never seen satisfactory results in my view, but if others appreciate this 'right-on' stance, more power to them.


I personally don't care what race Spiderman is, as long as he keeps web-slingin'.

[starscape]

I don't think it's necessarily racism. Depends who's saying it. I can understand a lot of comic fans disliking change. Peter Parker is Spider-Man. That's how it's always been (not quite true but I'll gloss over Reilly), that's how they want it. In mythology, Thor was red-haired but Marvel wants their to be blonde. Because it's their character, not someone with no comic history.

For them, I'm sure they have no objections to the Black Panther, Luke Cage or any other minority character. They just want their old character to remain in place.

That said, the majority of naysayers appear to be right-wingers, convinced this is some Obama plot. Pretty sure none of them have read a Spidey comic in years or know about the Ultimate universe.

Oh, and I don't think comics are pure escapism. Something like Maus was amazing. Spidey has a looooooooooong history of tackling subjects, such as racism. Pretty much from the get-go. Indeed, that came through in many Marvel titles, from the X-Men (thinly disguised anti-semitism as anti-mutants) to Stan's Soapbox that would regularly preach tolerance.

There's room for Crisis' wonderful Third World War alongside Krazy's Birdman and Chicken. It's just a medium. Would we limit movies or books to pure escapism too?

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

I've never been convinced that any film I have ever watched has been anything else than a bunch of actors or other manufactured Hollywood/other 'product',starscape....

Documentary footage is naturally different.

But something like 'Schindler's List' fell far short of actual conditions in WW2, and for me at least is a whitewash of reality, or a screen fantasy. Tackling such a loaded subject as this does not transfer well onto the screen as we are all so aware of the 'manufactured' techniques of the film industry. Hollywood 'waters down' controversial subjects all the time, by neccessity as the financial backers have to be reassured their investment is not driving punters away with tasteless imagery, etc.

To depict actual racism as it manifests in real-life in comics or films would be banned outright as pornographic or indecent , etc. Yes, Maus was well-handled but is it widely-known outside of the comics fraternity? I doubt it.

A gifted writer of novels can put more powerful imagery accross in the imagination of the reader, but comics as a medium can't ever be rated as anywhere on par with something as controversial as race: at best they [comics] can go along with PC conventions, but comics, along with rock-n-roll, or films or novels etc will never change anything politically or racially.....they are too weak a medium. All these are 'opium for the masses' that quell the majority of the public at large.


All these media are just mindless escapism from reality----Schindler's List certainly never adequately tackled the evils of racism, compared to studying books on this subject------ while many are dying in the meantime , which is much more important than anything as trivial as the comics medium.

At best, comics can put in token gestures in favour of PC ideals,---and there's nothing wrong with this------- but that's about the size of it.


No comic, film or piece of piece of music will ever stop the daily acts of racial atrocities , which are still prevelant in 2011, if not on the scale of WW2, despite the best intentions of their creators.

[Digifiend]

Spidey's not the first superhero to get race-lifted for Ultimate. 616 Nick Fury is white. Ultimate Nick Fury is black, and is apparently based on Samuel L Jackson... who naturally, then got cast as him for the Avengers (with multiple early bird cameos in other films).

[colcool007]

I must admit that when I first saw Samuel L Jackson as Nick Fury, I was annoyed as he just didn't look like classic Nick Fury, but from the cameos in each movie, he has certainly grown on me and now I struggle to imagine anyone else in the role. Plus, I now look forward to seeing Samuel L Jackson in each superhero movie. His appearance in Captain America was the icing on the cake as far as I was concerned.

However going back to the change in ethnicity of Spiderman. If they are re-casting, why not? It then becomes a more accurate reflection of society and not a throwback to the race politics that has blighted many societies.