Enter Black Captain America and Female Thor.
Now a while back I posted a blog about Marvel Comics "race swapping" characters in their movies and how, admirable as race neutral casting is, they had to be a bit careful, since sometimes race is tied into the character.
Now in that blog I wrote this:
"Marvel presumably already knows that, no matter how good the actor in question, they will NEVER be able to cast a black man as Steven Rogers/Captain America. It's simply not believable that in the early 1940's the United States government would pick a black man to give superpowers to, and make THE face of the United States in World War II."
So people may assume I'm going to be against the idea of a Black Captain America.....but they would be wrong.
See the sentence I quoted states a black man couldnt be STEVE ROGERS' Captain America, not that they couldnt be Captain America, because of the fact that Steve Rogers is inexorable linked to the 1940's and the reality of the 1940's would make him being black impossible.
But the new Captain America ISNT Steve Rogers' its Sam "Falcon" Wilson.
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| Comic version top, movie version Bottom |
In fact, this will be the SECOND time he's been Captain America. He had a brief stint as Captain America in Captain America Sentinel of Liberty a comic published in 1999, but set (at least for Sam's run as Cap) in the 1970's.
Granted that last run was no where near as "high level" as this one, as he only appeared as Cap in a secondary title, and even then via a "Retcon" (retroactive continuity change.....basically going back in time to change/show something not shown at that time). Now he's appearing as the title character in the main title in the present, a huge step up.
Now its true he is not the only replacement Captain America, fellow avengers Hawkeye, Bucky "Winter Solider" Barnes, and US Agent have done stints as Cap, as have at least 5 other guys. Now admittedly only Bucky, US Agent and a guy named Jeff Mace have had long stints as Cap (although Mace's stint was as a Retcon to explain the existence of Cap Comics in the late 1940's 1950's when the current marvel storyline had cap frozen in ice in 1944).
Nor actually is he the first Black Captain America, that honor would go to Isaiah Bradley, who in one of Marvel's more controversial retcon's would be revealed to be the FIRST Captain America, as he was the sole survivor of a unit of black soldiers the US government who were illegally experimented on to perfect the serum that made Steve Rogers become Captain America (if this sounds familiar in real life, marvel was trying to reference the Tuskegee syphilis experiment).
But all those points aside, Falcon is still a great pick to be the New Captain America, since the comic book story line has left Steve Rogers unable to fill the role. Cap and Falcon have been a team since the late 60's so it only really makes sense he would be next in-line, so it works in-story, and is something arguable marvel has been building to for a while. In fact out of the 9 men, other that Rogers, who have been Captain America, Falcon is the only one Rogers has actually hand picked to replace him (twice now).
Plus as an added bonus, Marvel has announced that even while being Cap, Wilson will keep his Falcon Powers (mechanical wings that allow him to fly, and the ability to telepathically interface, and see out of the eyes of any bird in the world) which will help make him stand out unique among the other 9 replacement captain america's for something other than just his skin color.....he may in fact become a very different character with a very different style.
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| Wilson's Captain America, complete with Falcon Wings |
Sadly however the same may not be able to be said for Thor. His replacement may well be set up to fall flat on her face. Which is kinda surprising given Marvels long history of having female replacements/knock offs succeed (wasp, Captain Marvel (twice), She Hulk, Spider Woman (at least twice depending on what we call success))
Its funny actually in some respect, that Thor's replacement seems to be the one least likely to succeed. Of all Marvel Characters Thor should be one of the EASIEST to replace and have it make sense "in-story". Thor's defining feature is his hammer "Mjolnir", which carries a "Worthiness Enchantment".
Basically its like the Sword in the stone from Arthurian legend, you have to worthy to lift the weapon or you wont be able to.
And Mjolnir's worthiness enchantment says "Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of ... Thor"
So yea, if you can lift the hammer you ARE Thor, with everything that entails. Doesnt really matter if your black, white, man, woman, straight, gay, transgendered, or even a half Asian half native american bisexual transgendered man who is also a transvestite.....YOU ARE THOR as long as you can lift the hammer.
So whats the problem? well its two fold.
First, over the decades of his existence, its become less and less clear which of Thor's powers are "the power of thor" and which belong to him as a person. His super strength, durability, speed, senses, healing, language skills (i shit you not), and longevity have all been shown to be traits of his entire RACE and not "the power of thor". Furthermore even without his hammer, Thor has been shown to be able to fly, and to manipulate the weather as an innate part of himself.
The most recent "in story" explanations is that really all Mjolnir does is amplify Thor's natural powers, and only adds very limited powers of its own, mostly dimensional travel, energy projection, and an alternative (and implied to be easier) method for thor to manipulate weather.
This isnt helped by the fact that the powers given to those who have been able to carry Mjolnir also varies. In the case of Thunderstrike he literally became Thor (that is to say Thor's consciousness took over his body), Beta Ray Bill gained a super human form and ALL of Thors powers. On the Flip side, Steve Rogers only gained the power to hit people really hard with the hammer, enhanced strength and a couple of lightening bolts.
Now normally, this wouldnt be a big deal, except Marvel has announced Old thor is still going to be around, just not worthy of keeping his hammer. Which becomes a problem if Old Thor remains more powerful than New Thor. Heck this is even a problem if their powers are the same, when the original is still around, people are going to demand to have that one. The only reason most of the women I listed before worked it either their power sets were vastly different from their male counter parts (Wasp, Captain Marvel (First time), Spider Woman), or the original was/is dead and gone (Captain Marvel (Second time)
Which brings us to our second problem,
Consider this description: Female. Considered by some to be a goddess. Controls the Weather, signature weather is bolt of lightning, can fly, not a human, has the ability to wield Mjolnir.
Its funny actually in some respect, that Thor's replacement seems to be the one least likely to succeed. Of all Marvel Characters Thor should be one of the EASIEST to replace and have it make sense "in-story". Thor's defining feature is his hammer "Mjolnir", which carries a "Worthiness Enchantment".
Basically its like the Sword in the stone from Arthurian legend, you have to worthy to lift the weapon or you wont be able to.
And Mjolnir's worthiness enchantment says "Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of ... Thor"
So yea, if you can lift the hammer you ARE Thor, with everything that entails. Doesnt really matter if your black, white, man, woman, straight, gay, transgendered, or even a half Asian half native american bisexual transgendered man who is also a transvestite.....YOU ARE THOR as long as you can lift the hammer.
So whats the problem? well its two fold.
First, over the decades of his existence, its become less and less clear which of Thor's powers are "the power of thor" and which belong to him as a person. His super strength, durability, speed, senses, healing, language skills (i shit you not), and longevity have all been shown to be traits of his entire RACE and not "the power of thor". Furthermore even without his hammer, Thor has been shown to be able to fly, and to manipulate the weather as an innate part of himself.
The most recent "in story" explanations is that really all Mjolnir does is amplify Thor's natural powers, and only adds very limited powers of its own, mostly dimensional travel, energy projection, and an alternative (and implied to be easier) method for thor to manipulate weather.
This isnt helped by the fact that the powers given to those who have been able to carry Mjolnir also varies. In the case of Thunderstrike he literally became Thor (that is to say Thor's consciousness took over his body), Beta Ray Bill gained a super human form and ALL of Thors powers. On the Flip side, Steve Rogers only gained the power to hit people really hard with the hammer, enhanced strength and a couple of lightening bolts.
Now normally, this wouldnt be a big deal, except Marvel has announced Old thor is still going to be around, just not worthy of keeping his hammer. Which becomes a problem if Old Thor remains more powerful than New Thor. Heck this is even a problem if their powers are the same, when the original is still around, people are going to demand to have that one. The only reason most of the women I listed before worked it either their power sets were vastly different from their male counter parts (Wasp, Captain Marvel (First time), Spider Woman), or the original was/is dead and gone (Captain Marvel (Second time)
Which brings us to our second problem,
Consider this description: Female. Considered by some to be a goddess. Controls the Weather, signature weather is bolt of lightning, can fly, not a human, has the ability to wield Mjolnir.
Sounds like a female Thor right?
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| Then again....maybe not |
Yea see, thats the second problem. That description sounds like a female thor.....but is also an accurate description of Storm of the X-men. Now I know what your saying: "But what about the ability to wield Mjolnir" part?
And thats not the only time Storm has become Thor. She was first able to use Mjolnir in 1985, before at one point being given her own copy of Mjolnir called Stormcaster which she used to fight Thor with
So that's the added burden the New Thor has to deal with, and the reason I expect her to fall flat on her face. There already IS a female Thor replacement running around, who has been long established as an A list player in the marvel universe (leader of the X-men, one of the most powerful mutants, and for the record I believe the first Female and Black team leader in comics).
So making the New Thor stand out is double tough seeing as how not only will she have to contend with Old Thor being around, but the unofficial female Thor (Storm) as well.
Which isnt to say its impossible, one rumor is that the New Thor is actually his asgardian brethren, and fellow Avenger Valkyrie
So making the New Thor stand out is double tough seeing as how not only will she have to contend with Old Thor being around, but the unofficial female Thor (Storm) as well.
Which isnt to say its impossible, one rumor is that the New Thor is actually his asgardian brethren, and fellow Avenger Valkyrie
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| Valkyrie |
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| Thor |
It looks like that could be possible based on some similarities in costume and appearance.. And Valkyrie is one of the previously c/d list characters Marvel has been trying to push up to A list status with her staring role in "Fear Itself: Fearless" and "Fearless Defenders".
And Valkyrie does have all of Thor's basic powers already (since those powers are normal for their race), except the elemental ones Mjolnir would bring her. However she also has her own set of death related powers, and it was the Norse Goddess of Death who gave her powers in the first place. Plus she has her own set of enchanted weapons (the sword, Dragonfang, and her spear) and a flying horse.
So that would give her not only a decades long back story (and support) but a unique powerset that would help move her well out from under the shadow of her predecessors/closest competition (just like Falcon).
Honestly though, as much as I hate to say it, thats probably the ONLY way new thor can get out from under the shadows of Old Thor and Storm. Otherwise as diverse a move as this is, it will probably fail.
There is one final caveat though and it applies to both Falcon and New Thor. They may not have the time to succeed. Marvel's Avengers 2 is set to hit theaters in less than a year. It will star Chris Evans as a White Captain America (Steve Rogers) and Chris Hemsworth as a male Thor.
And Marvel tends to use their movies to hook new readers. Even when that means changing whats in the comics to match the movies. For example, after the last Avengers Movie, the Hulk, who had a decades long issue with being an avenger (despite founding the team, he quit in issue 2) suddenly, without warning or reason, rejoined the team (which at the time even included his enemy Red Hulk) and has been a member ever since. Not because it worked storyline wise, or made any sense in terms of characterization, but simply because Marvel wanted the audience who'd seen the movie to see the same team in the comics.
Replacement heroes have been successful in the past, most notably Jim Rhodes as Iron Man for much of the 80's, (and brought back as Iron Man periodically ever since) but usually only after a fair amount of time has passed and people can appreciate the differences in the characters.
And with that movie coming, the clock is already ticking on both New Thor and New Cap.....so time is the one thing they dont have.
Which means for as much credit as marvel is getting for this, it remains to be seen if its sustainable credit, or just a well disguised temporary cheap pander to get attention in the build up to their next big movie (which in turn will hopefully increase comic book sales after the fact).
And Valkyrie does have all of Thor's basic powers already (since those powers are normal for their race), except the elemental ones Mjolnir would bring her. However she also has her own set of death related powers, and it was the Norse Goddess of Death who gave her powers in the first place. Plus she has her own set of enchanted weapons (the sword, Dragonfang, and her spear) and a flying horse.
So that would give her not only a decades long back story (and support) but a unique powerset that would help move her well out from under the shadow of her predecessors/closest competition (just like Falcon).
Honestly though, as much as I hate to say it, thats probably the ONLY way new thor can get out from under the shadows of Old Thor and Storm. Otherwise as diverse a move as this is, it will probably fail.
There is one final caveat though and it applies to both Falcon and New Thor. They may not have the time to succeed. Marvel's Avengers 2 is set to hit theaters in less than a year. It will star Chris Evans as a White Captain America (Steve Rogers) and Chris Hemsworth as a male Thor.
And Marvel tends to use their movies to hook new readers. Even when that means changing whats in the comics to match the movies. For example, after the last Avengers Movie, the Hulk, who had a decades long issue with being an avenger (despite founding the team, he quit in issue 2) suddenly, without warning or reason, rejoined the team (which at the time even included his enemy Red Hulk) and has been a member ever since. Not because it worked storyline wise, or made any sense in terms of characterization, but simply because Marvel wanted the audience who'd seen the movie to see the same team in the comics.
Replacement heroes have been successful in the past, most notably Jim Rhodes as Iron Man for much of the 80's, (and brought back as Iron Man periodically ever since) but usually only after a fair amount of time has passed and people can appreciate the differences in the characters.
And with that movie coming, the clock is already ticking on both New Thor and New Cap.....so time is the one thing they dont have.
Which means for as much credit as marvel is getting for this, it remains to be seen if its sustainable credit, or just a well disguised temporary cheap pander to get attention in the build up to their next big movie (which in turn will hopefully increase comic book sales after the fact).
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