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Post by Admin on Mar 18, 2021 17:37:18 GMT -6
‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ Is Not Afraid to Lean Into Uncomfortable Racial PoliticsI think they mentioned in the article that Marvel Comics hasn't been afraid to lean into controversy in the past. Granted, almost everyone knows that the conflict between the X-Men and The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants was an echo of the stance between King (peaceful co-existence and non violent protests) and Malcolm X (if they hit you, hit back -- harder). They were addressing teen drug use in the late 60s and '70s in the various Spider-Man titles through Parker's almost stream of consciousness chatter when he was on patrol. Sue Storm beat Sally Ride into space by a couple decades, I believe. Hopefully, Disney won't stifle them much (still salty about Logan having his smokes taken away)...
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Post by vitugglan on Mar 19, 2021 14:02:14 GMT -6
I watch a lot of content creators, some of whom are black. Most of them want original black characters, not hand-me-downs (one uses an explicit sexual term, starts with 'sloppy', to describe his feelings on that). I don't know why the interviewee, Malcolm Spellman, said that the stars and stripes on Sam Wilson's face can't be forgiven. I now want to know which country's flag he'd rather see there. The MCU has set up the switch from Steve to Sam well. Steve's obviously too old, and we forgive that because he deserved to live a normal life in the parameters of that universe. Changing a character's race or gender or sexuality or  just because it's politically expedient at a given time isn't the way to go, IMO. A lot of comics are doing that right now - Steve Rogers is now gay, for instance, in the comics when he never was before. Just because. Marvel has Black Panther and Blade as black heroes. BP has gotten a good movie and will probably get two more, as most of the characters do. I hear that Blade is coming, they even have a star - thanks, Pandemic, for holding that one back. Dumb pandemic. Can't say what Disney will do. They changed under Iger to be more politically active but Chapek swears they aren't activist. At this point I don't know what 'activist' means. |
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Post by vitugglan on Mar 19, 2021 14:03:08 GMT -6
The was three question marks because who knows what else will suddenly be a hot topic in the future. |
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Post by Admin on Mar 19, 2021 20:05:40 GMT -6
I think Black Panther is the oldest black main character Marvel has, seeing as he debuted in July, 1966.
Blade first appeared in Marvel comics in July, 1973.
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Post by vitugglan on Mar 20, 2021 6:57:58 GMT -6
I think you may be right. I was aware of BP but not Blade, other than the Wesley Snipes movie. Is July their debut month? So, DuckDuckGo is our friend. An article about 26 black comic book heroes (or characters as Amanda Waller is there): www.cbr.com/26-of-the-greatest-black-characters-in-comic-book-history/ Falcon is older than Blade. All of these characters were created either during or after the Civil Rights Movement - the earliest in the article, BP, was 1966. Three are hand-me-downs - Nick Fury, CPT America, and Green Lantern. The other 23, AFAIK, are original characters. One of the creators I watch always references Luke Cage when talking about this subject. |
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Post by Admin on Mar 20, 2021 16:18:31 GMT -6
Black Panther (July 1966)
Falcon (September 1969)
Luke Cage (June 1972)
Blade (July 1973)
Storm (Giant X-Men #1 May 1975)
And, for what its worth, Storm was also T'Challah's queen and they had a son together.
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Post by vitugglan on Mar 21, 2021 14:50:26 GMT -6
I doubt that last one will happen after Chadwick Boseman's death. I think it'll be a while before they recast the character, and I hope they just create a new King of Wakanda instead of recasting T'Challa.
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Post by Admin on Mar 22, 2021 13:12:46 GMT -6
Considering that T'Challa was probably in his late 30s, and knowing he was heir apparent, would not doubt that that MCU T'Challa had a son that just hasn't been needed to be mentioned. From what I gather, he was married to Nakia and she didn't want the responsibility of a queen. They could have been together long enough to have a child (or two) and they were just not needed for the story at that point. And, if the child(ren) weren't Snapped, could be old enough to fight for their right to ascend to the throne of Wakanda.
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Post by vitugglan on Mar 23, 2021 5:05:11 GMT -6
It's odd that a hereditary ruler wouldn't have married by his or her thirties just for the succession if nothing else. I wouldn't be a royal for anything - living in a fish bowl, weird and archaic responsibilities placed on them, not being allowed to be themselves if they ever find out what that means, and in the case of Prince Charles, remaining on stand-by like some teen-ager for most of his life.
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Post by Admin on Mar 26, 2021 10:17:43 GMT -6
I think, at least in Wakanda, the populace has so much more respect for the royal family that it isn't the fishbowl existence. And, even if a Wakandan king did live a very long life, they might have sense enough to place the mantle of Black Panther onto one of their older heirs and then later have one of the younger heirs for the throne. Because, I think, it used to be (in the comics) that the King of Wakanda was not also the country's Black Panther.
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Post by vitugglan on Mar 27, 2021 8:04:47 GMT -6
I can't think of why a ruler would also want to be a 'Masked Avenger'. They have too much to do daily to be going out at night or during a crisis and putting on a suit. That would definitely conflict with being a ruler, and especially being an impartial ruler who may or may not be (but definitely in the past would have been) the final arbiter of disputes. If the ruler, as BP, apprehended the culprit, how could the ruler, as arbiter, dispense fair justice? Maybe the ruler could have done his stint as BP before claiming the throne.
Didn't T'Chaka do exactly what you suggest, pass on the mantle when he got too old? T'Challa was BP while T'Chaka was still alive.
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Post by Admin on Mar 29, 2021 23:53:56 GMT -6
Wasn't so much he "got too old" as, King Azzuri the Wise (his father) either died or became too old to rule. Theoretically, by then, T'Chakah then took the antidote to "the heart shaped herb" and fought for the right to rule Wakanda and won. In fact, in the flashback scene in The Black Panther, it is T'Chakah as Black Panther who comes to California when it is discovered that one of the Wakandans are stirring things up. He is the one who executed Killmonger's Wakandan father. And basically lit the fires of revenge in the boy's heart.
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Post by vitugglan on Mar 30, 2021 13:25:45 GMT -6
So you're saying that T'Chaka was BP before he was king as well?
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Post by Admin on Mar 30, 2021 15:53:56 GMT -6
According to Marvel lore, yes, T'Chakah was Wakanda's defender as Black Panther before he ascended the throne.
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Post by vitugglan on Mar 31, 2021 4:54:44 GMT -6
So, is it a one-off that the king is also the BP or is it usual that the king is BP until he's too old, then his heir apparent takes on the mantle?
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Post by Admin on Apr 2, 2021 2:20:31 GMT -6
From what I vaguely remember, T'Challa being King and Black Panther wasn't the usual way it was done.
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Post by vitugglan on Apr 2, 2021 15:53:31 GMT -6
Makes sense that the king and the BP are different.
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just because it's politically expedient at a given time isn't the way to go, IMO. A lot of comics are doing that right now - Steve Rogers is now gay, for instance, in the comics when he never was before. Just because. Marvel has Black Panther and Blade as black heroes. BP has gotten a good movie and will probably get two more, as most of the characters do. I hear that Blade is coming, they even have a star - thanks, Pandemic, for holding that one back. Dumb pandemic.